by Brooklyn Connolly

The 28th annual One World Film Festival kicked off on Sept. 7 with a launch of “The Road Forward” at Bytowne Cinema. One World is Ottawa’s longest running film festival.

Marie Clements’ musical documentary connects the emergence of “Indian nationalism” in the 1930s to the current waves of First Nations activism confronting the injustices of Canadian colonialism.

Clements incorporated into the film Indigenous music rooted in social justice which created a strong and lasting effect. Hearing the pain, hardship and all of the fight in the artists’ voices while watching that history unfold through cinema was incredibly eye-opening.

Henry also explained the importance of Indigenous people telling their own stories. “When you’re teaching the people in general about Aboriginal people it has to be from our perspective. It can’t be a book review, it can’t be somebody’s opinion on what they’ve seen in the media, that is all secondary,” he said. “We speak from our ancestors.”

“The Road Forward” does just that. Clements has created a masterpiece of Indigenous justice cinema, allowing Indigenous artists to share the history of their people, from their own perspective and from their own hearts.

At the launch, Festival Coordinator Zoe Mallett told the audience that the 2017 lineup, “features over 17 Canadian and International documentaries highlighting a range of thought-provoking topics, including climate change, migration, refugees, Indigenous rights and perspectives, and solutions to some of the greatest challenges of our times.”

Mallett emphasized that over 50 per cent of the documentaries were directed or produced by women.

Mallett told the Leveller that,“the purpose of the One World Film Festival is to raise awareness about human rights, social justice, environmental sustainability and other global issues, and connect people with opportunities for tackling those issues, by linking them with the people and organizations that are taking action to make change happen where it’s most needed.”

The One World Film Festival runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 at Saint Paul University.

As part of the festival on Oct. 1, One World will co-present a series of docs — Through the Lens of Refugees Immigrants and Newcomers — with Refugee 613 and Oxfam Canada.

“Through this project we’re providing participants from Ottawa’s diverse refugee, immigrant and newcomer populations with the tools and training to create short documentaries,” said Mallett.

If you’re looking to be inspired, to have your heart touched, to learn something new, to cry, or to be thrown into a passion, the festival is the place to be.

This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 10, No. 1 (Sept/Oct 2017).