Ritchie Hemphill, a Port Hardy local, has received a $20,000 grant to produce a short film, thanks to STORYHIVE’s first-ever Indigenous Storyteller Edition.
Hemphill’s film “Dzunukwa”, is about the First Nation legend and will be brought to life using animation and will be narrated in the traditional language of Nakwala.
“We are making the Legend of Dzunukwa into a stop-motion short film!” Hemphill stated in his pitch to STORYHIVE. “The vibrant natural landscape of the pacific northwest coast will be rendered in detailed miniature environments. Each frame and character will be skillfully constructed to immerse the viewer in this visual rendition of the oral legend. All sets and environments will be made up from the natural materials found in the ancestral homelands of the ‘Nakwaxda’xw people. This legend will be narrated in the oral tradition of the Nakwala language. Audio taken from a late and honoured Elder will guide the visual story telling. This film serves as a new media form of traditional knowledge transfer through story. It upholds language revitalization for generations to come.”
Hemphill is one of 30 grant recipients chosen from Alberta and BC. Along with the funding, each grant recipient will receive support, mentorship and training. Creative BC is also offering BC based projects top-up funding.
STORYHIVE’s Indigenous Storyteller Edition opened for submissions in October 2018. Today’s announcement of a $600,000 investment in the careers of Indigenous creators marks the beginning of a commitment to help drive real social change in the screen-based production industry in Western Canada. With over 150 applications to choose from, this is the first time an all-Indigenous jury has chosen grant recipients from all-Indigenous-led projects.
As part of this new Edition, an all-Indigenous Advisory Council was formed comprised of industry experts with a broad gender, age and experience to provide oversight and advice throughout the program.
The submissions ranged anywhere from comedy and animation, to web series and documentaries and were required to be between 3-10 minutes in length.
The final projects will be available in Fall 2019 on TELUS Optik™ TV On Demand.
About STORYHIVE
Since 2013, STORYHIVE has proudly provided a safe space for content creators and screen-based storytellers to hone their skills, take risks and bring the projects they care about to life.