Kelvin Redvers
Kelvin Redvers is an award-winning writer, producer and film director who belongs to the to the Deniniu K’ue First Nation[2][3].
Biography
Kelvin Redvers grew up in Hay River, Northwest Territories.[4] He majored in film production and graduated in June 2010 with a Batchelor of Fine Arts from Simon Frasier University in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he gained the proficiency for writing and directing his first short films Playing Cards (2007) and The Night the Robber Came (2009)[3][4][5]. His work is situated between both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal topics, however, his complete filmography exposes Redvers passion for representing the First Nations community and aboriginal current affairs[4]. Taken from the Simon Frasier University website, Redvers says "Obviously for being a filmmaker, understanding the tools and equipment needed for a film shoot is important, but my goal is to be a storyteller, so I was taking acting classes, or English classes, or even business classes; these classes really broadened my perspective of the world, and I believe that is what helped me to become a more effective storyteller"[5].
Redvers received his first nationwide Bravo! Canada broadcast credit at the age of 21, for The Making of a Haida Totem Pole[4]. Redvers' documentary television series for Knowledge Network titled Our First Voices (2012) proved Redvers as a successful up-and-coming filmmaker[4]. Because of the success of Our First Voices, Redvers, at the age of 23, was hired in September 2010 by CTV as a producer of CTV-BC's First Story, a Vancouver-based television series and production company that detail Canadian Aboriginal concerns[5][6]. Over the course of three seasons, as of 2014, Redvers had produced twelve episodes for First Story[5].
In May 2011, Redvers applied for a film grant through BravoFACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent)[7]. The funding that he received through BravoFACT allowed Redvers the opportunity to make the seven-minute short film The Dancing Cop, his most successful film to date[7]. In September 2012, The Dancing Cop premiered in the Short Cuts section at the Toronto International Film Festival and at the Oldenburg Film Festival in Germany[7][8]. The Dancing Cop is a musical which uses satire and tongue-and-cheek humour to detail the heavy-handed struggles of racial profiling between First Nations and the police; the music and lyrics for the film were written by two of the filmmakers' close friends[7]. According to Redvers, "I don’t think [the premiere] could have went better”[8].
Redvers kickstarted his career at the age of fifteen, and 2012 is marked as the ten-year anniversary of Redvers' video production company Crosscurrent Productions[7][4]. He is currently working on his first feature-length film while working at production company Great Pacific Media[6].
'We Matter' Campaign (2016-present)
In October 2016, Kelvin Redvers and his sister Tunchai Redvers launched 'We Matter', a national online campaign designed to bring awareness to the struggles of Indigenous youth across Canada[9]. The campaign works through videos and passages on the We Matter website, and videos of Indigenous peoples who wish to share their struggles, in order to support and encourage others[10]. Modelled after Dan Savage's 'It Gets Better' campaign which is an online video series designed to bring awareness to troubled LGBTQ teens, 'We Matter' strives to gather videos from each Indigenous community across Canada with the aim of reducing the number of indigenous teen suicides, while also providing them with mental health resources[10][2]. With help from the Urban Native Youth Association, Aboriginal Friendship Centre, and Van Tech Secondary, as well as Indigenous celebrities such as musical group A Tribe Called Quest and activist Cindy Blackstock, Kelvin and Tunchai Revers were able to facilitate the We Matter campaign to a larger stretch of Canadian Indigenous communities[2].
Redvers believes that the first step to positive action and awareness is through compassion when he says “We have to find that balance of respect. And I think if all of us can do that we will truly change our schools, we will change our countries and we will change the world”[9]. For those Indigenous communities across Canada who have poor internet service, Redvers intends on mailing the We Matter videos on USB drives[10].
Film Awards and Recognition
At the age of sixteen, Redvers won the Golden Starfish award for "Best Young Videomaker" for his film Sheep, from the Hamptons International Film Festival in Long Island, NY[11].
During his time at SFU, Redvers' short films were celebrated at film festivals around the globe, including cities such as Winnipeg, Florida, California and Austria, winning titles such as the "Rising Star Award for Excellence in Filmmaking" at the Canada International Film Festival and "Best Film in the Drama Category" at the International Student Film Festival[11]. Redvers was awarded the esteemed Gordon Shrum Gold Medal at the age of 23, upon graduating SFU in 2010[4].
Airing in 2011, Redvers' first directed/produced episode 'Black Blood -- Tainted Land, Dying Caribou' for CTV-BC's First Story won the renowned Jack Webster Award, what Cinema Politica calls "the 'Oscar' of BC Journalism", for the categories of Science, Technology, Environment and Health.[6][5]. Redvers won an additional Jack Webster Award the following year for his First Story episode "A Home for Edgar', as well as an RTDNA Trina McQueen Award from the Association of Electronic Journalists for his 'Death of a Carver'[5][4].
Film and Television Contributions[3]
| Year | Title | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Playing Cards (short) | Director |
| 2007 | Past The Skin (short) | Camera and Electrical (grip) |
| 2007 | Project Alice (short) | Assistant Camera/Camera Operator |
| 2008 | A Look at the Life of Morgan Green (short) | Director/Producer/Editor/Cinematographer/Publicist |
| 2009 | Firebear Called them Faith Healers (short) | Director/Producer/Editor |
| 2009 | The Night the Robber Came (short) | Director/Producer/Writer/Editor/Publicist |
| 2010 | Kids Court (short) | Director/Producer/Writer |
| 2010 | Joan's Account (short) | Boom Operator |
| 2010 | Pokémon Apocalypse (short) | Actor |
| 2010 | Two Indians Talking (short) | Camera and Electrical (grip/second assistant camera) |
| 2010 | Our First Voices (Television Documentary Series) | Director |
| 2011 -- | First Story (television) | Director/Producer |
| 2012 | The Dancing Cop (short) | Director/Writer/Producer |
| 2013 | Evangeline (feature film) | Actor |
| 2014 | Rattlesnake (short) | Director/Producer/Writer |
References
- ^ "Simon Fraser University - University Communications". Flickr. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ^ a b c "Difference Makers: Kelvin Redvers prevents suicide in indigenous communities by sharing messages of hope". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ a b c "Kelvin Redvers". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Kelvin Redvers". British Columbia. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ a b c d e f "Kelvin Redvers; Award-Winning Aboriginal Filmmaker and Television Producer | SFU OLC". www.sfu.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ a b c "Kelvin Redvers". cinema politica. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ a b c d e "Kelvin Redvers' latest film will screen at Toronto International Film Festival". The Hub. 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
- ^ a b "TIFF debuts a 'dream come true' for NWT films – Northern Journal". norj.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
- ^ a b Stronger, I Am. "SASKSF17 Keynote Kelvin Redvers". iamstronger.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ a b c "'We Matter' campaign speaks directly to Indigenous youth contemplating suicide". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ a b "Moving Images Distribution: Kelvin Redvers". movingimages.ca (in en_CA). Retrieved 2017-03-30.
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External Links
Simon Fraser University Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfupamr/
'We Matter' campaign website: https://wemattercampaign.org/about/