F2024 Artist-in-Residence Amanda Strong, with Bracken Hanuse Corlett

Fall 2024 ARC Artist-in-Residence

Amanda Strong

with Visiting Artist Bracken Hanuse Corlett

October 30 - Nov 1, 2024

Presented by the Arts Research Center in collaboration with the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, with support from the Dean's Office of the Division of Arts & Humanites, and co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for New Media, the Departments of Art Practice, Film & Media, and Ethnic Studies, the Native American Studies Program, the Canadian Studies Program, and the Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues

Amanda Strong will be the Arts Research Center's Artist-in Residence for fall 2024. She is a Michif (Metis) interdisciplinary artist with a focus on filmmaking, stop motion animations and media art. Currently based on unceded Coast Salish territories also known as Vancouver, BC, Canada, Strong received a BAA in Interpretative Illustration and a Diploma in Applied Photography from the Sheridan Institute. With a cross-discipline focus, common themes of her work are reclamation of Indigenous histories, lineage, language and culture. Strong is the Owner/Director/Producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc. (SFP). Under her direction, SFP utilizes a multi-layered approach and unconventional methods that are centered in collaboration on all aspects of their work. Her films have screened across the globe, most notably at Cannes, TIFF, VIFF, and Ottawa International Animation Festival (Biidaaban The Dawn Comes; Four Faces of the Moon; Flood). She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, BC Arts Council and the NFB. Amanda was selected as the First Canadian Director and first Animated Project for the Sundance Institute Indigenous Filmmaking Lab.

Amanda will be joined during her residency at Berkeley by Bracken Hanuse Corlett, an interdisciplinary artist from the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. He works in painting, sculpture, audio-visual performance, digital art/design, animation and narrative. He graduated from the En'owkin Centre of Indigenous Art and went to Emily Carr University of Art and Design. He also trained at the Hunt Studio with renowned Heiltsuk artists Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn and Dean. A recent winner of the 2022 Portfolio Prize and the 2022 Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts, he maintains a studio and collaborative practice working with ancestral forms and new media. He has exhibited, screened and/or performed locally and internationally with some notable work at VIFF, Vancouver Art Gallery, Winnipeg Art Gallery, TIFF, and the Institute of Modern Art.

During their time on campus, Amanda and Bracken will participate in a filmscreening at BAMPFA featuring over nine their works, visit students in Art Practice and Film & Media classes, and give an Artist Talk sharing their solo and collaborative work history, including a preview some upcoming projects.

Topics

Lecture Series Event topic page, AIR topic page

two animated characters looking at each other over a table drinking tea

Still from Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), Spotted Fawn Productions Inc, 2018. Link to trailer here.

Program of Events

Stop-Motion Storyteller: Film Screening & Talk Back
featuring Amanda Strong & Bracken Hanuse Corlett

Wed October 30th at 7pm, Osher Theater, BAMPFA

Over the past decade, Michif (Métis) artist Amanda Strong has created an exceptional collection of animated films depicting Indigenous realities, stories, and dreams to build a compelling cinematic counterpoint challenging colonial histories of Indigenous peoples. Using stop-motion techniques to animate meticulously crafted three-dimensional puppets and objects, Strong creates magical worlds—uncanny mirrors to our own—in which her stories unfold. This program, presented in collaboration with the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, represents an extensive retrospective of her work and includes her collaborations with Wuikinuxv and Klahoose artist Bracken Hanuse Corlett, her partner in life and art. – Kate MacKay, Associate Film Curator

white space

Films include:

Indigo, Amanda Strong, Bracken Hanuse Corlett 2014, 8 mins

Mia', Amanda Strong, Bracken Hanuse Corlett , 2015, 8 mins

Ghost Food, Bracken Hanuse Corlett, 2017, 4 mins

Hipster Headdress, Amanda Strong, 2016, 1 min PSA

Four Faces of the Moon, Amanda Strong, 2016, 14 mins

How to Steal a Canoe, Amanda Strong, 2016, 4 mins

Flood, Amanda Strong, 2017, 5 mins

Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) Amanda Strong, 2017, 20 mins

FILM SCREENING COST:

$5 UC Berkeley students
$8 BAMPFA members
$10 Discount admission—UC Berkeley faculty & staff, Non-UC Berkeley students, disabled visitors, 65+, 18 & under

$14 General admission

Purchase tickets here!

Class Visits in Film & Media and Art Practice

Thurs October 31st, UC Berkeley Campus

Stop-Motion Storytellers: Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett

Fri November 1st at 4pm, Osher Theater, BAMPFA

Award-winning animators and multimedia Indigenous artists Amanda Strong (Michif) and Bracken Hanuse Corlett (Wuikinuxv and Klahoose) share insights on the creation of their films, including their current project—nine years in the making and now on the cusp of its world premiere—and their frequent collaborations. This artists’ talk is copresented by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and it is the perfect way to start off Native American Heritage Month.

ARTIST TALK COST:
Free for Berkeley Cal1Card holders (student, faculty, staff) & BAMPFA members
$10 Discount admission—Non-UC Berkeley students, disabled visitors, 65+, 18 & under
$14 General admission

Purchase tickets here!

Event Accessibility

If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in the events at BAMPFA on October 30th and November 1st, please email bampfa@berkeley.edu or call them at (510) 642-1412 (during open hours) with as much advance notice as possible. More information on accessibility services.

Person in black hoodie in front of a stage with two figures and woods

Through acts of reclamation and collaboration we are telling our own stories, in our own voice, lifting up and empowering the future of Indigenous storytelling in film.

- Spotted Fawn Productions

"Four Faces of the Moon" - Canada's dark colonial past | Animated Short Doc

Four Faces of the Moon is an animated documentary and personal story told through the eyes of director and writer Amanda Strong. It follows the journey of an Indigenous photographer as she travels through time, witnesses moments in her family's history — including the impact and legacy of the railways, the slaughter of the buffalo, and colonial land policies — and strengthens her connection to her Metis, Cree and Anishnaabe ancestors. It contains no English language, relying on sound, image and Indigenous voice to tell the story.

film set of a kitchen for stop motion animation bathed in red light

Spotted Fawn Productions (SFP) was founded in 2010 and incorporated in 2014 by Michif Owner/Director/Producer Amanda Strong. Indigenous-led and community-oriented, SFP’s focus is on illustration, stop motion, 2D, 3D and virtual reality animations. Our mission is to provide mentorship and training opportunities for emerging and diverse artists. We do this by creating space for Indigenous people, women and non-binary individuals to engage in the many aspects of film, animation and production. Together we create innovative, layered digital projects with compelling characters, art and stories. Through acts of reclamation and collaboration we are telling our own stories, in our own voice, lifting up and empowering the future of Indigenous storytelling in film. SFP works are celebrated globally in festivals, installations, Indigenous community presentations and have received numerous awards. Our work can be seen online, television, in festivals and in galleries and museums. SFP is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the ʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations, colonially known as Vancouver, BC. Together we can create innovative, layered digital projects with compelling characters, art and stories.

animation of girl bent over desk with blue background

AMANDA STRONG

DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, ANIMATION DIRECTOR, DOP SPOTTED FAWN PRODUCTIONS

Amanda Strong is a Michif (Metis) interdisciplinary artist with a focus on filmmaking, stop motion animations and media art. Currently based on unceded Coast Salish territories also known as Vancouver, BC, Canada. Strong received a BAA in Interpretative Illustration and a Diploma in Applied Photography from the Sheridan Institute. With a cross-discipline focus, common themes of her work are reclamation of Indigenous histories, lineage, language and culture. Strong is the Owner/Director/Producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc. (SFP). Under her direction, SFP utilizes a multi-layered approach and unconventional methods that are centered in collaboration on all aspects of their work.

Strong’s work is fiercely process-driven and takes form in various mediums such as: virtual reality, stop-motion, 2D/3D animation, gallery/museum installations, published books and community-activated projects. Strong and her team at Spotted Fawn Productions are currently working on the research and development of bringing these works into more interactive spaces. Her films have screened across the globe, most notably at Cannes, TIFF, VIFF, and Ottawa International Animation Festival (Biidaaban The Dawn Comes; Four Faces of the Moon; Flood) She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, BC Arts Council and the NFB. Amanda Strong founded Spotted Fawn Productions in 2010 and has managed the company as the Owner, Director and Executive Producer since 2014.

Amanda has also formed the collectives Media Creatorz, Indigenous Roots, and most recently Frame Sovereignty Collective which are all driven to build sustainable production skills and training to participants with the hopes of helping with access, visibility and digital literacy for Indigenous artists. Most recently, Amanda was selected as the First Canadian Director and first Animated Project for the Sundance Institute Indigenous Filmmaking Lab.

girl bent over in a landscape of mechanical parts and gears

Still from Indigo, directed and produced by Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett

BRACKEN HANUSE CORLETT

SCREENWRITER / LIVE PROJECTION MENTOR, FRAME SOVEREIGNTY COLLECTIVE

Bracken Hanuse Corlett is an interdisciplinary artist from the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. He works in painting, sculpture, audio-visual performance, digital art/design, animation and narrative. He graduated from the En'owkin Centre of Indigenous Art and went to Emily Carr University of Art and Design. He also trained at the Hunt Studio with renowned Heiltsuk artists Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn and Dean. A recent winner of the 2022 Portfolio Prize and the 2022 Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts, he maintains a studio and collaborative practice working with ancestral forms and new media. He has exhibited, screened and/or performed locally and internationally with some notable work at VIFF, Vancouver Art Gallery, Winnipeg Art Gallery, TIFF, and the Institute of Modern Art.

Visit Bracken on Instagram, @wuulhu

Still from Ghost Food, by Bracken Hanuse Corlett

Stop motion is a demanding medium –

even a short 20-minute production can take up to two years to be completed. The technology we engage is a unique and innovative hybrid of digital and handmade processes. It’s the instrument through which we convey stories that are both emotionally and socially transformative.

To do full justice to the stories we tell, SFP’s production process across the various media we work in is careful, painstaking and rigorous. Embedded in our process, from gestation to post-production, are Indigenous ideologies around learning, creation and collaboration. The process requires teamwork, patience, flexibility and creativity.

– FRAME SOVEREIGNTY COLLECTIVE