Private Project

The Healing Dance

Rosie is preparing to dance in her first pow wow, but after Nookomis tells her the origin story of jingle dancing, she worries that she’s not as ready as she thought she was. The drums are calling, but will Rosie answer them?

  • Shaelyn Johnston
    Director
  • Shaelyn Johnston
    Writer
  • Shaelyn Johnston
    Producer
  • Sara McIntyre
    Producer
  • Kailani Austin
    Key Cast
    "ROSIE"
  • Monica M. Benson
    Key Cast
    "NOOKOMIS"
  • Nicole Cardinal
    Key Cast
    "MOTHER"
  • Douglas Treloar
    Key Cast
    "FATHER & MC VOICE "
  • Stephen Gladue
    Lead Animator
  • Elliot Waters
    Second Animator
  • Tracey Draper
    Composer
  • Peter Robinson
    Sound Design
  • Boom Patty T.
    Editor
  • Chantal Langley
    Technician
  • Dustin McGladrey
    Dialogue Editor
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, family, history, animation, Indigenous, Native American, Anishinaabe, Ojibwe
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 17 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 22, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    17,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Shaelyn Johnston

Shaelyn Johnston is an award-winning, Anishinaabe and Irish-Canadian writer from Vancouver, BC, who uses writing as a way to explore her culture and the relationships we have with one another. In 2019, she was one of 30 filmmakers chosen for Telus STORYHIVE’s inaugural Indigenous Storytellers Edition, through which she received a $23,000 grant from Telus and Creative BC to produce her animated short film, The Healing Dance. Following the film’s release, she was one of five filmmakers selected for the Telus/ImagineNATIVE Film Festival Fellowship and was a 2020 Netflix/Banff Diversity of Voices participant. Shaelyn is a co-instructor for Women in Film & Television Vancouver’s Tricksters & Writers Program and was recently chosen to take part in Whistler Film Festival’s 2020/21 Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship Program. Alongside her emerging film career, she is working on a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia with a focus on screenwriting and stories for youth audiences.

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