BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Date Published | Dec. 20, 2007

When Dr. Paul Mulzer was doing his psychiatry training on a First Nation reserve near Bradford five years ago, he used to find the mental health pamphlets he gave his patients stuck underneath the couch cushions after their appointments.
“People wouldn’t take them. It wasn’t that there was no First Nations content in the pamphlets. They just weren’t describing the reality in their communities.”

Mulzer decided to order some aboriginal mental health resources for his patients, but he soon realized that no such resources existed.

These days, Mulzer works as a psychiatrist in Thunder Bay, where he once again has a lot of aboriginal patients.

He applied for and received an education and wellness grant from Eli Lilly Canada with the idea of producing an educational video about suicide, depression and addiction issues on reserves.

Mulzer met with an aboriginal advisory group for several months, trying to find out what the film should contain.

He eventually approached two Thunder Bay film production companies, Thunderstone Pictures and Shebandowan Films. The co-owner of Thunderstone Pictures, Michelle Derosier, took on the task of writing the script. The film was co-directed by Dave Clement and Kelly Saxberg.

The result is a 45-minute short dramatic film entitled Seeking Bimaadiziiwin, which means Seeking the Good Life in the Anishanawbe language.

The film won the People’s Choice Award during its premiere at the Bay Street Film Festival in Thunder Bay and the Best Live Action Short Film Award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.

It was also nominated for the Best Short Film Award at the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival. The film’s real purpose, however, is to help urban and rural aboriginal youth beat their demons.

Derosier, who is aboriginal, grew up on the Eagle Lake First Nation near Dryden and earned a degree in social work at Lakehead University. She now counsels aboriginal youth at the university as part of her day job.

She knows first hand about the devastating effect suicide can have on aboriginal communities and families. Her own brother took his life 12 years ago. Derosier said writing the film has allowed her to heal to some extent.

The film follows Kaitlyn (Brittany Angeconeb), an 18-year-old Anishnawbe woman who attempts suicide and is sent to the city for treatment. She and three other aboriginal youth attend group counselling sessions and become friends despite their differences.
The film was shot entirely in Thunder Bay, so residents of the city are able to see a lot of familiar landmarks.

“Film is just such a great thing,” said Derosier. “You can reach masses of people rather than doing it one person at a time or 12 people at a time in a counselling group.”
Most of the actors have no professional training, but they did a great job despite their inexperience, she said. More than 100 people from communities across the north auditioned.

Derosier herself played the aboriginal therapist who led the group sessions along with a white therapist.

She believes suicide, mental health issues and addictions are rampant in aboriginal communities because of the history of cultural genocide.

“When you have that history, it seeps through in every aspect of our lives, whether it be economic, political or social. It’s had devastating effects. The reserve system itself is colonialism,” she said.

“I think that a lot of the hopelessness has to do with a sense of identity. For anybody, regardless of your race, you do need to have some sense of identity and some sense of yourself.”

In the past, Derosier has done counselling work at a high school in Sioux Lookout, where 10-year-old children have committed suicide.

“There were a lot of stats with kids that were 10 or 12 year old committing suicide. For somebody that hasn’t had a lot of exposure to suicide and aboriginal communities, it’s mind boggling.”

Mulzer has more plans in mind to help aboriginal people. He recently applied for and received a $10,000 bursary from the Canadian Psychiatric Association Foundation to bring Seeking Bimaadiziiwin to three remote aboriginal communities in the north.
“We’re going to show the film and go through a workbook, which we are in the process of preparing. We will follow it up with questionnaires to get a sense of attitudes and the impact the film has had on the young audience.”

A documentary about the same subject is being produced to show to health professionals as a tool for learning to work with aboriginal people, and should be finished in a few weeks.

“I’m delighted about where we can go with this,” said Mulzer. “I think this is the first step in many, many films. I’m also starting to storyboard another production right now (besides the documentary), and I know Michelle (Derosier) has some fantastic ideas for future productions as well.”

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