How Bretten Hannam infused every moment of their film Wildhood with Two-Spirit energy
For Hannam, filmmaking is a way of carrying on Mi'kmaw storytelling traditions through a newer medium
Cutaways is a personal essay series by Canadian filmmakers, asking them to tell the story of how their film was made. This TIFF edition by Bretten Hannam with John R. Sylliboy focuses on their film Wildhood, which tells the story of two brothers fleeing their abusive father and embarking on a journey of self-discovery.
Working on Wildhood has been an experience that spans over a decade, formed not only by my own life and perspectives but also by the experiences of a community that I'm part of. It's easy to imagine a writer sitting in a room, surrounded by notebooks and stacks of old coffee cups, but the truth of this story is found among roots and rivers, sharing food and tea and jokes. Wildhood is a story that has been guided and shaped by the community through the many stages of film progress — script, photography, editing, sharing. And it is more than a single tale told by one person — it becomes a circle, a cycle that is rooted in community, or L'nuewey, a Mi'kmaw sense of knowing and experience.
Storytelling is atuaqn in Mi'kmaw, which is the primary source of knowledge sharing. This may look very different today as we innovate and find ways to communicate our stories, and filmmaking is a new part of that tradition. There is power in a story, not only in the knowledge and teachings they impart but in the way they bring people together. Films share similar concepts — the journey of self-discovery is a common theme for kluskap and oral tradition. These are the themes explored in Wildhood, but from a Two-Spirit perspective of young people coming into themselves, tying together culture, language, and land. The film might be a newer medium, but the approach to the story within is much older.
Thinking about how stories have been shared far back, and how they are shared now, helps to shape working in film today — particularly in the era of COVID we're all experiencing and living through. In times when we are unable to gather together, stories can provide a means of connection to the land and to each other. That was an unanticipated dimension of Wildhood that emerged as we worked during the pandemic. We came together as a film crew on the land to create this story, knowing that while we were unable to gather in everyday life, this film could inspire feelings of connection and emotion, despite the many challenges we faced during the pandemic.
Wildhood is ultimately about relationships between people, nature and ecosystems, and animals. A critical aspect of the film is the relationship the characters have with culture and what it means to their own identity. Link is a character looking for his place in the world. He is learning how culture connects to him; it shapes his sense of self and who he is. Pasmay is a character that has a connection to the culture but is missing an aspect of the family. The younger brother, who is non-Indigenous, is also shaped by this reconnection his brother experiences by seeing how it impacts and helps Link grow. All of these characters are transforming — a shift in themselves. This happens every day in the natural world, and it's important to remember that we are also a part of that world.
Stories are the reflections of the values and teachings we find around us. We look to nature to learn and find ways to live in a good way, and in nature, we find variety and variation. At its heart, Wildhood is a Two-Spirit story because of this — there is more than a binary, more than a rigid system of categorization. That transformation is part of it, but it's also more than that; there is movement, fluidity, and becoming. Growth. In this circle, gender and sexuality exist in many forms, shifting and moving without restraint. Two-Spirit identity extends deep in the earth and the roots below and upwards to the sky, clouds, and seasons. It's more than a label that expresses gender and sexuality (even as it does both) — it is a many-faceted identity that includes aspects of spirituality, emotional reality and experience, and cultural knowledge. Two-Spirit is an identity as rich and varied as the animals and plants that surround us.
Filmmaking is storytelling, and this story brings the themes of being Two-Spirit back to the community. It's been over five years since the TRC Calls to Justice, and we continue to live in a world impacted by MMIWG2S. Racism, queerphobia, and misogyny are part of our world. One goal of Wildhood is to bring awareness and draw attention to these issues so people can engage them and begin to understand them. By placing these issues into the experience of the story, there is a power in speaking to feeling and experience by showing and inviting as opposed to speaking directly. But letting actions speak for themselves allows characters to discover these truths and hardships in their way. This is a way of teaching by doing.
Working on Wildhood has been a process of learning and connection. There are different aspects of my own experiences in the characters of Link, Pasmay, Travis, Smokey, and others. These characters go from walking in unknown yet familiar places and form bonds to make a family. When they enter the community in the film, they meet gatekeepers and greeters, and they are brought in and cared for. They share food and jokes, and most importantly, stories. Because this story comes from the community, folks will find parts of themselves in aspects of it. This story has been a long time in the making, and now being able to share it with people, it feels like it's finally coming back to the start of the circle.
Everyone walks their path, just like the characters in Wildhood. There are hopes, hardships, barriers and obstacles. We all face them in different times and ways, but ultimately, community leads you to the truth of who you are and where you belong.
Wildhood plays to September 18 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
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