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TOTEM

Canadá - Argentina. 2013. Realizada con el apoyo de Canadá y el I.N.C.A.A. Estreno en salas: 31 de julio 2014
Canada - Argentina. 2013. It was made with the support of Canada and the I.N.C.A.A. Release: July 31, 2014
 

Première Mundial: VLAFF. Vancouver Latin AmericanFilm Festival. Sept 2013. Canadá

Festival Internacional DocBsAs 2014. Argentina

Festival Internacional de Cine de Mérida y Yucatán 2015. México

Festival Internacional de Documentales Olot.Doc 2014. Catalunya, España

HD / 60 min.

Argentina/Canadá

Investigación, Guión y Dirección: Franca González


Producción en Canadá:

Carole Laganière
 

Dirección de fotografía y cámara: Franca González
 

Sonido Directo: Carole Laganière

Transcripciones: Vivi Curutchet y Susan Nelson
 

Montaje: Miguel Colombo
 

Edición de Sonido: Guido Deniro

Música: Javier Estrin

​.................................................

Research, Script and Direction: Franca González


Production in Canada:

Carole Laganière
 

Camera and Photography:

Franca González
 

Raw Sound: Carole Laganière
 

Transcription:

Vivi Curutchet and Susan Nelson
 

Picture Editing: Miguel Colombo

Sound Editing: Guido Deniro

Music: Javier Estrin

SINOPSIS / SYNOPSIS


Stan Hunt es un tallador de cedro rojo. Aprendió ese arte gracias a su padre y a su abuelo, maestros escultores del pueblo Kwakiutl, un conjunto de aldeas olvidadas en el norte de la isla de Vancouver, cerca del golfo de Alaska. Stan trabaja en la pieza más trascendental de su vida. Un totem de 14 mts. Un cedro al que le llevó 1500 años pesar más de 5 toneladas. Su obra, cargada de representaciones milenarias, recorrerá 15.000 kms en barco para llegar al Río de la Plata. Al menos, ese es su sueño... En la pequeña aldea de Fort Rupert, nadie se imagina como se planifican y se deciden las cosas en la lejana e imprevisible Buenos Aires.

 

Stan Hunt is a red cedar wood carver, an art he learned from his father, Henry Hunt, and grandfather, Mungo Martin - master sculptors from the Kwakiutl First Nation from the northern side of Vancouver island. Stan is now working on the most significant piece of his life, a 42-foot totem pole carved from a 1500-year-old, 5-ton cedar tree, a project commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires. Once completed, his totem pole will travel 15,000 km by boat to reach Río de la Plata, Argentina. However, in the remote Fort Rupert village, nobody expects how their dreams may be upset by the far and unpredictable politics of Buenos Aires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEER TODAS LAS CRITICAS AL MOMENTO DEL ESTRENO EN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entre marzo de 1964 y mayo del 2008, la mayoría de las personas que transitaron la zona de Retiro en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, seguramente se sorprendieron al descubrir la presencia de un inmenso poste tallado, enclavado en una plaza llamada Canadá. Entre marzo de 1964 y mayo del 2008, la mayoría de las personas que transitaron la zona de Retiro en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, seguramente se sorprendieron al descubrir la presencia de un inmenso poste tallado, enclavado en una plaza llamada Canadá. Pocos llegaron a saber que lo que había allí era un tótem kwakiutl... (CONTINUE LEYENDO HACIENDO CLICK AQUI)

 

Trailer de "TOTEM"

FORT RUPERT—The quiet village of Fort Rupert on northern Vancouver Island seems a world away from the bustle of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

But, through the work of local Kwakiutl artists, an enduring connection has been carved out between the two.

Renowned sculptor Stan Hunt and his family were preparing last week for a trip to the mainland for the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival and the world premier of the documentary Totem.

The hour-long piece focuses on a 42-foot totem pole created by Hunt and commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Public Spaces of the City of Buenos Aires.

The totem replaced another that stood in the city’s Canada Plaza, carved by Hunt’s grandfather Mungo Martin and erected in 1962. When an attempt was made to renovate that pole in 2011 it was found to be too badly damaged to restore and officials sought out a descendant to craft a replacement.

Stan was hired for the job, and last week recalled embarking on the project as he worked on his latest piece.

“The (Western Forest Products) crew just blew me away. They took us out and showed us, I think it was nine trees they had picked out, still standing. We just told them, ‘That’s the one’, told them what size we wanted, and they took it down, cut it to length and delivered it that day.”

So began almost a year of work as Stan, assisted by sons Jason and Trevor, and cousins Calvin Hunt and Mervyn Child, set about bringing the design to life.

“This pole was all about our family,” explained the artist. At its base is a double-headed Sisiutl representing Stan’s grandmothers. Above is a grizzly holding a halibut to represent Stan and his family. Atop the bear is the first of two chiefs, representing his grandfather who holds a frog copper to acknowledged his adoption of Stan’s mother, a frog woman.

Next is a large killer whale, the family crest of Stan’s wife Lavina, who hails from Alert Bay. Then comes the raven, with a large pair of wings, denoting the Hunt family crest, and, finally, a second chief representing Stan’s father Henry, a noted carver and artist who worked for years with the Royal Museum in Victoria.

At the pole’s base, Stan carved his family name and attached a copper plate, his nod to the tradition of laying a piece of copper during pole-raising ceremonies to mark the status and power of the family raising the pole.

The pole was completed in March 2012 and shipped the 15,000 km to Buenos Aires where it was raised on Canada Day of that year.

For 30 days during the totem’s creation, Stan was joined by the filmmakers who documented the process. Following its debut at VLAFF, the film’s producers are expected to seek distribution of the piece through North American television networks.

While Stan has had a preview of the documentary he has not yet had the opportunity to see the totem itself in situ — something he’d like to remedy. “I’d like to go down (to Argentina),” he said. “I’d like to see it standing… you never know,” he added, before hinting that he and Levina would look at the possibility of making the trip once he finishes his latest project.

That could take a while, though. Stan is currently working on a commission piece for a private collector: a 12-foot Huxwhukw mask which will form the centrepiece of a multi-mask design, a project the artist estimates will keep him busy for the next six months.

 

For more information on the documentary of VLAFF see http://www.vlaff.org

Samples of the artist’s work can be found at http://www.stanleychunt.com

 

Find this article at: http://www.northislandmidweek.com/news/222737751.html

 

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