
Revisiting Keewatin Missions
Films from the colonial era often end up in archives without information about the Indigenous people and communities shown. Jennifer Dysart’s goal is to identify the families shown in the Keewatin Missions film, housed at Library and Archives Canada, that shows the Catholic archdiocese covering much of central and northern Canada in the 1950s. Jennifer’s work is a hybrid of community research and archival filmmaking made possible through the Archive/Counter-Archive’s network of festivals, archives and its commitment to change. For Regent Park Film Festival the film has been separated into two parts, allowing the audience to view the Indigenous content of the film, without encountering the weighty religious elements.
Content Warning: Part 2 shows religious content and children in attendance at residential schools
Directed by

Jennifer Dysart
Jennifer Dysart is an experimental and found footage film enthusiast. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Library and Archives Canada via the Archive / Counter-Archive project. She created Caribou in the Archive (2018/2019) that won the Public Prize at the International Film Festival of Ottawa (2021) and Best Canadian Short Film at the Planet in Focus Film Festival (2020). Jennifer has lived in too many places to count and has Cree roots on her Dad’s side from South Indian Lake, Manitoba.