By Derek Cornet

‘It should say to everyone that our stories matter’: La Ronge filmmaker joins Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Jul 6, 2018 | 5:00 PM

A filmmaker from La Ronge will have a pivotal impact in Hollywood after being invited to join the ranks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Danis Goulet was one of 928 people from dozens of countries who recently received memberships into the professional honourary organization in charge of selecting Oscar winners. As the Canadian Features Programmer with the Toronto International Film Festival, Goulet said she met a selector with the Academy who asked her to submit some of her work to a committee. Among the films she sent were Wapawekka and Barefoot, both of which were shot in northern Saskatchewan.

“I’m really happy the Academy is making these steps to include voices that haven’t been there before,” she said. “The stories I talk about and that I’m interested in telling haven’t really been seen widely.”

One of the reasons Goulet also believes she was selected to join the organization is because in recent years there’s been a push to diversify the membership. She recalled the #OscarsSoWhite movement on social media in 2015 when all 20 actor nominees were Caucasian, adding part of the critique was there were too many white men of a certain age judging and rewarding the same kind of films. Being an Indigenous woman, she said she’s part of the push to change it.

In the film industry, Goulet said it’s hard for women and people of visible minorities to receive top roles in productions. She noted only about four per cent of Hollywood blockbusters are directed by women, adding the percentage for visible minorities is even less. In recent years, Goulet said there’s been more discussion about who gets to tell stories and who gets to portray them.

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“As a Cree/Métis woman that wants to tell stories about the people I grew up with in northern Saskatchewan, I’m really proud that that got noticed,” she said. “It should say to everyone that our stories matter and that they are important and people will respond to them.”

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno