Film about forced displacement of Inuit will have world premiere at Toronto festival
‘Hebron Relocation’ gets two showings at Hot Docs
About 60 years ago, Inuit residents of Hebron, in northern Labrador, were forced to relocate away from their community. The short documentary ‘Forced Relocation’ tells that story. It will get its premier at Hot Docs in Toronto this month. (Photo courtesy of National Film Board of Canada)
Holly Andersen hopes her film Hebron Relocation will be seen extensively.
So the filmmaker, who lives in the town of Makkovik in Nunatsiavut, an autonomous area claimed by Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, is excited the documentary will have its world premiere at the Canadian international documentary film festival Hot Docs.
The festival begins April 27 and continues until May 7 in Toronto.
The film is about the 1959 forced relocation of Inuit from their Labrador community of Hebron. In her film, Andersen speaks to family members and friends of those who were relocated.
The documentary focuses on how the relocation has had generational impacts on Labrador Inuit.
Andersen is thrilled her film will have its debut in Canada’s largest city.
“That’s a great big one to start with,” Andersen said of the Hot Docs festival.
More than 200 documentaries from around the world will be shown at the Toronto event.
Hebron Relocation, a 15-minute film, will have two screenings.
It will be shown on May 3 at the Scotiabank Theatre at 5:30 p.m. The second screening is scheduled for May 7 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox at 8:30 p.m. The film can also be streamed in Canada from May 5 to May 9 via Hot Docs.
“It’s amazing,” Andersen said. “I knew we submitted it for the festival. But I really didn’t think it was going to be selected.”
In fact, Andersen was convinced her film would not be included in the Toronto festival, so she booked herself a recent trip to visit friends in Montreal and Oshawa, located about a half-hour drive from Toronto.
And then once word arrived that Hebron Relocation would indeed be part of Hot Docs, Andersen had to make plans for another trip west to attend the Toronto festival.
Hebron Relocation has also been submitted to other festivals in British Columbia, Alberta and in the United States. But Andersen has yet to receive word on whether it will be accepted into any of those other events.
Andersen’s current house was one of those that were hastily built to accommodate the more than 200 residents of Hebron who were forced to leave their community more than six decades ago and be divided up into other southern centres.
Andersen, who is 38, had some limited knowledge about the relocation from various members of her community. But she admits her knowledge of the move only began to take off when she started doing some research.
“Once I started to learn more, I thought I really want to do that now,” she said of the making of her film.
Various members of her current community, including family members of those who were forced to move, provide their thoughts of the relocation for the film.
Andersen is hoping that those who view her film realize that Inuit people were not looking for a drastic change in their lives.
“The message I want people to take away is mainly be kind to people,” she said. “In general, a lot of the people that were relocated didn’t have a say in the matter. It was the government, health officials and the church that decided this would happen.”
For many of those relocated, government promises of housing did not come right away. Houses were not built in time and many of those that were forced to move had to spend several months living in harsh conditions in tents.
Since they were unfamiliar with the hunting and fishing in their new communities, many of the Hebron community members starved upon relocation. Others committed suicide since they were unhappy with their new surroundings.
As a result, Andersen knew she had to sensitively work on aspects of the relocation in her film.
“Still to this day there is generational trauma going on,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that if those who were relocated were watching this, it wouldn’t trigger anything.”
Hebron Relocation was produced via the Labrador Documentary Project. This project, which features first-time Labrador Inuit filmmakers, aims to create and distribute Inuit stories from Inuit perspectives.
Andersen hopes her short documentary might be turned into a full-length feature film one day.
“Right now, I want to see and feel the buzz of this and see if anybody reaches out to do that,” she said.
Inuit were always nomads, until very recently.
Inuit would do a lot better if they resumed the nomadic ways of their ancestors, and were willing to move to places with better opportunities. This notion that it’s colonial to ever have to leave your tiny community and move to a different one is created by activists.
People everywhere have always had to move, and people everywhere weren’t always the ones to choose when they left, or where they went. It’s nice that in the present people have individual choice in where they live, but one of the reasons they do is that they receive a ton of outside support to remain in an unproductive location, unlike in the old days. Endless government support might not always be possible, and it’s best if people everywhere in Canada keep this in mind.
Inuit were nomadic between specific areas at different times of the year. Don’t confuse this with forced relocation. Don’t confuse this with forced indoctrination.
The Canadian government used to have a Department of Colonization.
People need to understand the difference between choice and forced decisions in a so-called free and democratic society.
So they could choose to remain in Hebron, then. It’s just the colonial stuff that was pulled out, and with it being 1955, those colonial services were not even that extensive. Living the old way wherever they want remains to this day an option for Inuit. It’s a really difficult and often deadly life, so that’s why people don’t do it. not because colonialists forbid it (which they don’t, and there’s no such thing as a “colonialist” anyway, except in the feverish fantasies of activists.)
it is an interesting story that the past residents of Hebron have to share, and what a stage on which to share the premiere, hot docs… also reading in Bill Romkey’s book, The Story of Labrador, of Nutak, a neighbouring settlement of Hebron that was closed at that time. It is good to hear and know more of those things that happened a few dozen years ago
In this case it was colonialism. it was white supremacy. truth hurts sometimes. but it must be told. no more hiding white crimes
Hebron was a Moravian mission. Before 1831, there was no Moravian Mission. Then in 1959, it was closed.
Settlements are never permanent. Even the oldest settlements in Europe, Asia and Africa are built on top of even older settlements that were there before and were abandoned before the area was eventually resettled.
Nothing is permanent. It’s nothing personal. It’s not a “colonial” act to close a colonial institution that was never there for thousands of years before.
Good to know about historical wrongdoings, absolutely.
However, I am more interested in and concerned by the incredible crime rate in the north – particularly the appalling levels of sexual violence against children.
That needs to be publicized more to help reduce the crimes against our most vulnerable.
Will this movie be a history grumbler to live in the past and not notice the current locking down and the moving of people into high density areas happening across Nunavut today? Health centers closed, education lowering (massive number of Nunavut kids can’t read, count past 10 or write by time reach Grade 2, 3), no urgency filling unfilled teaching or health jobs.
A Nunavut government MLA over the past 4 years has been pumping for universal wage with no work. 15-minute cities, aka climate lockdowns coming to Nunavut fast.
Who will you blame who’s hard locking you down and moving you into high density areas this time? Or are you the Inuk who’s making people aware? Instead of a virus to fear, it’ll be the ole dusted off antagonist climate change in rage. With co-stars, evil eating meat (New York mayor 4 days ago announces stop eating meat following Vancouver, Toronto mayors).
The Feds announced in March by the Environment Minister, $6.6 million to monitor caribou. Is this to produce data to stop hunting and eating caribou so environment minister can say it’s saving the planet?
Watch. It’ll be better to lockdown your freedom of movement and be happy eating bugs (then why are massive cricket farms springing up across Canada now?)
Top Inuit are playing a big part to lock all down. Why isn’t one Inuit Org speaking out? Ruling $$$$$ ?
An autonomous are claimed by the Inuit !!!
Quite a democratic and modern process isn`t it ?
Also nobody seems to care about the fact that these settlements closing happened as part of the Gov. of Newfoundland initiative to close also a multitude of small communities on the island itself.
Seen anybody on the island claiming a special nebulous status ?
Thanks