As part of Sydney Frances Pascal: We raised ourselves, together and alone (May 31, 2024 — September 22, 2024), this programme features film works by Sydney Frances Pascal (Líl̓wat) and Aerial Sunday-Cardinal (Nehiyaw, Plains Cree). This screening will be followed by a conversation between Sydney and Aerial, moderated by Joelle Johnston, Indigenous Liaison and Community Outreach / Curator of Sydney Pascal’s exhibition.

Doors at 6:30pm
Films at 7pm
Artist Q&A to follow
RSVPs are appreciated

Films

distance (2022, 6min)
Director: Sydney Frances Pascal

distance imagines a search conducted by Sydney’s grandmother whose daughter — Sydney’s mother — was taken without her consent by child welfare authorities in the 1960s.

n̓ áskan nwálhen ninskúz7a (i am going to meet my daughter) (2023, 11 min)
Director: Sydney Frances Pascal

n̓áskan nwálhen ninskúz7a draws on archival audio from a 1990s BCTV news feature capturing the reunion between Sydney’s grandmother and her adult daughter. After its first screening as part of this year’s Whitney Biennial film programme, this is the Canadian premiere of Sydney Pascal’s latest film work.

4, 6, 2, 0, (2023, 15min)
Director: Aerial Sunday-Cardinal
Cinematography: Andriy Lyskov

A short film documentary that takes place on Whitefish Lake First Nation #128 and Saddle Lake Cree Nation. It offers an insight into and a reminder of Nehiyaw traditions and values as we near the prophetic end of times.

Image: 4, 6, 2, 0, film still

About the Artists

Sydney Frances Pascal is a member of Líl̓wat nation. She is currently living and working on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

Her multi-disciplinary practice includes hide tanning, video, sound, and poetry. She uses her practice to tell her family’s story, speak about identity and what it is like navigating as an Indigenous person within a colonial society. Her work over the past few years is grounded by her continued connection to land-based material practices. Most recently, she has exhibited her films in the Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing.

Aerial Sunday-Cardinal is a ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ (Nehiyaw, Plains Cree) multidisciplinary artist from Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation #128, Northern Alberta, Treaty 6 territory. Her mediums include: performance art, singing, dancing, painting, drawing, sculpting, photography, poetry, screenwriting, music production, cooking and beading. Aerial has performed and showcased her work across Canada, including spaces such as the Vancouver Art Gallery, NIFF, Poundmaker Indigenous Performance Art Festival, and the Jasper Dark Sky Festival. Most recently, Aerial directed and edited a short film titled ‘4620’, which first premiered and was awarded at the Festival of Recorded Movement in 2023. Aerial shows dedication to the red road through being a committed sundancer, faster, powwow dancer, medicine picker and a life-long learner. Aerial’s experiences and identity as an Indigenous person are inseparable from her art, concepts and numerous creations.

Banner Image: film still from Sydney Frances Pascal's distance, 2022