Clint Alberta (January 16, 1970 – February 25, 2002), also known as Clint Morrill, Clint Tourangeau, Clint Star, and Jules Karatechamp, was a Canadian filmmaker.

Life

He was born as Clint Morrill to a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

father and a Euro-Canadian mother, Betty Morill. He lost his left index finger at the age of three in an accident with an axe."Filmmaker was 'very tortured'". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', May 4, 2002. He studied psychology at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, where he counseled native children and solidified his own identity as a native person. He became involved in the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

's Studio One native program in Edmonton, where he made his first film, ''Lost Songs''. He based his best-known film, '' Deep Inside Clint Star'', on a series of interviews he did with several friends from the

community. According to Katharine Asals, who edited the film, Alberta's influences for the film were "Freud and Matisse and pornography". he describes ''Deep Inside'' as "a look at native sexuality through identity, or identity through intimacy, or intimacy through perception of beauty and self." Alberta, who portrays an obnoxious pornographic performer in the film, undertook an extended battle with the National Film Board when they told him to cut a long silence from ''Deep Inside''. The film received high praise at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2000, and won the

Donald Brittain Award The Donald Brittain Award is a Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour the year's best television documentary on a social or political topic. Formerly presented as part of the Gemini Awards, s ...

at the

15th Gemini Awards The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 15th Gemini Awards were held on October 30, 2000, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Steve Smith, took place at the John Bassett Theatre and was broa ...

."Prime time night for Canada". ''

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'', October 31, 2000. While producer Silva Basmajian was accepting the award, Alberta began to perform a traditional First Nations dance behind him, but was ushered off stage by security because they did not realize he was the filmmaker. Alberta experienced a particular degree of poverty after releasing the film, living on the streets for several months after that. On February 25, 2002, Alberta killed himself by jumping off the

Prince Edward Viaduct The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The ...

, approximately one month after the premiere of his final film '' Miss 501: A Portrait of Luck''.

Filmography

* ''Lost Songs'', 1999 * ''My Cousin Albert: Portrait in Shades of Black'', 1999 * '' Deep Inside Clint Star'', 1999 * '' Miss 501: A Portrait of Luck'', 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberta, Clint Two-spirit people First Nations filmmakers 1970 births 2002 suicides Suicides by jumping in Canada Suicides in Ontario LGBTQ First Nations people Canadian documentary film directors Canadian LGBTQ film directors Film directors from Edmonton University of Alberta alumni 2002 deaths 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century First Nations people 20th-century Canadian people