THE LODGE
Canada • 73 minutes • 2014
In her feature-length debut, acclaimed filmmaker and animator Terril Calder (Metis) presents a surreal fairytale recalling equal parts Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the traditional Anishnaabe legend of the Dandelion. In The Lodge, we follow Pearl Bailey, a British war bride who has come to live in the Canadian wilderness with her Métis husband. Pearl self-righteously positions herself as superior to the “animals” she now finds herself surrounded by – a “Queen” in a “savage land.” The Manitous, on the other hand, have a plan of their own and her fate falls into their hands. Rendered in stunning stop-motion animation, The Lodge interrogates colonial concepts of savagery, critiques the de-humanizing of Indigenous peoples and explores the powerful medicine of our animal relations.
Terril Calder (Metis) is a visual and performance artist, filmmaker and animator born in Fort Frances and currently residing in Toronto. She has lectured and taught art through the years with various organizations that include the National Ballet School of Canada, the University of Manitoba, Indigenous Roots and imagineNATIVE’s Cultural Exchange Program with South Africa. Her films have screened internationally, having received an Honorable Mention at the Sundance Film Festival and a Canadian Genie Award Nomination, as well as TIFF’s Top Ten List in 2011 for Choke, a short she co-created with Michelle Latimer. Terril is also a participant in this year’s Storytelling Screenings, paired with author Joseph Boyden on a special multimedia presentation.