Take! - Film festival wraps up

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Despite funding cutbacks which prompted last-minute admissions fees to many venues, the third annual Dreamspeaker Festival was, by all accounts, a resounding success.

The three-day festival of music, film, craft and dance is the only festival of its kind in the world. The Aboriginal festival drew a crowd of more than 30,000 to its six different downtown venues from Aug. 24-27.

That figure, which was up slightly than last year, came as a pleasant surprise to organizers who had worried the $6 admission charge might deter people from attending.

"We were concerned about having to charge, but the public were actually very understanding about it," said Loro Carmen, the festival's executive director.

In addition to highlighting the best of Canada's Aboriginal arts community, the festival also brought together delegates from New Zealand and Guam.

For Greg Coyes, Dreamspeaker's president and a Metis film maker, the Maori film series was one of the biggest highlights of the festival.

"It was really an inspiring series, both from a creative point of view and from a production point of view...We have a long way to go to catch up to them in terms of their craft," he explained.

This year 142 films were submitted for screening, with 88 per cent having Aboriginal participation. A new feature is the Alanis Obomsawin Award, given in recognition of outstanding achievement in the film industry. The award, a bear sculpture by Alberta artist Stewart Steinhauer, was presented this year to Karen Sidney, producer of a Maori film.