Christopher Auchter is a

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

artist and filmmaker from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He is most noted for his 2019 short film '' Now Is the Time'', which was a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nominee for Best Short Documentary at the

8th Canadian Screen Awards The 8th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 25–28 May 2020 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019. The presentations were held as a seri ...

in 2020.

Background

A native of

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the British Columbia Coast, northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia ...

, he studied media arts at

Emily Carr University of Art and Design The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art school, art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Van ...

and computer animation at

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

."Burnaby filmmaker brings Haida tale to screen"
''

Burnaby Now ''Burnaby Now'' was an online newspaper owned by Glacier Media and based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Until 2023, it published a weekly tabloid newspaper to 47,000 residents and businesses. The first edition was a 12-page broadsheet for ...

'', October 3, 2017. He has also illustrated several books by children's writer Jordan Wheeler.

Career

He worked on the animation teams for the 2009 short film '' How People Got Fire'', the 2009 video game ''

Punch-Out!! is a boxing video game series created by Genyo Takeda, and published by Nintendo. The player controls Little Mac, a boxer who aims to become the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.) champion. The original '' Punch-Out!!'' arcade game w ...

'' and the 2017 television series ''Coyote's Crazy Smart Science Show'', before releasing his own animated short film debut, ''The Mountain of SGaana'', in 2017. Although told without dialogue, the film features music sung in the

Haida language Haida (', ', ', ') is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of western Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language, Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revit ...

by his sister Nikita Auchter. '' Now Is the Time'' premiered at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

.Pat Mullen
"Now Is the Time for the Haida Renaissance: an interview with Christopher Auchter"
''

Point of View Point of View or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronoun used in narration * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or ...

'', September 29, 2019. Created to mark the 50th anniversary of

artist Robert Davidson carving and erecting a

totem pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...

on Haida Gwaii in 1969, the film blends historical footage from

Eugene Boyko Eugene Boyko (1923 – March 14, 2003) known to many as "Jeep", was a Canadian filmmaker who worked with the National Film Board of Canada. An early film of his, '' Helicopter Canada'', was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feat ...

's 1970 documentary film ''

This Was the Time ''This Was the Time'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Eugene Boyko and released in 1970. Created for the National Film Board of Canada, the film portrays the renaissance of Haida culture through its depiction of a potlatch ceremony in ...

'' with contemporary footage, including the now elderly Davidson's own reflections on the historic importance of his project. He subsequently directed several episodes of the animated

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''Not Quite Narwhal''. His feature documentary film debut, ''

The Stand ''The Stand'' is an epic post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which some of ...

'', premiered at the

2024 Vancouver International Film Festival The 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 43rd event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from September 26 to October 6, 2024. The first five films in the program were announced on August 8, 2024, with ...

, where it received an honorable mention from the Best British Columbia Film award jury.Gail Johnson
"Vancouver International Film Festival announces winners of 2024 juried awards"
''Stir'', October 3, 2024.

Filmography

* ''The Mountain of SGaana'' (2017) * '' Now Is the Time'' (2019) * ''Ryan Reynolds: I'm a Laureate?'' (2020) * ''

'' (2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Auchter, Christopher Canadian documentary film directors Canadian animators Film directors from British Columbia Haida artists First Nations filmmakers Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni Living people Canadian children's book illustrators Year of birth missing (living people)