New Toronto exhibit to present decades of filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin’s work

Acclaimed Indigenous filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and her work will be the focus of a new exhibition at The Art Museum at the University of Toronto.

The gallery space says the exhibit titled “The Children Have to Hear Another Story” will allow unprecedented access to Obomsawin’s films and related archives, along with her artwork and music.

Obomsawin, 90, was born in New Hampshire and grew up in Odanak, an Abenaki community in Quebec. She is known for her decades-long work with the National Film Board.

Her work in documentary film has focused on Indigenous Peoples and earned her the 2020 Glenn Gould Prize for her lifetime contribution to the arts.

In a news release, Obomsawin called the new exhibition a survey of her life’s work and expressed hope that it would communicate her voice to visitors seeking to understand her people.

She has made 56 films, including the 1984 documentary “Incident at Restigouche” about the police raids on a Mi’kmaq reserve and “Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance,” which was named best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1993.

The exhibition will run from Sept. 7 to Nov. 25.