We Were Children

At times, the interspersed interviews with the real life Glen Anaquod and Lyna Hart seemed intrusive. That's because the dramatizations were so strong. However, without this real life touch by the two children as elders, the overall impact of the film would have been lessened. The abuse (psychological, physical, spiritual, emotional, sexual, cultural) of the girl from Manitoba and the boy from Saskatchewan was so similar the viewer gets the sense that their experience was typical of all residential students at that time. The director, Tim Wolochatiuk, does a good job of bringing these parallels together. I also enjoyed the symbolism Wolochatiuk employed, especially that of Lyna's horses in her secret place. In the midst of the Idle No More and similar grass roots movements, this docu-drama is very timely. Showing Prime Minister Stephen Harper's parliamentary apology at the end of the show seemed to be done tongue in cheek, the irony apparent to all who know of Mr. Harper's plans to dismantle the First Nations people's rights.