Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary Hi-Ho Mistahey! about Attawapiskat’s Shannen Koostachin will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 6.
In 2008, 14-year-old Shannen Koostachin, a student from the Cree community of Attawapiskat, launched a campaign to build a suitable school for the children of her village. Two years later, tragedy struck when Shannen was killed in a car accident. Her campaign for a new school in Attawapiskat became a national movement, bringing people from all walks of life together to make Shannen’s Dream—the dream of fairness in education for First Nations children, in schools that are safe and welcoming—a reality.
Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary Hi-Ho Mistahey! portrays a community seeking justice and fair treatment. The director brings together the voices of those who have brought Shannen ’s Dream from town to town— across Canada and all the way to the United Nations in Geneva, in a larger-than-life adventure.
In February 2012, a motion on education for First Nations children passed unanimously in the House of Commons. The voice of the children had been heard, and construction of a new school in Attawapiskat could finally begin.
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