Neil Diamond (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
Neil Diamond is a Cree
filmmaker based in Montreal, Quebec, born and raised in Waskaganish, Quebec
. Working with Rezolution Pictures
, Diamond has directed the documentary films Reel Injun
, The Last Explorer, One More River, Heavy Metal: A Mining Disaster in Northern Quebec and Cree Spoken Here, along with three seasons of DAB IYIYUU, a series for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
about Cree elders
.
In the 2008 docudrama
The Last Explorer, Diamond explored the story of his great-uncle George Elson, a Cree guide
who helped to map Labrador
as part of an ill-fated 1903 expedition with Leonidas Hubbard
and Dillon Wallace
, and a return voyage in 1905 with Hubbard's widow Mina Hubbard.
As of April 2011, Diamond is developing a project with Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk
about the 18th conflict between Cree and Inuit, which lasted almost a century.
for Reel Injun, as well as a 2011 Peabody Award
.
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
filmmaker based in Montreal, Quebec, born and raised in Waskaganish, Quebec
Waskaganish, Quebec
Waskaganish is a Cree village of about 2000 people at the mouth of the Rupert River on the south-east shore of James Bay in the Eeyou Istchee territory in Northern Quebec, Canada...
. Working with Rezolution Pictures
Rezolution Pictures
Rezolution Pictures is a film and television production company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, focusing primarily on Canadian Aboriginal productions. The company was founded by the husband and wife team of Ernest Webb and Catherine Bainbridge in 2001...
, Diamond has directed the documentary films Reel Injun
Reel Injun
Reel Injun is a 2009 Canadian documentary film directed by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge and , that explores the portrayal of Native Americans in film...
, The Last Explorer, One More River, Heavy Metal: A Mining Disaster in Northern Quebec and Cree Spoken Here, along with three seasons of DAB IYIYUU, a series for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples...
about Cree elders
Elder (administrative title)
The term Elder is used in several different countries and organizations to indicate a position of authority...
.
In the 2008 docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
The Last Explorer, Diamond explored the story of his great-uncle George Elson, a Cree guide
Guide
A guide is a person who leads anyone through unknown or unmapped country. This includes a guide of the real world , as well as a person who leads someone to more abstract places .-Guide - meanings related to travel and recreational pursuits:There are many variants of...
who helped to map Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
as part of an ill-fated 1903 expedition with Leonidas Hubbard
Leonidas Hubbard
Leonidas Hubbard was a journalist and adventurer.He was born in Michigan and studied at the University of Michigan , choosing journalism as a career. In 1901 he married Mina Adelaine Benson, a woman two years senior and at the time an assistant superintendent of a Staten Island hospital. They met...
and Dillon Wallace
Dillon Wallace
Dillon Wallace was an American lawyer, outdoorsman, author of non-fiction, fiction and magazine articles. His first book, The Lure of the Labrador Wild was a best-seller, as were many of his later books.-Biography:...
, and a return voyage in 1905 with Hubbard's widow Mina Hubbard.
As of April 2011, Diamond is developing a project with Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk
Zacharias Kunuk
Zacharias Kunuk, is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film Atanarjuat, the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced completely in Inuktitut...
about the 18th conflict between Cree and Inuit, which lasted almost a century.
Reel Injun
Reel Injun was inspired by Diamond's own experiences as a child in Waskaganish, where he and other Native children would play cowboys and Indians after local screenings of Westerns in their remote community. Diamond remembers that although the children were in fact "Indians," they all wanted to be the cowboys. Afterwards, when he was old enough to move south to study, he would be questioned by non-Native people about whether his people lived in teepees and rode horses, causing Diamond to realize that their preconceptions about Native people were also derived from movies.Awards
Diamond received the award for Best Direction in a Documentary Program at the 2010 Gemini Awards2010 Gemini Awards
The 25th Gemini Awards were held on November 13th, 2010 to honour achievements in Canadian television. The ceremony will broadcast on Showcase and Global from the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto. Nominations were announced on August 31. The host will be Cory Monteith...
for Reel Injun, as well as a 2011 Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
.