Sundance chooses Haida director’s short film to showcase

A short doc by award-winning Haida director, animator and illustrator Christopher Auchter will be showcased at the Sundance Film Festival, which will be held in Utah in January and February 2020.

Now Is the Time tells the story of a totem pole raised on Haida Gwaii in 1969. It was the first new pole raised there in a century. Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old when he carved the pole.

Auchter steps through history to revisit the August day 50 years ago when the entire village of Old Massett gathered to celebrate the event that would signal the rebirth of the Haida spirit, reads a synopsis from the National Film Board.

The Sundance Film Festival selected 74 short films from over 10,000 submissions (5,400 international submissions).

Auchter made his directorial debut in 2017 with the NFB animated short The Mountain of SGaana, named Best Animated Film or Series for Young Audiences – Ages 6–12 at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and Best Animated Short – Iron Giants Children’s Jury Prizes (ages 14+) at the Seattle Children’s Film Festival. 

Now Is the Time is produced by Selwyn Jacob and executive produced by Shirley Vercruysse, with Teri Snelgrove as associate producer, for the NFB’s BC and Yukon Studio in Vancouver.