Zoe Leigh Hopkins video installation features the time-based workGoldilocks tahnon Ohkwari (Goldilocks and the Bears).This contemporary adaptation of the popular fairy tale by Robert Southey is entirely portrayed in the Mohawk language with English subtitles, written and translated by Owennatekha Brian Maracle in collaboration with Hopkins. This version ofGoldilockspresents a familiar tale in an unfamiliar voice. The work addresses issues surrounding colonization and language revitalization. Here, Mohawk is no longer used only as a ceremonial tool, but it is everyday-language utilizing contemporary references and humour. It is through storytelling that language reclamation is possible. A story that is a cautionary tale for those who take over an already inhabited site and are willing to make claim to what is not rightfully theirs. The moral of this story serves as a warning that is time to pick-up the Mohawk language and remember where you came from.
Documentation
Artists Bios
Zoe Leigh Hopkins
Zoe Leigh Hopkins is Heiltsuk from Bella Bella, BC, and Mohawk from Six Nations, Ontario. Hopkins began her work in the film industry as an actor when she fell in love with filmmaking on the set of Black Robe, her first role, at the age of 15. Since then, Hopkins went on to study film at Ryerson and graduated with a BAA in Film in 1997.
Discovering a talent and a passion for writing led to a career as an independent filmmaker, working as a writer and director and occasional producer. Hopkins’ first short film,Prayer for a Good Day, premiered worldwide at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Her short film,One-Eyed Dogs Are Free, premiered at the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto. In development is Vancouver Special, a television comedy series – a co-production between her company Blanket Dance Productions and Violator Films, which Hopkins is writing for APTN. A member of the Embargo Collective, her shortfilm The Gardenpremiered with the collective at the 2010 Berlinale Film Festival. Five of her short films, includingButton Blanket, a short NFB documentary, screened at the 2011 Native American Film Festival in New York City, put on by the Smithsonian Institute and the National Museum of the American Indian.
Goldilocks and the Bears interview was conducted in the Mohawk language betweenKarahkwenhawi (ZOE LEIGH HOPKINS)and Owennatekha(BRIAN MARACLE ), english translation provided byKaronhyawake (JEFF DOREEN).
Now making the transition from short films to features, Hopkins was the first Canadian to go through the prestigious Sundance Institute’s Filmmaker’s Lab with her feature script,Cherry Blossoms, which is now in development with a Vancouver-based production company. Now living in Six Nations, Hopkins is currently in development with a feature film, entitledRunning Homewith Big Soul Productions through Telefilm.