I Am YEG Arts: Conor McNally

For over a decade, Conor McNally has been telling Edmonton’s stories through film. With an emphasis on cinematic form and texture, Conor’s films explore themes of sovereignty, artistry, and identity, ranging from reflections of prairie hockey culture, a moving portrayal of his brother’s struggles with incarceration and mental health, and collaborations with Indigenous artists like painter Lauren Crazybull and the band nêhiyawak. In this week’s I Am YEG Arts story, we talk with Conor about his preference to work with 16mm film, how the Cree principle of wahkohtowin informs his practice, and what it was like to work on his new feature length documentary, nanekawâsis, that chronicles the story of Cree artist George Littlechild.

How did you get your start as a filmmaker? Was it always plan A? 

It wasn’t really my first plan, but rather my passion since I was a little kid. My dad’s a professional actor, so growing up I got to go behind the scenes on a lot of his theatre productions and when they were shooting some TV shows. I’d get to go on set as a kid, and we somehow finagled a video camera from someone, and we’d make silly home movies. Then we got a bit older and got a really nice video camera for Christmas one year and the production level went up. I went to Victoria School of the Arts for junior high and high school and took the TV program there, making movies throughout school. I went from making silly skateboard videos to now making more serious documentaries. 

Tell us about the first thing you ever made that inspired your career path. 

That’s a tricky one because like I said, my friends and I used to make lots of silly videos, but going back to late elementary, we got into stop-motion Claymation. Specifically, my good friend Dmitri Bandet (who now helps me on all of my projects!) and I, thought these were the coolest videos ever and all the parents that we showed these to seemed to love them. They were really fun to make because with animation – and it’s funny because I haven’t done any animation since I was like 8 years old – there was a lot of freedom with it, and you didn’t need a budget per se. It was really kind of guerilla. The skate videos were silly, and I don’t even count those as far as inspiration goes, but I guess they taught me how to use a camera and some editing principles. 

In 2006, I took an intro to 16mm filmmaking workshop from FAVA. And I don’t know if they still do it this way, but it was all analog, so we shot on film and then it was processed and then we would edit on a Steenbeck where you’d physically cut the film. That gave me a whole new appreciation for editing because you have to be a bit more patient with the process. The tactile nature of it was interesting because I had learned editing digitally before that. The class was taught by Rick Gustavsen and aAron Munson; aAron was a huge mentor of mine. I was really inspired seeing his work. When I met him, I thought it was cool that someone from Edmonton was making these experimental black and white 16mm based projects. That class dominoed into where I am today, making feature length films on 16mm. 

In your films, you choose to work with celluloid (film) and not digitally. What is it about this style of filmmaking that appeals to you, and how do you think it contributes to the stories you tell?

For full disclosure, with my new film, nanekawâsis, parts of it are digital and parts of it are shot on film. Initially I had intended to shoot the whole thing on 16mm film, but from a cost perspective, it was becoming a bit unwieldy. It makes sense for a narrative project where you have a script and you can plan things out a little bit more, but with documentary when people are on camera and you’re asking them questions it might take a long time, and then you’re like, oh no, we just burned through $500 worth of film and the person has just started introducing themselves! But most of the film was shot on 16mm. I think what I like about it primarily is the visual qualities. Some would argue that you can replicate a lot of that digitally, but I find it to be quite a bit more work and not as aesthetically satisfying when you try to mimic it digitally. It’s easier to just shoot it on film if you want that film look, with the softness and the grain. 

What I also like a bit more, and I’ve said this before with other films I’ve made, is that you have to be a lot more attentive and in the moment when shooting with film. I think it heightens everything for all those participating. Everybody becomes a little bit more alert and present whereas, you know, when a digital camera is running you can’t hear it like you could if you were using film, so people are more passive. I like the tactile nature of it. 

You’ve mentioned that your filmmaking practice is grounded in wahkohtowin. Can you tell us more about that? In what ways does your Métis heritage influence your art?

For people that aren’t familiar with the concept of wahkohtowin, it’s a Cree kinship law recognizing relationality and an ethic of how we should move through the world. I think, especially for documentaries, documentary cinema has a history of exploitation where documentary filmmakers would go, specifically with Indigenous communities, and take, take, take, and there wasn’t a lot of reciprocity and giving back. For me as a Métis filmmaker, I want to embody this ethic of wahkohtowin, and when working with a participant like George Littlechild in my new film, nanekawâsis, a big part of that was building a relationship that went beyond just filmmaker and subject to the point where you know, I’ve crashed on his couch, he’s stayed here with my family, we’ve had dinners together, we spend time together that doesn’t involve filmmaking, and we’ve built a friendship. We’ve watched RuPaul’s Drag Race together. He’s hung out with my daughter. While trying to embody that ethic I’m trying to tell his story in a way that he wants it to be told. I’m not trying to do tricky edits that are going to overdramatize his story. But obviously we don’t want to leave things out. I do have autonomy as an artist and as the director of the film, but throughout editing I continually checked in with George to say, OK, well, I’m adding this part into the film. We talked about this on camera, and you consented to it. I’m wondering, are you still OK with me including it? And I’d show him a snippet or two. He was really gracious, I think because he had seen my previous work, and we got to know each other before this film went into full production. He was fully trusting that I was going to make something that respected his story. That’s the long answer, but it’s really about being accountable and being a good relation. 

Local audiences will have a chance to see your feature length documentary, nanekawâsis, at Metro Cinema on September 22 that paints a portrait of Cree artist George Littlechild. Tell us about what it was like to work on the documentary.

It was pretty exciting. The film has played in Vancouver at DOXA, which is Western Canada’s biggest documentary film festival. That’s where it had its première back in May and George and his partner John were in attendance, along with some of my family. It was a really special time. And then it also played at the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival in late May, and it’s played in Ottawa, but it actually hasn’t played in Edmonton yet. The Garneau Theatre is super cool – it’s THE place to see films in Edmonton – so I’m super excited to have a hometown screening.

The film has been in production for a really long time. Initially George was going to appear as a character in a film I made about Lauren Crazybull, who is an artist and a friend of mine. His part just didn’t work in the film, so I cut it out. It was kind of funny because I had to make that tough call of cutting his section out after going and visiting him for a couple days and filming all of this stuff. Right before I made that phone call, I was like, well, I should just make a feature film about him because his story is worth a feature length documentary. So, I called him and I told him my idea and he was really excited. With the whole COVID thing, it probably took close to six years to do the whole film because George lives in Comox, BC, and so we would only get to film either when he was coming to visit Edmonton, or when I flew out there a couple times. It took quite a long time to put it all together. 

What do you hope audiences take away from the film?

I don’t know if there’s a certain take away necessarily. Before I even met George, I was a huge admirer of his art. I’m excited to share this story, and contribute to Edmonton’s rich, artistic tradition or history, if you will. George was raised here [Edmonton]. He was pretty young when he moved away, I think in his early 20s or something, but every time he’d come back and we would film, he would walk around certain neighborhoods, and he’s like, oh, I lived in this house for a while, I went to church over there with my adopted family and all kinds of stories. With my filmography, all my stories seem to be somehow centered around or take place in and about Edmonton/​amiskwacîwâskahikan. It’s adding to the layers of history found here in the city. This story is not so much about Edmonton, although he talks a lot about Edmonton and the river features prominently in the film. I think I just want people to take away that George is a great artist and a good person; he’s lived a really interesting life.

I don’t want to give too much away about the film, but I did utilize a lot of archival footage that was filmed by the late Gil Cardinal and Tom Radford, who’s an Edmonton-based documentary filmmaker. They made a really short profile piece about George in 1990, and it was only like 20 minutes long, but I found all the raw footage at the provincial archives. It was a gold mine. As audiences will see, I’ve interweaved that footage with new footage both shot on 16mm film and digitally, and I think it’s cool to see young George and then George of today. We’re all changing as people and as artists, so even his style of art has evolved significantly from the early 90s. It’s an art history film, if you will, an Edmonton history film, Indigenous history film. There’s a lot of different elements at play, so I hope audiences leave the film screening with a newfound respect for George.

Tell us a little bit about what you’re currently working on or hoping to explore next.

I’m chipping away at some scripted stuff right now. Pretty much all of my work has been unscripted. I’ve done a couple of music videos which maybe had a script or rough storyboard, but I do want to challenge myself moving forward and do a script-based project. Not that I’m sick of documentaries or anything, but as artists it’s important that we challenge ourselves and try something different. The other day I heard somebody say, ​“go out and try to fail”. This would be a good way to do it because I’ve written scripts, but they’ve never seen the light of day. I feel like I need to do that and that way I could plan things a little bit more and work with actors, which would be fun. I’m chipping away at some scripted stuff right now.

Edmonton audiences can see Conor’s film nanekawâsis at Metro Cinema on September 22 at 7:00 PM. Blending both archival and contemporary footage, the film is a portrait of George Littlechild, a Cree artist from Canada who was separated from his family in childhood as part of the Sixties Scoop before reconnecting with his heritage as an adult, with Cree culture becoming both the basis of his career as a visual artist and the lens through which he came to terms with his identity as a two-spirit man. Watch the trailer below, and get your tickets here:

About Conor McNally

Conor McNally is a filmmaker based in amiskwaciy. Bypassing formal film training he creates works through a combination of instinct, and hands-on trial and error. Of course, he also has some talented and helpful friends that contribute in massive ways on all of his projects! Conor has made numerous films to date, including ôtênaw (2017), an experimental forty-minute-long documentary following the oral storytelling of Dr. Dwayne Donald. In 2020, Conor was commissioned by the National Film Board of Canada to create a short film about his brother Riley. The resulting film, Very Present, was screened nationally along with other short films detailing experiences of isolation. In 2024, Conor released a feature length film titled, nanekawâsis, focusing on the celebrated and beloved nêhiyaw painter George Littlechild. Conor is a father and a proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta and holds a degree in Native Studies from the University of Alberta.