Where the Spirit Lives

In 1937, a young Kainai girl named Ashtoh-Komi is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a Canadian policy to educate Aboriginal children and assimilate them into Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school, where she is forced to adopt Western Euro-centric ways and learn English, often under harsh treatment. Combined with the rejection of her peers (as she is a so-called "Bush Indian" who has not learnt white customs), Komi attempts to escape one night on foot with her little brother, Pita. However her plan is quickly foiled as the Indian Agent assigned to the school, Taggert, catches up and brings them back to the school; where Komi is subjected to further punishment. Eventually Rachel, Komi's only ally among the students, plead with the teachers to free her by promising to teach Komi to behave.

One teacher, Kathleen Gwillimbury, is portrayed as sympathetic and she becomes repelled by the bigotry of others at the school. She offers Komi help in the form of giving her English lessons which culminate in cultural exchange, where Kathleen learns Kainai words from Komi in exchange for her learning their English counterparts. Now Amelia, Komi improves her English quickly with the kindness and support of her teacher, gradually adjusting to the school environment while retaining her Kainai identity. But when Amelia learns that the teachers lied to her by telling her her parents had died, she decides to escape again, this time successfully.

• Michelle St. John – Ashtoh-Komi/Amelia[5]
• Kim Bruisedhead Fox – Anataki
• Clayton Julian – Pita/Abraham
• Ron White – Taggert
• Ann-Marie MacDonald – Kathleen Gwillimbury
• Doris Petrie – Miss Weir
• Chapelle Jaffe – Miss Appleby
• David Hemblen – Reverend Buckley
• John Friesen – Mr. Babcock
• Patricia Collins – Mrs. Barrington
• Graham Greene – Komi's father[6]

The idea for the film originated when the producers and screenwriter were working on the 13-episode CBC television series Spirit Bay, which focused on native children growing up on a Northern Ontario Indian reserve. They "kept hearing bitter stories about residential schools"[1] and were inspired to tell a story about that system in a film.

Primary financing for the film's $2.6 million budget was provided by Telefilm Canada ($1.25 million) and the CBC ($500,000), who secured first rights to the film. Other financing came from the Ontario Film Development Corporation, Mid-Canada TV, and Atlantis Releasing. Canadian film director and producer Norman Jewison "personally contributed $12,500, half the cost of making a theatrical print for film festivals",[7] with the other half supplied by the Ontario Film Development Corp.

The film began shooting on September 26, 1988.[8] Locations included Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta and Toronto.[9]

Although created for television, the film was shot in 35 mm[1] and as a result was able to be screened in theaters. It was shown at various film festivals in Canada and the United States from 1989 through 2002. It was also screened at some colleges and universities, as part of college film festivals,[10][11] classes,[12] or special events related to Indigenous or Native American studies.[13]

Film festival screenings included:

• September 9, 1989: Vancouver International Film Festival[4]
• September 13, 1989: Toronto International Film Festival[4]
• September 23, 1989: Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival[4]
• October 1989: Chicago International Film Festival[14]
• October 22, 26, and 28, 1989: Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival[15][16]
• November 11, 1989: American Indian Film Festival[17]
• May 13, 1990: Rivertown International Film Festival, Minneapolis – Saint Paul[18]
• July 22, 1990: Goodwill Film Festival: A Forum of Young Cinema, Seattle[19]
• November 1, 1990: Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, "Back By Popular Demand" series[20]
• November 10, 1990: American Indian Film Festival, repeat screening[21]
• April 30, 1992: WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival[22]
• December 2002: The Best of the 27th Annual American Indian Film Festival, Rapid City, SD[23]

The film won nine awards and was nominated for two additional awards.[24]

Specific awards include:

• 1989: Bruce Pittman won the Best Director award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.[24]
• 1989: Pittman won the Gold Plaque in the category of Television Production – Feature Film Made for TV – Network Special Achievement in Direction at the Chicago International Film Festival.[24]
• 1989: The film won the Most Popular Canadian Film (audience award) at the Vancouver International Film Festival.[25][24]
• 1989: The film won the South Florida Critics Special Jury Prize for Drama at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival.[26]
• 1990: The film won four Gemini Awards:
  • Best TV Movie, presented to its producers[27]
  • Michelle St. John for Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series[27]
  • Ann-Marie MacDonald for Best Performance by a Supporting Actress[28]
  • Michael Todd for Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series[24]
• 1990: The film was nominated for two additional Gemini Awards:[24]
  • Pittman for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
  • Keith Ross Leckie for Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• 1990: Pittman and the film won the Lucas Award at the Lucas International Festival of Films for Children and Young People.[24]

• Sleeping Children Awake, a 1992 documentary about residential schools
• We Were Children, a 2012 Canadian documentary about residential schools
• Our Spirits Don't Speak English (2008), a documentary film about Native American boarding schools in the United States.

• Where the Spirit Lives, Screen Door Website
• Where the Spirit Lives at IMDb
• Where the Spirit Lives at AllMovie