New film explores lives of Indigenous youth in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Thunder Bay "feels like a battle everyday" for one First Nations teen who speaks out in a new film that aims to help Indigenous youth adapt and survive in the northern Ontario city.

Coming Together to Talk,the latest project fromaward-winning filmmaker Michelle Derosier, is screening Friday night at the Finlandia at 6 p.m.

The film began as a partnership with the City of Thunder Bay's Aboriginal Liaison unit,as a follow-up to the Walk-a-Mile film series used by the city as a training tool.

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But Derosierdecided this fall to cut ties with the city and finish the production in partnership with three young women featured in the film.

"I felt that was really important for many reasons authenticity;giving voice to young people;empowering;hearing our own words, our own stories and not having those controlled by anyone," Derosier said.

In the film, SavannahBoucher, one of the young associate directors, describes how she dresses, making sure to cover her hair and not make eye contact with passers-by in her south-side neigbourhood, so that she is not mistaken for a prostitute.

Ardelle Sagutcheway, another of the associate directors explains how the racism she encountered in the emergency room of the hospital after a suicide attempt motivated her to pursue a career in nursing so that others might not have to experience what she did.

Cultural activities and the Indigenous connection to the land are highlighted in the film as places Indigenous youth can turn to for strength.

'Eye-opening'

During the nine months of working with the young people, Derosier said she learned to listen more intensely"to what it is that we need as Indigenous people, not what other people need, not what colonial structures need from us, or want from us, or have taken from us, but what we need to heal ourselves. For me as a filmmaker, that's been very eye-opening."

An animated crow speaks directly to the youth in Ojibwayat various points in the film, telling them that they are loved and valued and reminding them that their ancestors are with them to help them remain strong.

It's a vision Derosier says she had from the beginning.

"A crow can adapt and it can live in the bush and it can live in the city and it can do that very well," she said. "We can learn from that, from the animals, from the birds."

While Indigenous youth are the intended audience for Coming Together to Talk, Derosier said she hopes others will be attentive to what they have to say, both in the film and in the conversations it inspires.

"I would love to have people who are interested, committed and care about Indigenous young people and their lives and bettering their lives in this community, I would like to see them in the seats [Friday night]," she said. "And then for us to develop some strategies, that will be led by the young people, about how we in Thunder Bay can make this city safer for them."

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