Canada's first Indigenous zombie film garnering international attention

Up North5:58Canada's first Indigenous zombie film

A new short film follows a young First Nations man who lands his small plane in a fly-in reserve to find out its been infested by zombies. We'll speak with Jayson Stewart, the writer and director behind the new film called REZilience.

A film about a zombie apocalypse on a fly-in First Nation reserveis garnering international attention.

The shortfilm "REZilience" is currently playing at festival in four different countries and willbe screening in Hollywood thisNovember at theLA Skins Festand the American Indian Institute Film Festival.

"We're touching on a whole slew ofissues affecting First Nations, Inuit, andMetispeople across this country through the lens of the zombie genre," said Jayson Stewart, a high school teacher from Espanola, Ont. who wrote and directed the film.

"Four characters have to work together and use their sense of identity to survive," he said, addingthe film touches on everything from residential schools to the sixties' scoop.

Zombies and Indigenous culture

There are many similarities that can be drawn between zombie flicks and current issues facing Indigenous communities, Stewartsaid.

"Zombies are symbolic of how society is just moving along and steam-rolling over Indigenous culture. It takes a select few to stand up and say. 'no more'."

While Stewart isn't Indigenous, he says many of hisfamily members areCree, and a majority of the students he teaches atEspanolaHigh School in northern Ontario areAnishnabek.

Themajority of the zombies in the film are members of nearbySagamokFirst Nation, where most of the footage was shot this summer.

"It's important to havepartnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, especially when you can use art to pass along those messages,"he said.

Stewart said if he can get the financial backing, he hopes to film a full-length feature next summer.