Unreserved at TIFF: Indigenous films, directors and #TaikaWatch2019
This week, Unreserved is at one of the biggest and most prestigious film festivals in the world: the Toronto International Film Festival!
Follow along as Rosanna Deerchild tracks down a handful of the 13 Indigenous filmmakers who are screening films this year — including an exhaustive search for the most sought-after filmmaker: Maori director Taika Waititi. He's a busy man, his latest film Jojo Rabbit premieres at TIFF this year, but your favourite cousin is determined to find him.
During #TaikaWatch2019, we snack on some popcorn with Jesse Wente, the director of the National Indigenous Screen Office, and he tells us about some of the Indigenous films screening at TIFF this year.
An Indigenous take on the zombie apocalypse is the premise of Jeff Barnaby's latest film, Blood Quantum — where a Mi'kmaq community that's mysteriously immune to the plague grapples with whether or not to take in citizens seeking safety.
Premiering her 53rd film at TIFF, Alanis Obomsawin's latest work is called Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger. It's about a Cree boy who was born with complex health issues, and who died having never spent a day at home. Her film explores the legacy he leaves behind with Jordan's Principle.
Acclaimed Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk screened his latest film, One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, at TIFF this year. The film details a chance meeting in the snow that would change the course of Inuit lives for years to come.
A real-life experience inspired The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, a film by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn. Tailfeathers talks about how her experience and light skin privilege informed how she wrote the film.
And finally, did we find Taika Waititi? #TaikaWatch2019 comes to a dramatic conclusion. Did we track him down? Find out all this on this week's episode from TIFF!
This week's playlist: 
WHOOP-Szo — Amaruq
Maimoa — Wairua