Kelvin Redvers is a producer and film director who belongs to the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation.

Biography

Kelvin Redvers grew up in Hay River,

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

. He majored in film production and graduated in June 2010 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

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, where he gained the proficiency for writing and directing his first short films ''Playing Cards'' (2007) and '' The Night the Robber Came'' (2009). His work covers both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal topics as well as

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

community and aboriginal current affairs. Redvers received his first nationwide

Bravo! Canada CTV Drama Channel is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts drama series and films. The channel was founded as the Canadian version of the American channel Bravo (which ...

broadcast credit at the age of 21, for '' The Making of a Haida Totem Pole''. Redvers' documentary television series for

Knowledge Network Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network and K:, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crow ...

titled '' Our First Voices'' (2012) proved Redvers as an up-and-coming filmmaker. 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

-based television series and production company that detail

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Aboriginal concerns. Over the course of three seasons, as of 2014, Redvers had produced twelve episodes for ''First Story''.

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

In May 2011, Redvers applied for a film grant through

BravoFACT BravoFACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) was a Canadian fund that ran continuously from 1995 to 2017. It was established to fund the creation of Canadian arts-based short films and videos. BravoFACT funded shorts from various subject matte ...

(Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent). The funding that he received through

allowed Redvers the opportunity to make the seven-minute short film ''The Dancing Cop''. In September 2012, ''The Dancing Cop'' premiered in the Short Cuts section at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and at the

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Film Festival in

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'We Matter' Campaign (2016-present)

In October 2016, Kelvin Redvers and his sister T'áncháy Redvers launched 'We Matter', a national online campaign designed to bring awareness to the struggles of

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

youth across

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. It is modelled after

Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBTQ community activist. He writes Savage Love, an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husband, ...

's '

It Gets Better It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * '' It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * ''It!'' (1967 ...

' campaign and collects videos and writings from each Indigenous community across

with the aim of reducing the number of indigenous teen suicides, while also providing them with mental health resources. Redvers mails the We Matter videos on USB drives to Indigenous communities across Canada who do not have internet access.

High Arctic Haulers

Redvers is the series creator for the documentary series '' High Arctic Haulers'', and directed several of its segments. The series follows the hard and challenging work of the men and women behind the annual sealift that brings almost all of the supplies to the many Northern communities not served by roads. Redvers told ''

Nunavut News ''News/North'' (originally the ''News of the North'') is a newspaper based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, with offices in Fort_Smith,_Northwest_Territories, Fort Smith, Hay_River,_Northwest_Territories, Hay River, Fort Providence and Norm ...

'' that he first conceived the idea for the show in 2015, and that part of his motivation was dissatisfaction with how the North was portrayed by film-makers from the south. Redvers said this was his largest production so far, and that he was managing multiple crews aboard multiple vessels. Redvers said that he had included profiles of First Nations youth taking leadership roles.

Film Awards and Recognition

* Golden Starfish award for "Best Young Videomaker" at the

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October ...

(won) * Rising Star Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the Canada International Film Festival (won) * Best Film in the Drama Category at the International Student Film Festival (won) * Gordon Shrum Gold Medal (2010, won) * Jack Webster Award (2011, won for ''Black Blood—Tainted Land, Dying Caribou'') * Jack Webster Award (2012, won for ''First Story,'' episode "A Home for Edgar') * RTDNA Trina McQueen Award from the Association of Electronic Journalists (2012, won for Death of a Carver)

Filmography

References

External links

*
'We Matter' campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redvers, Kelvin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Dene people Film directors from the Northwest Territories First Nations filmmakers First Nations male actors Simon Fraser University alumni Jack Webster award recipients