Projects
The Winter Chill
Length: 24 min. 50 sec.
Release: 2006
Language: English
Director: Paul M. Rickard
Producers: Paul M. Rickard (Cree) and Daniele Rohrbach
Actors: Dakota House (Cree) and Glen Gould (Mi'gmaq)
Location: Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada
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The Winter Chill is a short drama that follows a young Cree man into the bush where he is reluctantly tending his father’s trapline only to run headlong into the legendary Cree creature, Pakaaskokan. At first terrified, he is shocked to learn that there was far more in his father’s stories than he ever dared realize.
The Winter Chill is an adaptation and modern retelling of a traditional Cree narrative about the filmmaker's grandfather who one winter encountered the ancient emaciated being Pakaaskokan while out in the bush checking his traps. Paul first heard the story a few years ago from his father Frederick Rickard Sr. who originally heard it from his own mother. It's a story passed down from one generation to another and now it’s Paul's turn to pass it along in the form of a short film.
Shot on location in Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada, “The Winter Chill” was written and directed by Cree filmmaker, Paul M. Rickard as his first dramatic film. Starring Dakota House as Simon and Glen Gould as Dan with Ernest Webb as the Voice of Pakaaskokan.
Festival Screenings:
- 2005 Imagine Native Media Arts + Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2005 American Indian Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA (Nominated Best Live Short)
- 2006 NSI Film Exchange, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- 2006 Weeneebeg Aboriginal Film & Video Festival, Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada
- 2006 Yorkton Short Film and Festival (Nominated Best Aboriginal Short and Best Performance Male for Dakota House), Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada
- 2006 Land Insights – Terres En Vues, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 2006 Rural Route Film and Video Festival, New York City, New York, USA
- 2006 Native Cinema Showcase, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- 2006 Denver Indigenous Film Festival, Denver, Colorado, USA
- 2006 Cinefest International Film Festival, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
- 2006 International Cherokee Film Festival, Tahlequah, OK, USA (Winner Best Native Short, Best Actor – Dakota House, Best Director – Paul M Rickard)
- 2006 Native American Film and Video Festival, New York, NY, USA
- 2007 Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, Mashantucket, CT, USA
Other Awards:
Winner Best Film and Best Director at 2006 Music and Film in Motion, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada