Eagle vs. Sparrow

Comedy, 10 min., HD

Eagle vs. Sparrow is based on a traditional Anishinabek legend used to teach ‘humility’. A colourful cast of half-humans half-animals brings to life this unique high school drama as an embattled Eagle is pressured into racing the over-confident Sparrow. Youth artists from Dryden High School translated the legend to film working alongside mentoring filmmakers from Thunderstone Pictures, artists from the Community Arts and Heritage Education Project (CAHEP) and elders from the community. The film took the honourable mention for Best Canadian Short at the 2011 ImagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto and has screened at festivals as far away as New Mexico.

The “Tales Project” was an arts training initiative designed to teach the art of film making to First Nations youth who have potential but are experiencing barriers to their learning.  We worked with the youth weekly from January to March 2011 to produce a short film which is their interpretation of an ancient legend as told by elder Leonard Gardner Sr.

BEST CANADIAN SHORT (Nomination) ImagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival, Toronto
OFFICIAL SELECTION Festival of Native Film and Culture, Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Palm Springs
OFFICIAL SELECTION Biindigaate Film Festival, Thunder Bay
OFFICIAL SELECTION North of Superior Film Association (NOSFA) Film Festival, Thunder Bay
OFFICIAL SELECTION Hub of the North Film Festival, Sioux Lookout

Supported by the Ontario Arts Council.