This was one of the first movies created by the National Film Board's First Nations unit, and was shown in schools across Canada.
This historic short film – the work of an extraordinary Micmac singer, songwriter, and award-winning documentary filmmaker – examines the situation of Aboriginal people in North America through the figure of Crowfoot, the legendary 19th-century Blackfoot leader of the Plains.
The lyrics of Willie Dunn’s impassioned “Ballad of Crowfoot” are set against “a powerful montage of archival photographs and film footage of buffalo being slaughtered.
” The result is “what is considered is considered Canada’s first music video and one of the earliest NFB films directed by an aboriginal filmmaker.” As Willie told his fans, “It’s important for aboriginal people to tell their own stories, because Hollywood has done enough.”
Willie Dunn died on August 5, 2013, and we are dedicating the 2014 ReFrame festival to him. Gold Hugo award, best short film, Chicago International Film Festival, 1969
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. — Crowfoot's last words, 1890
This historic short film – the work of an extraordinary Micmac singer, songwriter, and award-winning documentary filmmaker – examines the situation of Aboriginal people in North America through the figure of Crowfoot, the legendary 19th-century Blackfoot leader of the Plains.
The lyrics of Willie Dunn’s impassioned “Ballad of Crowfoot” are set against “a powerful montage of archival photographs and film footage of buffalo being slaughtered.
” The result is “what is considered is considered Canada’s first music video and one of the earliest NFB films directed by an aboriginal filmmaker.” As Willie told his fans, “It’s important for aboriginal people to tell their own stories, because Hollywood has done enough.”
Willie Dunn died on August 5, 2013, and we are dedicating the 2014 ReFrame festival to him. Gold Hugo award, best short film, Chicago International Film Festival, 1969
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. — Crowfoot's last words, 1890
VIDEO
Thank you for this wonderful film. And the song is perfect.