La Balada del Oppenheimer Park

“The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver is one of the biggest concentrations of Native Communities in urban Canada…Oppenheimer Park, an Indian cemetery before the colonization, is located right in the center of this area that many consider the largest Reserve in Canada.” With his keen sense of framing, Juan Manuel Sepúlveda remains within the confines of the park and films the daily life of Harley, Bear, Janet and Dave. In fact, each gesture of these visibly displaced homeless people hinges on ritual. “You’re on stolen native land!”, we hear in the distance shortly after seeing a Western-style wagon set on fire… De-socialised, worn out, the users of the park are not playing on some image of the Redskin. They come, in fact, from different tribes (“Go back to your reservation!” -“And you to yours!” come the shouts when they have drunk too much). But the filmmaker captures their painful awareness of folklore with precision: life-size cardboard effigies sometimes surge up between two benches, in sharp contrast to the alcohol-heavy bodies. A closing ritual, seen as a sign of degradation by a woman who remains off screen, puts a finishing touch to this symbolic re-appropriation of the park, which the non-Native society seems to visit simply to “reframe” the Natives, and keep them in reserve so to speak. (Charlotte Garson)