The following
questions were answered the the film's producer,
Michael Snook. (see biographical
information for the filmmakers)
Jane Elliott talks to the 'brown eyes' before the exercise begins. |
Question: Why
was Regina chosen for this exericise?
Answer: This documentary could
have been made in any Canadian city, with similar
results. The problems we explore are not unique to
Regina or Saskatchewan,
or, for that matter, to Canada.
Regina was chosen for several reasons. One is that
relationships between First Nations and non-First
Nations people in Saskatchewan have been very much
in the news in recent years and months.
Another is
that the percentage of the population that is First
Nations in this Province is quite high - currently
about 15% of the total, and growing steadily. And
there was a very practical reason as well. This is
where we live. We know the community well.
We know the quality of production crew available
here, and it simply made
sense, given all the above, to make this documentary
in a place where the
issue is certainly relevant, and where the practical
problems of production
are readily solved.
Question: How were the participants selected?
Answer: We wanted as broad a cross-section
of participants as we could find. First, of course,
there had to be a reasonable balance between blue-eyed
persons and brown-eyed persons for Jane Elliott's
workshop to function properly.
Then, we took into consideration a balance of male
and female, older and
younger persons, we looked for a range of education
and work experience.
Our two researchers contacted service clubs, unions,
schools, corporations,
social organizations, etc., to achieve this. Each
person who expressed
interest was interviewed either in person, or on
the phone, prior to our
determining the final list of participants.
Participation was voluntary of course. People were
told that the workshop
would be intense, confrontational and difficult,
that it would take up an
entire day, and would be a strenuous experience.
They were told that the
workshop would be taped for a documentary to be broadcast
on CBC television,
at a later date.
One thing we tried to determine was whether people
had either participated
in one of Jane Elliott's workshops before, or seen
other films depicting her
work. As Jane points out, her workshop is most effective
when people are
experiencing it for the first time.
The process took several months to complete. We
started with a list of more
than fifty people. In the end, more than twenty were
willing and able to
participate in the workshop and the making of the
film.
Question: What sort of an impression did Jane Elliott
make on you personally?
Answer: Jane makes an impression
from the moment you first meet her. She is smart,
energetic, clear thinking, purposeful, and completely
focused on her work.
She has, after all, dedicated four decades of her
life to using her workshop
to help eliminate racial prejudice. Jane is very
principled - she lives by
the ideas that she puts forth in her workshop, one
of the most important of
which is that in order to eradicate racism, individual
human beings must
have a "change of heart", and act individually
to make things better.
In the workshop, Jane, as she points out in the
film, assumes a role that is
not her normal persona in order to achieve a goal.
In "real life" she is
smart, funny, compassionate, challenging, and genuine.
Question: How typical was this group in comparison to
others she has worked with around the world?
Answer: There may not be such a thing as a "typical" group.
Some of the responses people had to this workshop
were similar to those you can see in the other films
that have been made about Jane Elliott's work. Some
of the responses were unique to this group. Before
she arrived, Jane was a bit concerned that the First
Nations people participating in the workshop might
be unwilling to discuss in a public forum some of
the experiences they've had, the problems that concern
them. As she says in the film, this did not turn
out to be the case.
Question: What challenges did you encounter making this
documentary?
Answer: The first challenge of course was finding
the participants. Beyond that,
shooting a workshop like this one is tricky. The
workshop itself can't be
interfered with, or stopped and started. It is essentially
a "live" event.
The cameras and microphones have to be there, but
can't interfere with what
is going on in the workshop.
We looked at the production
in much the same way as one might shoot a live sports
event. We used multiple cameras and microphones to
capture the reality of the workshop. With four camera
persons in the room, and two sound recording technicians,
it's surprising how little the participants were
distracted by what was going on around them.
Because of the way the workshop was shot, we ended
up with well over fifty
hours of tape, including interviews done before and
after the workshop with
some of the participants. This had to be compressed
to a television show
less than an hour long.
Trevor and the editor, Chris
Bailey, spent nearly two months working with mountains
of tape, distilling it down into the final product
we see on air. The greatest challenge here was to
be as fair and true to what actually happened in
many hours of workshop as possible, in a relatively
short documentary. We think the time and patience
was worth it.
When we screened the documentary recently for 15
of the 22 participants who
were able to attend, they told us that they were
pleased at how well it
captured their experience, and how accurately it
had done so.
Question: Can you tell us more about what happened afterwards?
Answer: It's a bit early to tell what the long term
affects of either the workshop
or the film will be. A number of the workshop participants
indicated very
clearly that it had changed the way they saw the
world, and in particular,
how they would respond when faced with instances
of racist behaviour.
A number of the workshop participants were present
for a public screening of
the film, held in Regina in January. They spoke of
the workshop as being a
significant experience in their lives. They expressed
the hope that the
film made of that experience could be used to affect
change in the greater
community.
Question: How did this experience effect you personally?
Answer: As the producer of the film, I had the opportunity
to work with Jane for
several days. That, and the making of the film, were
both a "once in a
lifetime" kind of experience.
I think the greatest
effect on me was that it really firmed up my own
commitment to address directly any incidence of racism
I encounter in my daily life, and to do whatever
I can as an individual to work towards its eradication.
The film itself is not a cure for anything - it's
a tool, we think an effective one - that people can
use for dealing with this issue. It's intended to
get people talking and thinking about racism in ways
they might not have considered before, and to examine
their own lives. It certainly had that effect on
all of us who worked on it.
To purchase a copy of the documentary please
contact: West
Wind Pictures
Executive Producer, Michael Snook |
MICHAEL
SNOOK: PRODUCER,
CO-WRITER
Michael Snook
is an executive producer, producer and writer,
with nearly four decades of experience in film
and television, radio, print and the music industry.
For the past twelve years, he has focused on film
and television, and has extensive credits in non-fiction
production as well as performance and dramatic
production.
Michael Snook was born and raised in northern
Ontario, and received university degrees in general
arts, and fine arts specializing in music from
York University. He worked as an independent music
producer, studio musician, arranger, and freelance
music consultant for CBC Radio prior to becoming
a producer for CBC in 1978. In 1991 Snook left
CBC Radio to pursue a career in independent film
and television production.
Michael Snook is a former board member for the
SaskFilm and Video Development Corporation, is
currently Chair of the Saskatchewan Motion Picture
Association, past president of the Saskatchewan
Film Producers Association, and chair of the SaskFilm
Industry Advisory Committee. He is an active member
of the CFTPA. He is currently an executive producer
and producer with WestWind Pictures, based in Regina,
Saskatchewan, Canada.
He has also created popular TV series such as The
Designer Guys and This
Small Space.
TREVOR GRANT: DIRECTOR, PRODUCER
Over the past fourteen years Trevor Grant
has directed dozens of television series, documentaries,
music and children’s shows that have aired
with a variety of broadcasters including
CBC-TV, Food Network, Discovery Channel,
Global, Vision, the Children’s Television
Workshop (PBS), as well as internationally.
His credits include: Great Cemeteries
of the World (Global/Discovery
series), Grey
Cup Odyssey, RCMP 125,
The Forgotten Soldier and Fields
of Fire.
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