Amplify Healing

  • Art can be used as a healing tool and so I feel like any kind of release that you can express in an art form is ultimately healing, but it has to be self-determined by the artist making the work and/or going through that process of healing.

    Jessica Issac
  • I would spend time intentionally seeking out art, essentially. To try to make sense of my grief and my pain … and I saw this piece (by Daphne Odjig) … it captured so much.

    Tara Williamson

Episode 7

Musical Inspiration.

Victoria-based Cree singer-songwriter and poet Tara Williamson’s music is an unflinching document of self. Her first 2 EPs - Lie Low and ndn summer were received with praise and made it on numerous music blogs and countdowns across Turtle Island. Her third album, Songs to Keep Us Warm, builds on the clever songwriting and expressive vocals heard in her first two EPs while revealing the deep heart of an artist willing to risk vulnerability in the pursuit of emotional truth. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards. Tara is also a professional writer and educator, who served as Editor of the online Indigenous media platform, Indian & Cowboy, and she is also developing a musical about murdered and missing Indigenous women.

In this episode, Tara speaks about her search for meaning and understanding in art after an unspeakable personal loss in her life. She explains, “I would spend time intentionally seeking out art [...] to make sense of my grief and pain. I saw this piece [by Daphne Odjig] that captured so much.” Tara comes upon Anishinaabe artist Daphne Odjig’s painting Enfolding, forming a special connection with it and undergoing a journey towards healing through the art.

The Team:
  • Director: Madison Thomas
  • Producer: Michelle St John
  • Producer: Jeremy Edwardes
  • Producer: Shane Belcourt
  • Executive Producer: Jim Compton
  • Executive Producer: R. Todd Ivey
  • Featuring: Tara Williamson
  • Featuring: Mary Wilson
  • Featuring: Tracy Sanderson
  • Cinematographer: Sean Stiller
  • Editor: Peter Kelly
  • Sound and score: Anthony Wallace




Exerpts

Web Trailer

Cree songwriter Tara Williamson speaks about her search for meaning and understanding from unspeakable loss in art, and how she eventually found a special connection to legendary Anishinaabe artistsDaphne Odjig’s painting, “Enfolding”.

Enfolding

Watch the music video for Tara Williamson’s song Enfolding. This music video was edited by Francis Laliberte.

  • cherryl

Amplifier

Songwriter Tara Williamson is accompanied by her music producer Justin Delerome as they walk through the songwriting and studio recording process for Enfolding.

  • TARA WILLIAMSON



    Tara Williamson is a Victoria based poet and provocateur- the spark that ignites the flame. A First Nations singer/songwriter, her music is an unflinching document of self: the truth that hurts before it heals. Her first 2 EPs - Lie Low (produced by James McKenty) and ndn summer (produced by Kinnie Starr) were received with praise and made it on numerous music blogs and countdowns across Turtle Island.

    Her newest album, Songs to Keep Us Warm (produced by Jim Bryson), builds on the clever songwriting and expressive vocals heard in her first two EPs while revealing the deep heart of an artist willing to risk vulnerability in the pursuit of emotional truth. These songs invoke intimacy in its many unbreakable, deathless forms, and remind us how love changes our voice. Songs to Keep Us Warm features collaborations with Leanne Simpson and Cris Derksen and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards.

    Not only a recording and performing artist, Tara is also a professional writer and educator. She served as the Editor of the online Indigenous media platform, Indian & Cowboy, spearheaded by Ryan McMahon and is developing a musical about murdered and missing Indigenous women under the mentorship of Tomson Highway.

    WEBSITE
  • Madison Thomas



    Madison Thomas is a filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her work reflects her mixed cultural roots, Ojibwe, Saulteax, Russian and Ukrainian.

    Thomas’s own dramatic web-series “The Colour of Scar Tissue” was the winner of the 2017 ImagineNative/APTN Web-Series Pitch Competition and was made available on APTN in fall 2018 after premiering at the 2018 ImagineNative festival. The series received a strong response from audiences for it’s artistic and authentic portrayals.

    Thomas has also worked for the past four seasons as a Researcher, Senior Editor and Director for the CBC & APTN series “Taken” produced by Eagle Vision Productions which shares the true stories of Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous woman. In 2018 Thomas along with the rest of the show’s Research team were honoured with a Canadian Screen Award nomination for their work on the show.

    Thomas is alumni of the prestigious Women in the Director’s Chair Story and Leadership Program where she began development on her sci-fi feature film “Last Call.” The film’s script was a runner up in the Canadian wide writing contest “From the Dark Side” in 2015. At the 2017 Whistler Film Festival Thomas was also selected for the Aboriginal Film Fellowship with her short film “Starbound.”

    In 2018 Thomas and her producing partner Darcy Waite were selected as part of Telefilm’s inaugural Talent to Watch program with Thomas’s feature film “Ruthless Souls.” Thomas believes that giving back to the community is a fundamental part of her responsibility as an artist. She often teaches film to inner city and low income youth. In 2016 she was selected as a Tedx Winnipeg speaker and her talk “Arts in the Hood” focused on her journey as an artist and her work as a mentor.

    In 2019 Thomas joined the writer’s room for the third season of the CBC/CW series “Burden of Truth.” Thomas also wrote and directed several short docs as well as the show opening for the 2019 APTN Indigenous Day Live national broadcast. Under production companies Media Rendezvous and Amberwood Films Thomas is working as a writer and director on the new pre- school animated series “Wolf Joe” set to begin airing on TVO in 2020.

    Thomas was one of three director’s selected to shadow on the new CBC series “Trickster” under award winning filmmaker Michelle Latimer and Sienna films. Thomas was also one of eighth directors selected for the 2019 Canadian Academy program for Female Directors. She was also named one of Playback Magazine’s “filmmakers to watch” for 2019.

    IMDB
    shane belcourt

Enfolding was recorded at Frank Digital Studio.

FRANK’s focus, whether we are producing a short television commercial, a documentary, or a television series is to produce thought provoking socially responsible content.

Address: 509 Century St, Winnipeg
Website: www.frankdigital.ca
Song producer: Justin Delorme
Filming locations: City of Winnipeg