Holy Angels

Holy Angels

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In 1963, Lena Wandering Spirit became one of the more than 150,000 Indigenous children who were removed from their families and sent to residential school. Jay Cardinal Villeneuve’s short documentary Holy Angels powerfully recaptures Canada’s colonialist history through impressionistic images and the fragmented language of a child. Villeneuve met Lena through his work as a videographer with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Filmed with a fierce determination to not only uncover history but move past it, Holy Angels speaks of the resilience of a people who have found ways of healing—and of coming home again.

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Holy Angels, Jay Cardinal Villeneuve, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

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Credits
  • writer
    Jay Cardinal Villeneuve
  • director
    Jay Cardinal Villeneuve
  • featuring
    Lena Wandering Spirit
    Phoenix Alec
  • producer
    Selwyn Jacob
  • director of photography
    Amy Belling
  • editor
    Ileana Pietrobruno
  • composer
    Wayne Lavallee
  • associate producer
    Teri Snelgrove
  • production supervisor
    Jennifer Roworth
  • production manager
    Caroline Coutts
  • additional cinematography
    Kirk Tougas
  • 1st assistant camera
    Desmond May
  • gaffer
    Tyler Burrows
  • sound recordist
    Jeff Henschel
    Lisa Kolisnyk
  • choreographer
    Michelle Olson
  • costume designer
    Dawn Mabee
  • stills photographer
    Rosamond Norbury
  • puppet maker
    Dustin Hagerud
  • production coordinator
    Kathleen Jayme
    Justin Mah
    Kristyn Stilling
  • production assistant
    Alan Reid
    Meredith Lewis
    Lu Zhang
  • technical coordinator
    Wes Machnikowski
  • sound design
    Chris McIntosh
  • re-recording mixer
    Chris McIntosh
  • digital colourist
    Andrea Chlebak
  • finishing services
    Umedia
  • marketing manager
    Leslie Stafford
  • publicist
    Katja De Bock
  • studio administrator
    Carla Jones
  • executive producer
    Shirley Vercruysse

  • JM

    Beautiful images and a heartbreaking yet important story. The ballerina capturing young Lena escaping that Hell to her dream world. Powerful. Congratulations.

    JM, 2 Jul 2021

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