New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, NWT
2018 – 2022
A collaborative project with Quiver Artist Collective*, Rebel Sister Productions and Shortworks Productions
The Beacon Project is a series of films done in collaboration with Indigenous communities along The Great Trail (Trans Canada Trail). A companion piece to the feature documentary 500 Days in the Wild — the six-year, 24,000 km pilgrimage of filmmaker Dianne Whelan — The Beacon Project is an exploration of the beacons that guide Dianne on her journey, and the wisdom of those that live close to the land.
The Beacon Project engages youth, artists, Elders and Grandmothers in a collaborative process of listening and sharing, and ask the questions, What has been lost? What do we need to know? The films emerge out of this shared reflection and dialogue, and are an honouring of signals, guides, warnings and celebrations as we continue our journey into the future.
Quiver Artist Collective consists of sound artist/musician Lindsay Dobbin, media artist Ann Verrall and documentary filmmaker Dianne Whelan. Ann and Lindsay live in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, and Dianne lives in unceded shíshálh (Sechelt) territory. Quiver Artist Collective gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Indigenous people and their ancestral territories throughout Turtle Island. The Beacon films were produced by The Quiver Artist Collective, directed and filmed by Ann Verrall & Dianne Whelan, edited by Ann Verrall with sound creation and direction by Lindsay Dobbin.
This is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter initiative. With this $35M initiative, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada.
Ce projet est l’un des 200 projets exceptionnels soutenus par l’initiative Nouveau chapitre du Conseil des arts du Canada. Avec cette initiative 35 M$, le Conseil des arts appuie la création et le partage des arts au cœur de nos vies et dans l’ensemble du Canada.
