Cochrane filmmaker Eppo Eerkes is bringing the story of residential school survivor Elder Betty Ross to his home town, with a screening of Return to the Falls, a docu-drama that combines real-life footage with dramatic re-enactments to tell a powerful story his then-eight-year-old daughter Denai insisted he tell after she read about it 11 years ago.
The film was made with the help of Indigenous people from the Cochrane area and other parts of western Canada. The film features Indigenous Elders and residential school survivors.
It will be shown at the Cochrane Movie House Thursday March 20 at 7 pm, to be followed by a panel discussion, where attendees can engage in meaningful dialogue and reflection.
Return to the Falls shares the inspiring story of Elder Betty Ross, a residential school survivor who credits her father's Sacred Teachings for her survival. The film explores the legacy of residential schools and the journey towards reconciliation.
The ultimate goal is to integrate the film and a Teachers Guide into schools across Alberta and Canada, fostering relationships and protocol between students, teachers, and elders and survivors.
“By sharing and telling story, we can work together towards healing, reconciliation, and a brighter future,” Eerkes said.
He added that the story has particular significance to Cochrane.
“I believe this story matters to our community. My community,” Eerkes said.
“Cochrane is a rare gem of a town and I'm just so proud to call it my home of the last couple years. As a film director I'm excited by the breadth of stories that are happening right here on film.”
“I'm also keen on embracing the Stoney Nakoda Nations as we are neighbours. I believe a film like Return To The Falls can help bridge a gap and give greater understanding of each other.”
One of the actors in the film is from Stoney Nakoda Nation. Roger Hunter plays the father of young Betty Ross in the film.
“His presence in the film is the backbone to the whole story,” Eerkes said. “Through a father’s love and guidance, happiness, health and well-being can be achieved.”
Savannah Hope-Taylor, a Cochrane High School student, plays Elder Betty as a teenager (the girl on the swing in the trailer). Some of the filming was done locally, along the Elbow River near Bragg Creek.
Eerkes said he also has had strong support from Elder Bruce Starlight from Tsuu T’ina Nation.
In the middle of winter at her home in Cross Lake First Nation in northern Manitoba, Ross’s adopted father found her huddled under a canoe, with hypothermia setting in. She was seven years old. Her mother struggled with alcohol addiction, and was a residential school survivor.
“She had been kicked out of her house several times by her mother, who felt guilty about not being able to care of her,” Eerkes said.
On this occasion, she wandered off into a storm before her adopted father found her under the canoe.
One day, Ross’s father took her up a river in a canoe to a place called Sugar Falls. He lit a ceremonial fire and began teaching her about The Four Directions, and traditional Indigenous ways of living as taught by her Swampy Cree people.
The teachings went on for the next couple of years until one day, a Catholic priest from a residential school across the lake paddled up to their home in a canoe.
“He literally picked her up, in front of her dad and mom, and put her in the canoe, yelling and screaming,” Eerkes said.
That trauma marked the beginning of a long, painful odyssey through different residential schools for Ross. She would not return home for 20 years.
Return to the Falls is an Indigenous-led, majority Indigenous-owned project. Black Badge Studios is an Alberta company.
Eerkes has produced shorter films for Animal Planet, filming grizzly bears in Canada and wildlife in Africa.
The Cochranite’s work has garnered a variety of provincial and international nominations and awards, including A Day Inside the Calgary Stampede, which was nominated for a Gemini, and won Best Documentary at the Alberta Film & Television Awards.
Eerkes hopes his latest film will help educate people about the dark legacy of residential schools – something he feels is still lacking in school-based curricula.
He said the story of how Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have collaborated on the making of this film, and can work together, is just as important as the movie itself.
To view the trailer for Return to the Falls, go to blackbadgestudios.com/videos.
