Short Film, Short Review: FILE UNDER MISCELLANEOUS

Don't equate Native filmmakers with science fiction? Neither had I until I came across Jeff Barnaby. The director of award winning drama The Colony has taken a surprising path with his latest work, File Under Miscellaneous, a turn that is both shocking and incredibly exciting for anyone whose concept of Native art begins with totem poles for sale at roadside stands and ends with films like The Fast Runner. Hell, even saying something like that - something I very much mean as a compliment - is far too limiting for this. This is quality, period, and must viewing for any fan of intelligent, high end speculative fiction regardless of origin.

Taking visual cues from Blade Runner and Dark City and then subverting them to his own very unique purposes, File Under Miscellaneous tells the story of a worn down man from the Mi'gMaq nation who is so tired of being different he just wants to be white. This can be arranged. The transformation is a graphic and violent one, the sight of a man's self-loathing spread across the screen, his image of himself so battered that he becomes willing to pay a shocking price to embrace a bland same-ness.

Not only astounding to look at, File Under Miscellaneous also further cements Barnaby's position as one of the most unique, compelling and important voices in Canadian cinema, a voice that while rooted in Barnaby's own origins should prove potent across all barriers.

File Under Miscellaneous screens at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of Short Cuts Canada Programme 2 on September 10th and 12th.