Shirley Sneve
ICT
Filmmaker Ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby wanted his filmmaker to address a tough issue facing Indigenous communities today – who gets to be an American Indian? Time and time again, individuals who claim to have Native ancestry have been exposed.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 5, “The Beguiling” is a 16-minute short film that starts innocently enough as a romance, but quickly turns sinister. It blends dark comedy and horror.
“Shout out to Jeff Barnaby, the late great Jeff Barnaby, who for me was so inspirational and talking cultural things while using genre and really pushing the narrative,” McSauby said. Barnaby’s films, “Rhymes for Young Ghouls” and “Blood Quantum” defined the genre of Indigenous horror. He died in 2022 of cancer.
Kim Savarino and Benairen Kane star in the film. Kane is Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, and a descendant of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation and the Ho-Chunk Nation. McSauby is an enrolled citizen of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and Sundance Institute Indigenous Film Fund Fellow.
For screening times, click here.
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