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Where the Spirit Lives is a 1989 television film about Aboriginal children in Canada being taken from their tribes to attend residential schools for assimilation into majority culture. Written by Keith Ross Leckie and directed by Bruce Pittman, it aired on CBC Television on October 29, 1989.[2] It was also shown in the United States on PBS on June 6, 1990, as part of the American Playhouse series[3][4] and was screened at multiple film festivals in Canada and the United States.

Where the Spirit Lives
Promotional poster
Directed by	Bruce Pittman
Written by	Keith Ross Leckie
Produced by	Heather Haldane Eric Jordan Mary Young Leckie
Starring	Michelle St. John Kim Bruisedhead Fox
Cinematography	Rene Ohashi
Edited by	Michael Todd
Music by	Buffy Sainte-Marie
Production company	Screen Door
Distributed by	Amazing Spirit Productions Ltd.
Release date	1989 (1989)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$2.6 million[1]

The film stars Michelle St. John as Amelia, a young Kainai girl captured and confined to the residential school system of the 1930s. The system was an attempt to have aboriginal youth to assimilate into the majority European-Canadian culture. Amelia resists assimilation and plans her escape. The film's cast includes Ann-Marie MacDonald and David Hemblen as teachers at the school.

Plot

In 1937, a young Kainai girl named Ashtoh-Komi (Michelle St. John) is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a Canadian policy to educate Aboriginal children and assimilate them into Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school, where she is forced to adopt Western, Eurocentric ways and learn English, often under harsh treatment. Combined with the rejection of her peers (as she is a so-called "Bush Indian" who has not learnt white customs), Komi attempts to escape one night on foot with her little brother, Pita (Clayton Julian). However her plan is quickly foiled as the Indian Agent assigned to the school, Taggert (Ron White), catches up and brings them back to the school, where Komi is subjected to further punishment. Eventually Rachel (Heather Hess), Komi's only ally among the students, plead with the teachers to free her by promising to teach Komi to behave.

One teacher, Kathleen Gwillimbury (Ann-Marie MacDonald), is portrayed as sympathetic and she becomes repelled by the bigotry of others at the school. She offers Komi help in the form of giving her English lessons which culminate in cultural exchange, where Kathleen learns Kainai words from Komi in exchange for her learning their English counterparts. Now Amelia, Komi improves her English quickly with the kindness and support of her teacher, gradually adjusting to the school environment while retaining her Kainai identity. However, when Amelia learns that the teachers lied to her by telling her her parents had died, she decides to escape again, this time successfully.

Cast

• Michelle St. John – Ashtoh-Komi/Amelia[5]
• Kim Bruisedhead Fox – Anataki
• Clayton Julian – Pita/Abraham
• Ron White – Taggert
• Ann-Marie MacDonald – Kathleen Gwillimbury
• Doris Petrie – Miss Weir
• Chapelle Jaffe – Miss Appleby
• David Hemblen – Reverend Buckley
• John Friesen – Mr. Babcock
• Patricia Collins – Mrs. Barrington
• Graham Greene – Komi's father[6]
• Heather Hess – Rachel

Production

The idea for the film originated when the producers and screenwriter were working on the 13-episode CBC television series Spirit Bay, which focused on native children growing up on a Northern Ontario Indian reserve. They "kept hearing bitter stories about residential schools"[1] and were inspired to tell a story about that system in a film.

Primary financing for the film's $2.6 million budget was provided by Telefilm Canada ($1.25 million) and the CBC ($500,000), who secured first rights to the film. Other financing came from the Ontario Film Development Corporation, Mid-Canada TV, and Atlantis Releasing. Canadian film director and producer Norman Jewison "personally contributed $12,500, half the cost of making a theatrical print for film festivals",[7] with the other half supplied by the Ontario Film Development Corp.

The film began shooting on September 26, 1988.[8] Locations included Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta and Toronto.[9]

Screenings

Although created for television, the film was shot in 35 mm[1] and as a result was able to be screened in theaters. It was shown at various film festivals in Canada and the United States from 1989 through 2002. It was also screened at some colleges and universities, as part of college film festivals,[10][11] classes,[12] or special events related to Indigenous or Native American studies.[13]

Film festival screenings

Date	Festival	Location
1989 September 9	Vancouver International Film Festival[4]	Vancouver, BC
1989 September 13	Toronto International Film Festival[4]	Toronto, ON
1989 September 23	Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival[4]	Sudbury, ON
1989 October	Chicago International Film Festival[14]	Chicago, Illinois
1989 October 22, 26, and 28	Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival[15][16]	Fort Lauderdale, FL
1989 November 11	American Indian Film Festival[17]	San Francisco, CA
1990 May 13	Rivertown International Film Festival[18]	Minneapolis–Saint Paul
1990 July 22	Goodwill Film Festival: A Forum of Young Cinema[19]	Seattle
1990 November 1	Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, "Back By Popular Demand" series[20]	Fort Lauderdale, FL
1990 November 10	American Indian Film Festival (repeat screening)[21]	San Francisco, CA
1992 April 30	WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival[22]	Houston, TX
2002 December	The Best of the 27th Annual American Indian Film Festival[23]	Rapid City, SD

Awards

The film won nine awards and was nominated for two additional awards.[24]

Year	Ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result
1989	American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco)[24]	Best Director	Bruce Pittman	Won
	Chicago International Film Festival[24]	Television Production – Feature Film Made for TV – Network Special Achievement in Direction (Gold Plaque)	Bruce Pittman	Won
	Vancouver International Film Festival[25][24]	Most Popular Canadian Film (audience award)	Where the Spirit Lives	Won
	Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival[26]	South Florida Critics Special Jury Prize for Drama	Where the Spirit Lives	Won
1990	Gemini Awards	Best TV Movie[27]	Heather Haldane, Eric Jordan, Mary Young Leckie, and Paul Stephens (producers)	Won
		Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series[27]	Michelle St. John	Won
		Best Performance by a Supporting Actress[28]	Ann-Marie MacDonald	Won
		Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series[24]	Michael Todd	Won
		Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series	Bruce Pittman	Nominated
		Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series	Keith Ross Leckie	Nominated
	Lucas International Festival of Films for Children and Young People[24]	Lucas Award	Bruce Pittman	Won

See also

• Sleeping Children Awake, a 1992 documentary about residential schools
• We Were Children, a 2012 Canadian documentary about residential schools
• Our Spirits Don't Speak English (2008), a documentary film about Native American boarding schools in the United States.

References

External links

• Where the Spirit Lives, Screen Door Website
• Where the Spirit Lives at IMDb
• Where the Spirit Lives at AllMovie

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