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“Action!” resonated throughout the immediate block of West Superior Street in Duluth.
A crew of filmmakers stood ready with cameras and equipment in front of Jonathan Thunder's art gallery as they filmed a scene out of Thunder's upcoming short film, "Ish Meets a Mermaid."
"The film itself started out as a seed idea. And it has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and is going much better than I could have imagined," Thunder said.
Thunder is a local artist and citizen of the Red Lake Nation.
The film will feature elements of Ojibwe stories and dark comedy. It follows a Native artist named Ish, played by Thunder, who finds success while on a journey in the afterlife after meeting a mysterious woman, Ziibi, who "comes from a realm beneath Lake Superior."
"I'm not really working from the angle that it's kind of a person in the water with a fish body," Thunder said. "In Ojibwe stories, they're called 'water beings' or the nibiinaabe."
While nibiinaabe are described as having a human torso and fish tail in Ojibwe stories, the character Ziibi, whose name means "river" in the Ojibwe language, appears to be more of a human.
Thunder says he drew inspiration from his love for mythology and living in the Duluth area, where Lake Superior, the largest body of freshwater in the world, is located.
Filming locations in the area include Zenith Bookstore, where the two characters meet for the first time, Brighton Beach and Wisconsin Point.
Northern Minnesota has a budding film industry, says Vera Bianchini, the film's producer. Bianchini works as the Minnesota Film Festival director under the Duluth-based company Zeitgeist.
The set of "Ish Meets a Mermaid" is what she describes as an "educational set," where emerging filmmakers can gain experience in the industry.
Bianchini says at least five interns are involved in the production of the film.
"We're realizing that the biggest thing that's keeping more productions from happening is sort of the lack of labor workforce," she said. "We need to give our regional filmmakers more experience."
She says all crew members involved in the production are based in Minnesota. She also says the crew is a diverse array of women, men, Native and non-Native filmmakers.
Tashia Hart, a Red Lake Nation citizen and Thunder's spouse, plays the role of Ziibi. She also contributed to the story's development and character creation. Hart emphasized the importance of Indigenous storytelling, having written and published her own books.
"Having joy, that's one of our greatest sovereignties. We're used to struggling, but like, we are also used to creating and telling our stories. And we need that," Hart said.
Thunder agrees with the sentiment of telling Indigenous stories, particularly in a contemporary setting.
"It shows us here and now, you know, in this time that we live in and not in old history books and stuff like that," he said.
Alex Kmett, an Ojibwe language instructor from Red Lake Nation, lives 20 miles west of Duluth on the Fond du Lac Band reservation. He has several roles in the production of the film — as a sound designer behind the scenes and as an actor on screen.
"It's my first time ever acting, and I've been taken care of really well," he said. Kmett was cast as a musician in the film. During the scene directly outside the art gallery, he plays on a drum while Thunder's character approaches him to toss money into a hat. The interaction in the scene plays out with silent intensity.
Acting and sound design are not Kmett's only roles in the production, though. Kmett also helped incorporate Ojibwe language into the film.
"We need media that's within our language. You know, it's not just representation. It's functional things," Kmett said.
Last summer, an Ojibwe language dub of "Star Wars: A New Hope" premiered in Canada, which then made its way into Minnesota theaters. For many Ojibwe language speakers and learners, the dub provided greater access to the language.
"We can't just get subtitles or get a dubbed copy of everything, like on Disney Plus, like you can for any world languages," Kmett said.
Tehya LaPrairie-Davis is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and is the film's second assistant director. She has been working in and out of the film industry for years on film and news broadcasting sets.
She says what has resonated with her most is the connection she feels towards the story's focus on Ojibwe culture alongside Ojibwe band members on set who are passionate about ensuring those elements are accurately portrayed.
"We have our stories, we have our mythology, and we are willing to share it with everybody. And I hope that everybody is happy to learn, happy to accept, and, you know, just happy to see," LaPrairie-Davis said.
Bianchini says it's key for those viewing the film, or any movie with a culture different from their own, to understand that human experiences can be universal.
"You actually learn more about yourself and other cultures just by exposing yourself to those films and those stories," said Bianchini.
"Ish Meets a Mermaid" is expected to be released next year.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
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