LOUIE LAWLESS

Producer – Director Unrepentant

 

John LeKay: How and when did you get involved in producing and directing films?

Louie Lawless: In the seventies, I was part of the Hollywood Production Team that produced the feature length documentary film Manson, nominated for an Academy Award.  Since that time I have been a member of the Producer’s Guild of America and the Director’s Guild of America.

I was born in Penticton, BC and raised on a farm in Bridesville. I left for Hollywood after high school to follow my dream of being in the film industry. There I studied and worked in films and television at many studios in a variety of crew positions, from grip to Director of Photography improving and developing my skills to the positions of Producer and Director. Over the next twenty years, I Produced and Directed feature films and television, while also teaching both acting and film production at various studios in Hollywood. 

In 1994 I returned to Canada to produce independent films and television and to settle on Vancouver Island where to this day I still pursue my crafts of film-making and teaching at the Victoria Motion Picture School.

 

JL: How did you meet Kevin Annett and when did you first hear about the story of the residential school murders?

Louie Lawless: I first met him when I was interviewing him for a film I was shooting called A Silent Apartheid about Canada's silent but well visible racism. Then read his book Love and Death in the Valley, and we came to agreement that this view from his POV was the real story to reveal the truth about Canada and it’s dirty secret.

JL:  How difficult was it to find people who were willing to go on camera and tell their stories?

Louie Lawless: It was very difficult because these truths where well hidden and they did not wish to share this horror.

JL: How much of the tribunal did you get to film? 

Louie Lawless: Only what you see in the film, as I was not involved in the story yet.

JL:. Is there much more footage that documents these events, interviews etc., but was edited for whatever reason?

Trailer Unrepentant by Louie Lawless and Kevin Annett

 

Louie Lawless: Yes, we had to make a decision as to what was appropriate to the story of the injustices that Kevin went through.

JL:  What has been the feedback so far in Canada?

Louie Lawless: We are not revealing or showing it in Canada, our choice.

 

Residential school group photograph, Regina, Saskatchewan

 

JL: Have the Canadian press or television stations aired your film or covered it or reviewed it so far in any newspapers?

Louie Lawless: Nothing yet.

JL:. What about in Europe or the states?

Louie Lawless: We have a plan, first some film festivals and than have an opening to the public in order to be eligible to enter the academy awards for 2007.

 

JL: Would you say that Canada is similar to the apartheid in South Africa?

Louie Lawless: This is just my opinion, that the design of apartheid is the control of a people in order to steal their land, in Canada's case the state and the churches joined forces. 

JL: What would you say is the mindset towards the aboriginal people of your country in general?

Louie Lawless: They are thought of as  second class citizens and treated as such, much like the blacks in the US.

Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan Indian Industrial School, ca. 1885. Parents of Indian children had to camp outside the gates of the residential schools in order to visit their children.

 

JL: What about the severe conditions of poverty, alcoholism, crime etc. on some of the reserves (reservations) over there in Canada. To your knowledge, does this sort of thing run through much of the Canadian reserves? 

Louie Lawless: John, it runs wild in Canada because most the native chiefs are on the payroll of the government and they do not wish to change the status qua. The budget for Indian Affairs is 9 billion dollars and by the time it reaches the native on the ground there is just pennies left.

The even bigger damage is to the well being of the native’s mind because of the years of abuse we have done to the people, and how do we undo that. As a matter of fact to this day under the Indian Act circa 1800, is still the law and the natives are still wards of the state, like children or mental people.  

JL: What do you believe are the chances of bringing some of these residential school priests, pedophiles and perpetrators to justice? 

Louie Lawless: Kevin said it best, the people responsible are not going to prosecute them-selves, this has to be brought to a higher court. Where is that, maybe our film.

 

JL: Has the prime minister held any other hearings or investigations as to what happened?

Louie Lawless: Just white washing, remember the church and state are in this together, and they are not going to prosecute themselves.

JL: In the film, you mention a case of nuns having sexual intercourse with the young boys and getting pregnant and killing the babies. Does anyone have any idea where these children and babies are buried?

 

Louie Lawless: No, the cover up has been and is to this day, well covered up.

JL: What do you think the chances are that people in other countries will start boycotting Canadian goods?

 

Louie Lawless: That is a goal of Kevin and myself, through this film to shame Canada into exposing and admitting to this crime.

JL: Did you ever hear back from the UN at Geneva after submitting evidence of mass murders, rape, torture etc. and 14 hours of film?

 

Louie Lawless: Again this was covered up, but the people that talked, including Kevin, were harassed by the Mounties - Canadian police.

JL: What's going on with all these native young women missing today?

Louie Lawless: Still missing, because the government sees these people as non people, there is no need to spend money on this so-called native problem.

JL: What happened at your screening at the New York film festival?

 

Louie Lawless: We were well received, as I was awarded in the international film spot, the best director for documentary.

JL: How did this film affect you on a personal level?

Louie Lawless: First as a filmmaker, this is a story that I felt had all the ingredients of a Shakespeare story, a whistle blowing minister who opens his doors to native people, and who share with him the crimes and theft of their land, and he was fired for his good work. This is not the way things are supposed to work. On a personal level it provoked many thoughts and answered questions about organized religion that I had.

JL: How long have you been interested in native causes?

Louie Lawless: Born Irish Catholic and a son of a poor farmer, I always felt like an outsider until I ran away to Hollywood and became a filmmaker. I did not know about the native problem until I returned to Canada in the 1900's and got involved in filming some native stories, and saw first hand the racism between the white and natives. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife. An elephant in the living room that people did not want to see or talk about.

JL: Have you experienced any forms of intimidation or threats from the Canadian authorities, police, churches and politicians for making this film?

Louie Lawless:  I did not, but Kevin sure did.

JL: Do you think this film will change people's perception about organized religions?

Louie Lawless:  Well that is my goal.  It sure opened my eyes to horror that we humans can do to each other under the cloth of religion.

JL: What expectations did you have for making this film?

Louie Lawless: I have great expectations.  When I read Kevin's book Love and Death in the Valley, I really felt that this was and is a story that had to be told, and was academy award material. 

JL: Have there been any surprises so far, in terms of fall-out from making this film, positive or negative?

Louie Lawless: Nothing yet.

JL: What about psychological or medical help for these traumatized people. Has the Canadian government provided any sort of care for these victims of torture, sexual and psychological abuse?

Louie Lawless: The real problem is the church and state together will not admit that there is a problem; so the healing process that there is, is just a bandage.
 

for more info visit  www.hiddenfromhistory.org

United Church Sterilization Center, Bella Bella BC
-W.R. Large Memorial Hospital, site of sterilizations and medical experiments on native children between at least 1923 and 1969