From the Edge: Gil Cardinal

Produced and directed by Jeff Bear and Marianne Jones
Urban Rez Productions
24 minutes per part • 2007
Available on VHS and DVD

Gil Cardinal embraces the principle of using film as a tool for social change by creating poignant documentaries and dramas while acknowledging responsibility to honor the communities whose stories he tells.

Two of his early films were personal stories, Foster Child (about his own life, growing up in Alberta) and David with FAS. They are classics, still used by communities and educational institutions for discussion of issues arising from adoption and substance abuse. A more recent documentary, Totem: The Return of the G_psgolox Pole, received the Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary award in 2003 at the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto. This same film moved the Government of Sweden to return this historic pole to its original home in Kitimaat Village in northwestern British Columbia in 2006. In addition to his work in documentary, Cardinal has written and directed a number of dramas, including the Gemini award-winning feature film Big Bear and North of 60.

Subject(s): Artists, Filmmaking, Indigenous people