Confederation College Conflix Graduates work on acclaimed short film

THUNDER BAY, ON, November 4, 2022 – Graduates of Confederation College Film Production program (Conflix) had the opportunity to partner with The Creative Sovereignty Lab this past summer. The Creative Sovereignty Lab offers internships to Indigenous youth to help them get a start in the film industry.

Directors Kyle Schmalenberg and Victoria Anderson-Gardner approached the Conflix team asking for students who would be available to help shoot their film, Braided Together, in Thunder Bay. Three students were hired: Zeke Quill as Camera Operator, Colby Geisel as first Assistant Camera and Niklas Metcalfe as Gaffer. This was their first professional job on set since graduating in 2022. In order to make this possible, Confederation College offered equipment for the graduates to use.

"Our students impressed the crew with their knowledge and understanding, showing off the skills they learned in the program,"Andrew Simpson, Professor, Confederation College Film Production, explained. "This partnership was a huge success for all of us and we hope to play our part in the film program to bring more filmmakers and their stories to Thunder Bay in the future."

Braided Together is about a young girl who moves to Thunder Bay. Having experienced racism in the past, she struggles to make friends and worries she will ensue the same exclusion. Through her perseverance, she learns about the struggles of others while she embarks on new friendships.

Thunder Bay and surrounding area were the perfect film location. "We wanted to film the short [in Thunder Bay] to build relationships with the city and its departments in terms of permits, with local businesses that could support the film, with the college itself, and to understand better what's possible about shooting in the North," Kyle Schmalenberg explained.

The film respected cultural traditions: Schmalenberg explained "the first two days of the week were spent doing workshop-related things, having Elders from the community give talks and help orient [the cast and crew] in a good way, and allowing mentors from the crew to train and develop practical skills with their mentees."

The film was well received at Vox Popular, a local media arts festival, and is currently enjoying a successful festival run. The hope is that the production team will return to the area to shoot a feature-length film.

After the film's festival run is completed, it will be available to view online. Confederation College will promote the film and share the link to view, once available. If you are interested in learning more about the Film Production program at Confederation College, visit confederationcollege.ca/film or conflix.com.

Confederation College has been serving the citizens of northwestern Ontario since 1967 meeting the educational needs of students in a catchment area of some 550,000 square kilometres. Along with its main campus in Thunder Bay, Confederation College has seven regional sites located in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake, as well as a growing Distance Education division.

Confederation College delivers exceptional education and training to an average of 4,800 combined full- and part-time students per year and currently has a total of 600 full- and part-time employees. Confederation's regional economic impact and contribution is valued at $703.3 million annually.