‘It Stings’: Dene Filmmaker Turned Away From Cannes Red Carpet Over Moccasins
29.05.2022 - 19:49
/ etcanada.com
A Vancouver-based Indigenous film producer says he was treated like he was “trying to steal something” after being turned away from a red carpet event at the Cannes Film Festival because he was wearing a pair of traditional moccasins.
Kelvin Redvers, a member of the Dene Nation from the North West Territories, was at the festival with a group of six Indigenous filmmakers in a business program at Capilino University, with the backing of the Indigenous Screen Office and Telefilm.
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On Sunday, he was invited Sunday to a red carpet screening of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s “Les Amandiers”, where he planned to wear a formal black suit and bowtie, along with a pair of moccasins hand-made by his sister.
Redvers said that the team of mentors he was travelling with had explained that despite the festival’s ultra-strict dress code, there were allowances for cultural formalwear.
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“I 100 per cent showed up expecting that this was within the realm of the things they (would) allow,” Redvers told Global News.
“As a Dene filmmaker, moccasins are a huge part of our culture. They’re ceremonial, they can be quite special, so if you are going to have a kilt allowed for someone who is Scottish, the equivalent would be a pair of moccasins for someone who is Dene.”
Redvers said he went through the first of several red carpet checkpoints wearing a pair of regular shoes, not wanting to damage the moccasins. But once he swapped them on, staff were quick to react.
“Almost instantly, someone comes and says, ‘No, no no.'” he said.
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The issue was escalated to higher-level