Lisa Jackson is excited about her new film, “Wilfred Buck,” which is set to debut at the CPH: DOX festival, a big event for documentary films in Europe. The movie is a mix of real and dramatized scenes, telling the inspiring story of Wilfred Buck. Buck is a man who knows a lot about stars from both Indigenous and Western perspectives. He’s overcome many challenges, including being forced to leave his home, facing racism, and battling addiction. He found his way back by embracing the star knowledge and ceremonies of his ancestors.
Buck didn’t finish school when he was younger but later went back to get his education, earning two degrees from the University of Manitoba. He has spent 25 years teaching people of all ages, from little kids to college students, about astronomy in a way that blends Indigenous stories with scientific facts.
The story is based on Buck’s own book, “I Have Lived Four Lives,” which tells his personal journey against the backdrop of Canada’s history of colonialism. Buck is not just a teacher; he’s also an elder and ceremonial leader in the Cree community, one of the largest Indigenous groups in Canada.
'Wilfred Buck' About Indigenous Star Lore Expert Is a Feel-Good Story
‘Wilfred Buck,’ About Indigenous Star Lore Expert, Is a Feel-Good Story, Director Lisa Jackson Says
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Jackson hopes the film will offer viewers a new way to see the world through an Indigenous perspective and that people will enjoy learning about Buck’s incredible life. The film includes old videos of Indigenous people, re-enacted scenes from Buck’s life, and footage of him today, along with some artistic shots that use meteorites to symbolize different themes, like time travel and ancestry.
Jackson originally wanted to explore how Western science and Indigenous knowledge talk to each other but found the conversation to be more about starting a dialogue between these different ways of understanding the world. She was inspired by Buck’s ability to show how Western science, which focuses on analyzing small parts, and Indigenous knowledge, which sees how everything connects, can complement each other.
Jackson is also working on a shorter film about Buck’s life that he himself will narrate, intended for planetarium shows. Wilfred Buck is produced by several organizations, including the National Film Board of Canada and will first be shown at CPH: DOX in Copenhagen. Source
