Jesse Wente: Searching for History and Truth on Screen

Jesse Wente

Searching for History and Truth on Screen

Friday October 25, 2024    5:30 P.M.

SoCA Armouries Performance Hall    37 University Ave East

 

Jesse Wente is a respected writer, broadcaster, and arts administrator.  He is part Genaabaajing Anishinaabek and a member of the Serpent River First Nation.  Wente served on the board of directors for Native Earth Performing Arts, ImagineNative, The Toronto Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.  He has been a programmer for many film festivals, including ImagineNative Film and Media Festival, the Reel World Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival.  In 2012, Jesse presented First Peoples Cinema, the largest retrospective of global Indigenous cinema ever mounted to that point.  It was accompanied by a gallery exhibition, home on Native Land, co-curated with Steven Loft.  He is the founding director of the Indigenous Screen Office and current Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts.

 

In this exclusive talk Jesse Wente, the bestselling author, award winning speaker and longtime film critic and curator, will explore truth, history and Indigenous representation on screen in the films, The Searchers and Maliglutit (Searchers).  The Searchers is among the most famous films by legendary director John Ford, starring his muse John Wayne, while Maliglutit (Searchers) is a modern remake by equally legendary director Zacharius Kunuk set in the Arctic.  Using both films, Jesse will explore Indigenous representation in cinema, narrative sovereignty, and how our understanding of history is shaped by screen storytelling.