Gwaai Edenshaw 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 ...

. Along with

Helen Haig-Brown Helen Haig-Brown is a Tsilhqot'in filmmaker working primarily with indigenous and First Nations themes. Many of these derive from her maternal roots in the Tsilhqot'in First Nation. Early life and education Helen Haig-Brown is from the Yunesit'in ...

, he co-directed ''

Edge of the Knife ''Edge of the Knife'' (, ) is a 2018 Canadian drama film co-directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown. It is the first feature film spoken only in the Haida language. Set in 19th-century Haida Gwaii, it tells the classic Haida story of a ...

'' (), the first

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 ...

feature film.

Background

The son of noted Haida artist

Guujaaw Gidansda Giindajin Haawasti Guujaaw, also known as Gary Edenshaw, is a singer, Wood carving, wood carver, traditional medicine practitioner, political activist and leader. He of Gakyaals Kiiqawaay, a Haida Nation, Haida family of the Raven Moi ...

(Gary Edenshaw), he was raised on

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 ...

. At age 16, he went to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

to apprentice as an artist with

Bill Reid William Ronald Reid Jr. (12 January 1920 – 13 March 1998) also known as Iljuwas, was a Haida artist whose works include jewelry, sculpture, screen-printing, and paintings. Producing over one thousand original works during his fifty-year car ...

. He received a diploma in jewellery design from

Vancouver Community College Vancouver Community College (VCC) is a public community college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the oldest community college in British Columbia. VCC offers 79 certificate programs, 24 diploma programs, 9 award o ...

. As of 2018, he lived in

Sechelt Sechelt (, Sechelt language, shíshálh Language: ch'atlich) is a district municipality located on the lower Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately northwest of Vancouver, it is accessible from ma ...

, BC with his partner, musician

Kinnie Starr Alida Kinnie Starr (born 1970) is a Canadian multidisciplinary singer and rapper. Early life Starr was born and raised in Calgary, where she attended Western Canada High School. Her ancestry is French, German, Irish. She is trilingual ( Englis ...

Career

As an artist, Edenshaw has worked primarily in woodcarving and jewellery, as well as some work in sketch and painting. His work has been exhibited in a number of galleries in both Canada and the United States, and he curated a show on indigenous

erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...

in 2013. He created ''Haidawood'', an animated

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

which premiered in 2007, and cowrote the theatrical play ''Sounding Gambling Sticks'' with his brother Jaalen Edenshaw in 2008. He wrote some Haida-inspired music for Bruce Ruddell's 2010 rock opera '' Beyond Eden''. He is a founding member of Q’altsi’da Kaa, a group which promotes traditional Haida

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

. In 2017 Edenshaw and Haig-Brown began production on ''Edge of the Knife''. Based on the traditional Haida story of the "

wild man The wild man, wild man of the woods, woodwose or wodewose is a mythical figure and motif that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to ''Silvanus (mythology), Silvanu ...

", who loses his grip on reality in the forest before being returned to his community in a healing ceremony, the film had its theatrical premiere at the

2018 Toronto International Film Festival The 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 6 to 16, 2018. In June 2018, the TIFF organizers announced a program to ensure that at least 20 percent of all film critics and journalists given press accreditation to ...

. The film won the awards for Best Canadian Film and Best British Columbia Film at the

2018 Vancouver International Film Festival The 2018 Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) took place from September 27 to October 12, 2018. Awards The festival award winners were announced on October 12.Adrian Mack"Finding Big Country is the People’s Choice as VIFF closes with a ...

, and the Sun Jury Award at the

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Aboriginal and First People ...

. It won several year-end awards from the

Vancouver Film Critics Circle The Vancouver Film Critics Circle (VFCC) was founded in 2000 by David Spaner and Ian Caddell, in order to help promote Canadian films and the British Columbia film and television industry. Its membership includes print, radio, on-line, and telev ...

, for Best Canadian Film and Best British Columbia Film,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

and Best Actor ( Tyler York)."Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards Haida-language 'Edge of the Knife'"

CityNews City''News'' is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as City''Pulse'' as a standalone local newscast on the network's CITY- ...

, January 8, 2019. It was named to TIFF's annual year-end

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema". ''Welland Tribune'', November 23, ...

list for 2018."TIFF's Canada's Top Ten list skews a lot younger this year"
. ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'', December 5, 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edenshaw, Gwaai 1977 births Living people 21st-century Canadian artists 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century First Nations writers Canadian jewellers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male screenwriters Film directors from British Columbia First Nations dramatists and playwrights First Nations filmmakers First Nations screenwriters First Nations sculptors Haida woodcarvers Haida male artists Screenwriters from British Columbia