2009 | Drama | 6 min

Film

Synopsis

On a summer day in the 1950s, a native girl watches the countryside go by from the backseat of a car. A woman at her kitchen table sings a lullaby in her Cree language. When the girl arrives at her destination, she undergoes a transformation that will turn the woman’s gentle voice into a howl of anger and pain.

In a place like this there aren’t many chances to be a kid, but when no one’s watching… 

A residential school musical.

Credits

Writer / Director Lisa Jackson
Featuring Skeena Reece, Ta’Kaiya Blaney
Producers Lori Lozinksi, Lauren Grant
Cinematographer Bob Aschmann
Editors Hart Snider, Brendan Woollard
Music Rodrigo Caballero
Sound Designer Jon Ritchie

Awards

Best Short Film

2010 Genie Award

Best Multicultural Film

Yorkton Golden Sheaf Award

Outstanding Canadian Short Film

ReelWorld Film Festival

Best Actress & Best Editing

Leo Awards

Selected Festivals

Berlinale Forum Expanded
SXSW Film Festival 
imagineNATIVE Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival 
Uppsala International Short Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival
Festival International du Film d’Amiens
New York International Children’s Film Festival

Press

“Lisa Jackson’s video Savage is an unexpected mix of genres, from zombie film to hip hop to American musical… It will break your heart, then startle you. Nothing is resolved.”
The Georgia Straight

“A beautiful and surprising Ghost Dance.”
Northwest Film & Video Festival

“It’s an amazingly effective use of a sci fi trope to convey the historical reality of Native Americans/First Nations people who were taken to boarding schools, yet the film as a whole is so subtle and leaves room for the viewer, so that it doesn’t become overly didactic or preachy.”
Fantasy Matters Blog