Sudbury filmmaker looks to highlight Black-Indigenous cultural relations

It's Black History Month, a time to recognize the accomplishments, achievements and struggles faced by the community -- and to consider what more can be done to fight systemic racism.

One Sudbury filmmaker is looking to highlight what it means to be Black, Indigenous or Afro-Indigenous as part of his next project.

He and others are continuing their calls to end colonial attitudes, but most importantly, they're looking to get people to listen.

"In terms of a local sense, I am seeing improvements," said Isak Vaillancourt.

"I feel like it's been very incremental, but we are still advocating for a lot of the same things we've been advocating for since 2020."

Vaillancourt, a member of Black Lives Sudbury, along with his friend Ra'anaa Brown, have been working to bring about change in the community.

His last short documentary, 'Amplify,' was an award-winning film that amplified the voices of black women. Vaillancourt is hoping to repeat some of that same magic with his new project, 'Collective Resistance.'

"We'll be talking about what it means to be Black, Indigenous or Afro-Indigenous in what we now call Canada. So we really … learn more about the shared conditions of marginalization which affect both communities," said Vaillancourt.

"There's also underlying things that we want to talk about, this idea of Black/Indigenous solidarity," said Brown.

"The idea of how Black people can reconcile with being stolen people on stolen land and understanding while our struggles are completely different, there's a lot of overlap in the issues that we are dealing with and the marginalization that we are facing at the hands of our institutions."

The film is in the creative stage. They're fundraising and interviewing subjects. They hope to have it ready next year.

For Vaillancourt, it's about giving people a voice.

"I think it's a matter of sharing their stories through my perspective and as I've grown, I realize that I offer a specific viewpoint … that's not often represented in media, so that's what makes it special for me," he said.

Vaillancourt is hopeful by watching, it will help audiences reflect, creating a better vision for the future.

They also hope this latest project will give people a better understanding of cultural relations and systemic barriers.