Pictured left to right: Oceann Elsie, Joanne Dick and Kalei Dixon. (Image Credit: Adam Donnelly / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

telus storyhive projects

Local filmmakers release short films showcasing Indigenous experiences in university, addiction recovery

Jun 12, 2024 | 6:00 PM

TK’EMLUPS — Indigenous creators in the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc area have released new short films, as part of the Empowered Filmmakers program with Telus STORYHIVE. The program is a 5-day training and mentorship opportunity for people to learn more about film creation.

Kalei Dixon was the project lead for ‘Indigenous Perspectives in Post-Secondary Education’, and brought in Joanne Dick as her camera operator.

While applying for the STORVYHIVE program, the pair were interns together at Qwelmínte Secwépemc, and Dixon says part of the inspiration came from an idea she learned at work. She describes the concept as walking with two legs to navigate the two worlds of Western education and science, and Indigenous knowledge.

“So far, the film has been out and it’s been a very positive experience for me and Joanne,” says Dixon.

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“Being the camera operator, I was like the eyes behind the camera and my coworker Kalei was the idea,” adds Dick.

Dixon and Dick worked with guidance from professional filmmaker Farhan Umedaly to share the interview-style stories of two Indigenous students at Thompson Rivers University — Ami Smith and Drew Rose.

“It’s kind of like navigating through those two worlds. And I feel like post-secondary students really are navigating through two worlds where you’re trying to honour your Indigenous ways of knowing, but also learning all of the Western ways of knowing and science,” explains Dixon. “It’s kind of like trying to find that balance between the two.”

It was a tight timeline to shoot, write and edit the piece, but hearing how it hit home for others made the work worth it.

“Somebody came up to us and was like, ‘I felt seen during your film. I felt that you see me as a student, you recognized the the problems, and the kind of things you go through,'” says Dixon.

The projects were a foray into short filmmaking and those who were able to take part in the 5-day program felt it was an impactful way to bring their ideas to the screen.

Oceann Elsie’s film, ‘Dancing with Addiction‘, utilized her experience as an actor and shared her personal story with addiction and living in recovery.

“I just wanted people to know that you can come back from anything as long as you put hard work and intention toward it,” Elsie explains. “It’s not easy. You have to face some ugly truths along the way and everything. But a beautiful life is possible and recovery is for the people who want it.”

The work was recently named Best Short Doc at the Okanagan Screen Awards, also claiming Best Cinematography in the Short Doc category.

“It gave me a lot more respect for all of the other aspects of it,” Elsie says of learning more about directing and piecing together a film. “And that’s exactly what I wanted to do — I wanted to learn and everything. We went from filming, editing and all of that kind of stuff, so it was a really interesting process.”

It was a first glimpse for the filmmaking teams into this level of visual storytelling, but it won’t be their last.

“This has always been a dream, so the fact that it came true was amazing for me, and it’s inspired me to come up with more ideas and make more films,” adds Dick. “I have a few ideas in mind now.”

‘Indigenous Perspectives in Post-Secondary Education’, and ‘Dancing with Addiction’ are available on TELUS Optik TV channel 9 and the STORYHIVE YouTube channel.