| Permanent Studios |
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Fibre-optic broadband infrastructure supports a variety of digital applications -- including community-based media projects.
In Quebec, the First Nations Education Council partnered with a variety of organizations to install broadband in 13 of their 22 member First Nations communities. These networks enable members of those communities to distribute and share digital media .
Permanent Studios is one of many examples where the upgraded networks linking First Nations IT Regional Networks to communities creates training opportunities and raises cultural awareness.
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| Click for a map of involved Nations: Pikogan, Opitciwan, Manawan, Kitcisakik, Wemotaci, and Lac Simon |
Produced by the First Nations Education Council, the Permanent Studios homepage states: “[t]he goal of this Website is to sensitize the Canadian public to Native culture via short films and documentaries depicting various aspects of the traditional and contemporary realities of the First Nations of Quebec”.
Permanent Studios currently hosts eleven films by young filmmakers from three First Nations: Atikamekw, Anicinabe (Algonquin) and Innu (Montagnais).
Six of these films feature a specific community, and three are produced by members of the Anicinabe (Algonquin) Nation. These films are about three member communities of that nation, the communities of Kitcisakik, Lac Simon, and Pikogan. There are also three films on the three communities of the Atikamekw Nation: Wemotaci, Opitciwan, and Manawan.
The remaining five films cover a broad range of topics, from traditional hunting and trapping to the experience of a contemporary Innu youth surviving and thriving in northern Quebec. Click for more information on these films about culture, traditions and communities.
Resources for Teachers
Accompanying the video productions are teacher resources for use in Quebec classrooms. According to the website, these resources "aim to enable elementary and secondary schoolteachers to explore with their students learning situations pertaining to the Quebec First Nations. Some activities can be made at home".
A Video from Studio Miskwadesi in Kitcisakik
Permanent Studios operates out of two locations, Studio Wapikoni in Wemotaci and Studio Miskwadesi in Kitcisakik.
Permanent Studios is linked to the Wapikoni mobile project. Professional filmmakers at the community based-studios operate mobile training facilities, or caravans, that travel to remote communities. From these mobile training facilities, the professionals train community youth on all aspects of video production.
Click here to find Wemotaci Studio on Google Maps.
Click here to find Studio Miskwadesi in Kitcisakik on Google Maps.