Darryl Nepinak burst onto the Winnipeg filmmaking scene in the early 2000s and has created a radical canon of satirical short films that are as big-hearted as they are scathing.
Socially engaged and committed, Nepinak exemplifies the filmmaker as a community leader and social critic, one who is mercifully seeking catharsis and understanding through satirical humour.
He explores themes of cultural property, systems of Aboriginal image-making, the singularity of Aboriginal life, and the intricacies of inter-cultural misunderstanding in Winnipeg.
Working variously in found footage, collage, docu-fiction, animation, mockumentary, music, and comic sketches, Nepinak's filmmaking trajectory is both deeply challenging and resolutely upbeat.
A lonely career machinist falls for a troubled young artist and they are drawn together while being guided through a mysterious dimension to reconcile with their pasts.
Two ersatz "Indian warriors" chase a beautiful Indian maiden through the streets of Winnipeg but she loves Chief Big Bear. Who is the hunter, and who the hunted in this tableaux? Based on the 1964 German song, "Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg," our heroes are in for a surprise when they reach The Ancient Lake of Schwinestieger.