QueerFM Featured Guests : Canadian Thirza Cuthand (Writer/Director) & Norine Braun Vancouver based blues-rock singer-songwriter

CiTR -- Queer FM

Thirza Cuthand (Writer/Director) Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, has been making short experimental and narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, Queer identity and love, and Indigeneity, which have screened in festivals and galleries internationally since 1995. She completed her BFA majoring in Film and Video at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2005, and her Masters of Arts in Media Production at X University in 2015. She has written three feature screenplays and does performance art. In 2017 she won the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s REVEAL Indigenous Art Award. She is a Whitney Biennial 2019 artist and is of Plains Cree and Scots descent, a member of Little Pine First Nation, and currently resides in Toronto, Canada.
the premiere of KWÊSKOSÎW (SHE WHISTLES), an Indigiqueer film directed and written by Thriza Cuthand, which will be featured at both the Fantasia Film Festival and Outfest LA this month. The short film, starring Sera-Lys McArthur (Outlander, Monkey Beach) and Aidan Devine (A History of Violence, Suicide Squad) delves into the missing & murdered Indigenous women and girls epidemic and the increased violence and discrimination that Indigenous women face.
The award-winning supernatural thriller, shot in Toronto, incorporates the mysterious powers of the northern lights. Following the story of Stephanie (McArthur), a 2-Spirit nêhiyaw woman, who discovers a deadly supernatural power that may help her solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. It has been said that if one whistles at the northern lights, the ancestors will come and take you away.
The film is scheduled for a virtual screening at Outfest LA on August 16th & 18th, an in person screening in LA on August 15th
@shewhistlesshortfilm
THIRZA:
Twitter: @LeZbusrider
Instagram: @cabbagetownstomper
Facebook: @ThirzaCuthandArtist
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Norine Braun has released her 12th full- length bluesy roots rock album December Falls in December 2020 "Vancouver based blues-rock singer-songwriter Norine Braun has cooked up a Christmas album during her time in quarantine that offers up several swingin' new holiday-tinged tracks and peppers in her rowdy take on some old chestnuts. The veteran songstress' new tracks frame the season in a new way, shirking the traditional style much in the way rock n roll originally came in and rebranded the idea of Christmas by the likes of Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley. December Falls encapsulates the whole period of transition that comes with the new year, not just the day itself. God knows we're all ready for a transition!" J. Ireson Stuart Derdeyn named it one of 5 albums worth putting under your tree.
Norine Braun awards include: Canada Council For the Arts Award, First Peoples Cultural Council Awards, Creative BC Amplify grants, BC Arts Council and Los Angeles Music Awards. Her album Gone To The Spirits was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award in 2018. Describing her sound as emotive, heartfelt and eclectic, Braun successfully blends genres in her music, which nods to the past whilst sounding firmly modern and progressive. Norine's
eclectic approach to songwriting and her prowess as a heartfelt performer are the fundamentals of her solid reputation within her local scene, and beyond. From New York City to Quebec City to Tokyo and beyond, Braun has performed at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, festivals, coffeehouses, and clubs. Norine identifies as Two Spirit and is of Metis - Ukrainian heritage.
Norine is currently in the studio recording her 13th album Songs For Trees due out in April 2022.
www.norinebraun.com