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ʔetsu

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Catalogue Number:  TM0001
Producer:  Trevor Mack
Subject:  Canadian History, Canadian Social Studies, Documentary, First Nations Studies, Guidance, Health, History, Indigenous Issues, Indigenous Peoples, Psychology, Social Issues, Social Sciences
Language:  English
Grade Level:  9 - 12, Post Secondary, Adult
Country Of Origin:  Canada
Copyright Year:  2017
Running Time:  13:02


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On an isolated reserve a young boy with no family structure struggles to search for a connection to his deceased grandmother through an old VHS camcorder. This visually stunning short film from Tsilhqot’in filmmaker Trevor Mack (Clouds of Autumn) examines family, death and child suicide.

ʔEtsu translates into grandmother, in Tsilhqot’in, and the film paints a first-person narrative of a young Indigenous boy dealing with the death of his beloved grandmother.

Through the use of “data moshing” where pixelated images seem to show his grandmother passing through the film towards the boy, Mack’s film is intimate and heart wrenching.

Warning: Film contains strong language and suicide content.

Official Selection – TIFF; Vancouver International Film Festival



“Through discordant pixelated images, Trevor Mack delicately reveals the trauma and devastation that too many Indigenous children in remote communities are forced to contend with.” — DANIS GOULET

“...the boy’s journey starts off poignant, but builds to a grand tragedy with stark, timely relevance. It’s moving, gutting, must-see filmmaking.” — ANDREW PARKER, THE GATE ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE


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