Our Journey Continued From Page 5

514 years after Columbus 80% of the world’s indigenous people still live in remote rural communities beyond the range of conventional film distribution. Virtually invisible and excluded from modern communications services, a worldwide Aboriginal audience has no influence on the global film industry until it can contribute to the ‘gross box office’ that drives modern media priorities.

The advent of HD makes it possible for the first time to bring films to communities outside the 35mm grid. IDI will pioneer use of portable, low-cost, High Definition digital technology to project The Journals and a selection of other Aboriginal films to paying audiences in school gymnasiums and community halls in isolated communities across Canada, the U.S. and around the world. Key actors from The Journals and a technical assistant to run the screenings will accompany the film on tour.

IDI’s portable HD-projection kit costs less than $10,000. Installing it permanently in selected communities builds infrastructure for ongoing film distribution of Aboriginal, independent and mainstream films allowing indigenous audiences to participate in the emerging global digital discourse.

This campaign brings theatrical cinema to one of the world’s most under-served markets, an initiative so surprising it will attract attention and free press wherever it is carried out. Increased attention builds larger audiences for The Journals in every platform, situating the film as a leader in assembling new audiences with new technologies, while improving the world’s Aboriginal human rights track record in the global spotlight of the 21st century.