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Turtle Island, Issue 02, Conversations

Alanis Obomsawin on the Role of Documentary in Resisting Erasure and Preserving Memory

Alanis sits in one of her favorite corners of her home in Montreal. She says she spends a lot of time there, reading, resting, thinking.

It’s a rainy day in the middle of a heatwave, a feel-good day, Maya says. A welcome day. We are at the National Film Board in downtown Montreal, here to interview the legendary Alanis Obomsawin. She invites us into her office, and we pull in disparate chairs. A rolling filing cabinet becomes the table that gathers. Alexei’s arms unfold a sofra: a world of figs, dates, olives, almonds. Arctic tea steeps. We share space, hold space. Silent moments inform us the order never mattered. The room is ripe, and we are left together to exchange.

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