2017 Dawson City Film Festival Film Fest program | Page 31

SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 11 AM
SCRIPTWRITING FROM PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE WITH GAIL MAURICE
at YUKON SOVA, 3rd and Queen
Using personal images to create poetic pieces. Writers tend to
have a common theme that surfaces over-and-over again. Writing
what you know. Writing from personal experience. Writing without
restrictions or thoughts of structure. Trust your instincts and gut.
Don’t force your writing, don’t try to steer it in a direction it
doesn’t want to go. Your characters may surprise you because of the
choices they make.
Participants come with a paragraph or two of an event
that was significant in their life, a memory, or something
that changed them. We’ll put these anonymously into a bin
and pick a couple to discuss as a group. Then everyone will
have 20mins to write a scene or two about them. It will be
interesting to see all the versions people come up with. The
original writer of the initial paragraph can identify himself or
herself if they want to.
Gail Maurice is an award-winning independent filmmaker who
has written, directed and produced 8 films. She grew up in a Métis
village in Northern Saskatchewan and speaks her language Cree/
Michif fluently. Gail is passionate about telling indigenous stories
and stories with strong, female subjects or characters. She is
currently at work on a feature-length documentary about her 102
year old Grandma Nokum, and will soon be in pre-production for her
next short drama Rosie, a bilingual film set in both Toronto and
Montréal. Gail attended the prestigious Women in the Director’s
Chair in Banff, was a guest speaker at Privy Council, performed at
the Sydney Opera House with a small group of Indigenous women,
received awards acknowledging her contributions and work
as an Indigenous filmmaker, and has sat on numerous panels
and juries. Her films have screened at Sundance, the Smithsonian
Institute and festivals worldwide, her latest film Assini screened on
Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment system and was nominated
for 4 Golden Sheafs at the Yorkton Film Festival: Best Short Drama,
Best Aboriginal Film, Best Director, and the Ruth Shaw Award (Best
of Saskatchewan). It was shot entirely in the village of Beauval
where she grew up. Assini won the Audience favorite award
at the 2016 DCISFF.
FREE
EVENT
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