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Writing the Land - DVD ONF/NFB


Catalogue Number:  NFB542448
Producer:  National Film Board Of Canada
Producers:  Selwyn Jacob, Rina Fraticelli
Directors:  Kevin Lee Burton
Producing Agencies:  National Film Board of Canada (Montreal)
Subject:  Canadian Literature, Documentary, Indigenous Peoples, Literature, Special Education
Language:  English
Country Of Origin:  Canada
Copyright Year:  2007
Running Time:  7:46
Closed Captions:  Yes


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The Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years in and around what is now the city of Vancouver. (The word Musqueam is an anglicized term describing 'where the Muxqui [river grass] grows.') Director Kevin Lee Burton's new film Writing the Land meticulously combines film language with Hunkamenum words to recreate Musqueam elder Larry Grant's experience of rediscovering his language and cultural traditions.

Fluid roaming camera movement captures the ever-changing nature of a modern city - the glass and steel towers cut against the sky, grass, trees and a sudden flash of birds in flight. In this mutable, multifaceted environment, the enduring power of language to shape perception and create memory is etched onto the wind and water. In Larry Grant's own words, 'I am from Musqueam...We have been here forever.'


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