Dr. Nadine Changfoot has a new title to add to her resume. In addition to being chair and professor in the Political Studies program at Trent, she is now also a filmmaker and director.

Professor Changfoot will be premiering her personal video at the popular ReFrame Film Festival in Peterborough on January 24, 2015 at 1:15pm at Showplace Performance Centre.

The film, which is named after Prof. Changfoot herself, looks back on her life as an eight year old child “at the self-hating, dislocating, and disembodying experience of being racialized and othered from the outside – compared to an earlier time, at four years old, when I was happy and belonging was a given,” explains Prof. Changfoot. “In the present, the film addresses the often dislocating, radicalizing, and othering dimensions in the question, "Where are you from?"”

Prof. Changfoot created the short personal film for her research project, Project Re*Vision, funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR). The purpose of Re*Vision is to create greater equity in healthcare and society; it uses art to bring healthcare providers and people living with disability and difference together in a venue different from healthcare professional-client interactions in ways that break down stereotypes of disability and difference and opens minds to persons living with disability and difference and their experiences beyond the healthcare clinic or hospital.

Speaking of the ReFrame festival, Prof. Changfoot says she is "thrilled" to be part of the popular local event. She's been attending the Festival since she came to Trent 10 years ago. "I love how the Festival brings together diverse communities to enjoy thought-provoking, challenging, and spectacular films, as well as animate and nurture our imaginations for better worlds,” she says.

The film is sponsored by the Community Race Relations Committee (CRRC) of Peterborough. Professor Momin Rahman, of Trent University’s Sociology department, sits on the board of CRRC and says: "Nadine's film is a short, sharp illustration of how everyday racism affects our self-image. It cuts straight to the heart of how racism makes us feel and many of us will see an echo of our experiences in this beautiful and, ultimately, hopeful vignette."

Posted on Friday, January 23, 2015.