Piapot First Nation students get crash course in filmmaking

Students in Piapot First Nation near Regina got the chance to make their own horror movie trailers during a two-day crash course in film production, and now their trailers are facing off against ones made by other communities in an online film festival.

Jarius Straightnose, a Grade 6 student at Chief Payepot School, said he played a zombie cop, and the hardest part for him was to keep a straight face.

"It was pretty nerve-racking," he said.

"You had to act without smiling."

He said he had fun running around but doesn't think acting is in his future. He enjoyed learning some cool photography skills.

Natale Crowe, a Grade 8 student who played a survivor, said her experience was quite the opposite. It gave her the confidence to act in a play at her school after being in the program; it also opened her eyes to a future as an actor.

"I really enjoyed it, I hope I can get more opportunities to do acting," she said.

Her favourite part of the experience? Improvising her lines.

"You kind of just have to wing it if you make a mistake sometimes," said Crowe.

The workshop was put on by Road to Freedom, a program that travels to Indigenous communities and gives kids a crash course in film production.

Creator Kyle Nobess from Pinaymootang First Nation grew up in Winnipeg and said when he wanted to become an actor he could access artist supports in the city. When he was 21, he visited a fly-in community for the first time and realized not everyone had the same opportunities.

"You meet the youth and it was like, woah… They were just as creative, if not more creative than the youth I knew in the city," he said.

"They deserve to pursue their passion and they deserve to have a career out of it if they choose to want it."

Nobess, his wife and younger brother have been to close to 100 First Nations and over the last two years they've been helping kids make horror movie trailers.

"It's the most fun," he said.

"I'm telling you, every community we ask, 'what genre do you wanna do?' It's horror. I mean, it's just funny. Everyone connects to it."

Nobess said the genre allows people to work on props, wardrobe, makeup — and the actors can play both good and bad characters.

The organization hosts an online horror film festival, a friendly competition where they show the movie trailers. 

"We get audiences to vote on their favourite trailer then we raise money online to go back to the community and make the full movie," Nobess said. 

They are going to be selecting a winner from this year's competition in early November, said Nobess. 

"It's just a cool way to get everybody involved."