“Inendi”, meaning “She is absent”, is an intimate portrait of film maker Sarain Fox’s great-aunt, Mary Bell — and is one of the first films made in this country about a Residential School survivor.
Sarain hosted its screening Sunday (September 28th) at the Almonte United Church.
Not only is her auntie a Residential School survivor, she is Truth and Reconciliation Commission contributor, and the eldest matriarch in her family.
Sarain Fox says Anishnabek traditions have always acknowledged the primacy of story-telling.
Fox says what she does professionally is to adapt story-telling to the mediums of today.
Although Inendi was made early in the Pandemic, this past Sunday marked its first-ever showing in a church.
In this powerful and deeply personal film, Mary shares her stories, wisdom, and unshakable spirit in the face of generational trauma and loss.
She says Indigenous stories are often explanations for proven scientific reality; for example, “Fireflies are the offspring of thunderbirds.”
To the extent that “Inendi” made Sarain’s family a focus of attention- it is just the telling of one instance in the many our nation must come to terms with.
By Rick Stow