The National Film Board of Canada says Michelle Latimer’s documentary Impractical Indian will go to APTN next month and be made available for education and community screenings this fall.
The release schedule comes more than a year after NFB and the film’s producers pulled the project out of distribution amid controversy over the director’s claims of native descent.
The NFB says it held “a series of meaningful consultations” with partners, including an NFB Indigenous Advisory Committee and the film’s producers, to find “a responsible way forward … recognizing the collective contribution of the indigenous participants on screen.”
Impractical Indianwhich is based on Thomas King’s bestselling book of the same name about North America’s colonial history, will now have its world broadcast premiere on APTN on April 8 and be streamed the next day on APTN lumi.
The NFB says the film will then be made available for educational and community screenings in the fall, along with “supplementary material created to encourage reflection and discussion.”
After spending much of his career citing Algonquin, Metis and French heritage, Latimer’s identity was called into question in late 2020 when Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, an Algonquin First Nation about 120 kilometers north of Ottawa, denied any connection to her in a CBC study.
The Toronto-based filmmaker apologized for naming the community before confirming the link, but maintained in a blog post and interview with Globe and Mail that she had ancestral ties to the mixed Algonquin / French-Canadian population in the region.
The controversy caused Latimer to withdraw from CBC’s famous series Trickster, a drama she co-created and directed based on novels by native author Eden Robinson. CBC canceled another season.
CBC has canceled its TV series, Trickster, following questions about director Michelle Latimer’s claims about native identity. 2:14
Meanwhile, the NFB withdrew Impractical Indian from distribution and all film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival 2021, where it was to debut in the United States.
The NFB said Monday in a release that its new release schedule “reflects the common priority of all involved in getting the film to earn its highest value,” and promoting dialogue and conversation on the issues raised in King’s book.