Special screening for Kahnawake

Community members gathered at Kahnawake’s United Church Hall on Wednesday night for a special screening of Seeds, Kaniehtiio Horn’s directorial debut.

Horn wrote, directed, and starred in the film, which follows the story of Ziggy, who lives in Toronto but is called back to her community right after beginning work for a lucrative seed and fertilizer company. As she learns more about the company’s dark intentions, she realizes the responsibility she has to protect her land and her family’s seeds.

“I didn’t even think about it until the end that she put all those points in that needed to be made, but it wasn’t depressing, and it was fun,” said community member Kahenti:óhstha’

Duhaime after the screening. “I’ve never seen anything like that before, it’s got so many different aspects to it.”

Duhaime said she particularly liked seeing the screen with a largely local audience, and was interested to see the reactions of other audiences once the film makes its cinematic release on October 25.

Horn did a Q&A with attendees after the screening, where she explained more about the process of making the film.

“I kind of just wanted it to be the anti-typical horror-thriller,” she said.

“As a teenager, I wish I got to see something like this.… I made it for Kahnawake, and then I made it for Onkwehón:we people, and then I made it for everyone else. I basically wanted to make something fun, and not too long.”

Horn also detailed the different moving parts in the production of the project, including the behind-the-scenes details of the prop department. Wax was painstakingly added to old mason jars, and a bloodied heart was crafted out of rubber, Jell-O, chocolate sauce, and corn syrup.

“It was disgusting!” Horn said.

Horn told The Eastern Door that it was special to be able to share the film with the community first, ahead of its big release. It was particularly poignant given that Horn got her start acting in theatre productions that often took place in the very same hall the screening was held in.

“I feel more vulnerable in front of people from Kahnawake than I do other people, that’s what’s nerve-wracking,” she said. “It’s all people I know.”

Horn hopes that the work of creatives from Kahnawake can inspire the next generation of filmmakers, who she said should dream big.

“Just take chances and don’t try to make yourself into something that you’re not, stay true to who you are,” she said.

Stay tuned for The Eastern Door’s review of Seeds, coming in next Friday’s newspaper.

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