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Holy Angels

2017 13 min
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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

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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.

  • 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

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Education

Ages 14 to 18
School subjects

Warnings: descriptions of physical abuse. This short film can be used as an entry point for discussion, research and projects relating to residential schools. How did colonization policies like residential schools attempt to destroy Indigenous Peoples’ culture? What were the purposes of residential schools and what are the short- and long-term (intergenerational) impacts on individuals, families and communities? After learning about the horrific treatment Indigenous children faced at residential schools, describe the ethical and moral values of perpetrators who abused children at an individual and social level. Does the legacy of residential schools continue to impact Canadian society? What influenced the closure of the schools? How are individuals, communities and organizations working to enable healing and reconciliation? What are qualities of resilience and how can society take part in action initiatives that support reconciliation?

Holy Angels
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Home licence (worldwide); Classroom licence (Canada only)

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The institutional price includes the rights to screen this film in institutional settings and in free public screenings.