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Mtis actress confronts Pocahottie phenomenon with film Tuesday April 21 2015 9 ARTS CULTURE FILM www.auroracollege.nt.ca Please join us in Celebrating our Northern Graduates Thebacha Campus April 24th 2015 Fort Smith Recreation Centre 100 p.m. 2015 Spring Convocation Aurora College By DALI CARMICHAEL Tired of dealing with the Pocahontas fan- tasyimageofindigenouswomenthatpermeates mediapopcultureandherdailylifeoneMtis womanfromnorthernAlbertaistakingastand by releasing a short film addressing the issue. In her producers debut performer Tanis Parenteau from Peace River Alta. filmed A Big Black Space which unflinchingly exam- ines the imposed sexualization of indigenous women by outside cultures. I realized I have a big problem with what I keep calling the Pocahontas fantasy the hypersexualized native woman we always see in society in images and with celebrities dressing up as Pocahotties for Halloween said Parenteau who also wrote and stars in the roughly eight-minute short. As a native woman when I meet some non-native males they just have this fascination about the fact that Im native and its really creepy. Theres this fetish that brews underneath. Exasperated after experiencing this behav- iour on a regular basis Parenteau decided to take action the best way she knew how. I realized what I could do with this film is make a connection and show people why thats a problem why these images in society are a problem and how they actually affect native women in real life. The result is A Big Black Space. The story takes place at a party where an Aboriginal woman has a life-changing experience after narrowly escaping a sexual assault. The plot is based on a combination of Parenteaus own experiences. The idea came about when Parenteau was doing an exercise with her theatre group in NewYorkcalledSpiderwomanTheatreowned and operated by indigenous women since the 1970s. The crew was working on remount- ing its inaugural performance Women and Violence to demonstrate how little attitudes toward indigenous women have changed in the last four decades. The performance was collaborative and each member of the theatre was expected to share an event that happened to them or someone they knew. I didnt really think I was exposed to vi- olence because when I used to think of vio- lence I would think physical abuse like being beaten up or hit Parenteau said. Then it dawned on me that I had experienced this form of sexual violence. The small-budget film was shot in Paren- teaus apartment by a cast and crew made up of volunteers. Fellow Albertan Alexandra Lazarowich Fighting Chance directed the film which features Canadian Screen Award nominated actress Kawennhere Devery Ja- cobs Rhymes for Young Ghouls along with actors Greg Carere A Lot Like Marriage and Andreas Damm Person of Interest. Using fame to improve awareness FansmightrecognizeParenteaufromtheac- claimed Netflix show House Of Cards. In the shows second season she played indigenous casinowaitressTammyaloveinterestofDoug Stamper Michael Kelly the right-hand man of the shows notorious power-hungry pro- tagonist Frank Underwood Kevin Spacey. It was amazing everybody was really fan- tastic Parenteau said noting she didnt have todealwiththeracistbrandofsexismhernew film addresses. It was actually a dream job it was amazing. I was just treated so profession- allyandnobodyevercrossedanyofthoselines and made me feel uncomfortable with that fascination. Being kind of vulnerable in those scenes I am really happy that didnt happen. Parenteau looks forward to using her rise as an actress to draw attention to the issues that are important to her. With her movie she is contributing to an increasing pool of recent productions that draw attention to violence against indigenous women. Some of those projects include STOLEN a short film based on the story of Tina Fontaine being produced by Jacobs Down Here a tale of Vancouvers infamous East Hastings featuring fellow in- digenous activist and actress Tantoo Cardi- nal and Apikiwiyak Coming Home a film produced last year by Mtis filmmaker Shane Belcourt that examines Canadas colonial his- tory and its continued influence. Im doing this to be a voice and to have women be able to see themselves and to relate Parenteau said. Maybe it will get people to open up eventually and start talk- ing about it and healing. Ive been getting a lot of support all around. Parenteau hopes to run A Big Black Space through the film festival circuit this year. It is currently in post-production funded through a Kickstarter crowdsourcing campaign. To do- nate head to www.kickstarter.comprojects abigblackspacefilma-big-black-space-short-film. PhotoClaudeBauschinger Greg Carere left stars opposite Tanis Parenteau in the latters new film A Big Black Space.