Local director Banchi Hanuse’s short film, Nuxalk Radio, has won the 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival’s Sea to Sky Award. A $20,000 cash prize awarded by Telus, this award recognizes the outstanding work of one female key creative on a BC-produced feature or short. The prize is to be used towards future production or customized training for the advancement of the filmmakers career.
Lizzie Carp, the Executive Producer of Telus Originals, made the announcement online on Sept. 25
“Banchi Hanuse’s short documentary Nuxalk Radio delighted the jury and stood out for its immersive filmmaking and economical storytelling,” said Carp. “Within less than four minutes Hanuse manages to share an entire world, inviting the audience to experience an intimate connection with the land and the people.
“Through exquisite documentary filmmaking, Hanuse impresses upon the viewer the urgency of linguistic preservation and cultivation within Indigenous communities in Canada.”
The documentary was produced by Lantern Films with the Knowledge Network. The documentary was made for a 10-part micro-shorts series for the Knowledge Network called Behind the Facade: Untold Stories of B.C. Buildings. The series will broadcast on the Knowledge Network in 2021. Knowledge Network is a publicly-funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia.
“Thank you VIFF, Telus, funders and jury for acknowledging the short documentary Nuxalk Radio,” said Hanuse. “The funding will help us tell another story rooted on Nuxalk territory.”
The film has also been selected to open the 21st imagineNATIVE Film Festival; this is the first time the festival has opened with a shorts program.
Nuxalk Radio is a non-commercial community radio station broadcasting on 91.1 FM from: the Nuxalk village of Q’umk’uts’ (Bella Coola) and worldwide online. Launched si7mt (summer solstice) June 21, 2014 with the slogan: Lhulhamktulhs ala ts’ktaliwalh alh ti s-kulhulmcilh t’ayc n wa sulutilh ats (Broadcasting the laws of the lands and waters).