description

A ONE-HOUR TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY

In 1972, five young film students made a documentary about the Sayisi Dene, an aboriginal band in Northern Canada that had been forcibly relocated from their ancestral home 16 years earlier. Today, three of the original group, now seasoned filmmakers, revisit these people as they continue to struggle to put their tragic past behind them. The film explores their efforts to keep their values and traditions in balance with the realities of the 21st century.

credits

Produced and Directed by
MICHAEL FULLER
ROBERT LANG
SHEILA PETZOLD

Writers
ROBERT LANG
SHEILA PETZOLD

Editor
MICHAEL FULLER

Directors of Photography
IAN KERR
RICHARD STRINGER

Production Manager
RICHARD JEZ

Executive Producer
ROBERT LANG

Produced by Kensington Communications Inc. in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and with the Aboriginal People's Television Network, Knowledge Network and SCN. With the participation of Telefilm Canada and the License Fee Program of the Canadian Television Fund and the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund.

reviews

"Almost Home is one of those deceptively simple documentaries that quickly goes to the heart of an issue and explains much about the current problems of Canada's aboriginal peoples...compulsively watchable and stocked with characters whose strengths leap out at you."
Jim Bawden, StarWeek

"I would highly recommend this film in the international fora, to First Nations' schools, Aboriginal Studies Programs, to First Nations Peoples and indigenous peoples who have struggled with the effect of relocation and mass assimilation. This film accurately tells the Sayisi Dene story and in the end offers hope."
Phil Fontaine, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations

awards

Best Social/Political Documentary and winner of the Kathleen Shannon Award at the 2004 Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival.

distribution

CBC, APTN, Knowledge Network and SCN.