Emerging Ancestors Film Premiere and After-Party

The Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society (VACS) seeks to research and engage with arts co-creation in the local Vancouver community and beyond. Accordingly, it would like to present its latest documentary: “Emerging Ancestors”.

The documentary is an examination of the ways in which humans respond to conflict and adversity, namely with art.

What does it mean to be an Emerging Ancestor? “Emerging Ancestors” seeks to engage with this topic through Indigenous and Ecological interpretations of an ‘elder’, in the sense of a teacher. Through this strong BC indigenous lens, we seek to highlight the ways in which art can be used to move towards healing from trauma, struggle, the past, and more. Moreover, we seek to show death as a natural part of life, while still considering the need to fight for the sake of life in regard to the degenerating environment and social isolation.

Our speakers range from Professors and Artists--such as comic artist and head of the UBC Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, Dr. Bernie Perley; to independent Métis artist, Daphne Boyer; to local student and activist, Yunji Hwang; to President of the BC Wheelchair Floorball Association, Kyle Gieni--and many more!

Producer & Director Keiko Honda says, “The Documentary Emerging Ancestors is an introduction to participatory storytelling. It addresses the broad question of how knowledge from nature can be integrated with knowledge of the humanities, especially regarding transcendence in one’s life. We use the water cycle as a model and metaphor to explore how best to build this synthesis of knowledge across disciplines and generations.”

The documentary will be released on Friday, January 13, 2023, and will be available for screening at the Roundhouse Performance Centre. FREE and Open to the public. Pre-registration is required.

We hope you enjoy our critical study of Art in the community!

Keiko Honda - Producer, Director, & Script Writer

Jonathan Pineda - Assistant Director, Editor, Interviewer

Dax Avery Hamouth - Co-Script Writer, Interviewer

Lilly Lin - Graphic Artist/Animator, Interviewer

Allan Chan - Interviewer

Alistair Eagle - Filming & Photography

J. Plant - Narrator

Established in 2014, the mandate of the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society (VACS) is to widen public engagement with contemporary art free from the restrictions of the market imperative. In fulfilling our mandate, our mission is to make space, tools, motivation, and community available for people to experience contemporary art as audiences and as creators, across cultural, financial, disciplinary, linguistic, gender, disability-based, and generational boundaries. Please visit: www.myvacs.org

VACS has arts partnership at the Roundhouse and is grateful to live and work on the unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.