The Pretendians Explained

The Pretendians
Director:Drew Hayden Taylor
Paul Kemp
Producer:Paul Kemp
Starring:Drew Hayden Taylor
Music:Kevin Swartz
Cinematography:Sara Cornthwaite
Tim Hutchison
A.J. Leitch
Editing:Jonathan Baltrusaitis
Studio:Paul Kemp Productions
Distributor:CBC Television
Runtime:44 minutes
Country:Canada
Language:English

The Pretendians is a Canadian television documentary film, directed by Drew Hayden Taylor and released in 2022.[1] The film explores the issue of people falsely claiming Indigenous status despite a lack of any documented First Nations, Métis or Inuit heritage, covering the issue from a variety of facets including the production of fake Indigenous art and the efforts to track down a significant false claimant of Indigenous identity who has resisted any efforts to confront him on it.[2]

The film debuted on September 30, 2022, as an episode of The Passionate Eye.[2]

The film won the Donald Brittain Award for best social or political television documentary at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Haley Lewis, "What are ‘pretendians’ and how are they causing ‘severe harm’ to Indigenous communities?". Global News, March 9, 2023.
  2. Blair Ingenthron, "CBC to Air THE PRETENDIANS This Week". Broadway World, September 25, 2022.
  3. Jackson Weaver, "To Kill a Tiger, We're All Gonna Die and BLK emerge as top winners at CSAs' opening night". CBC News, April 11, 2023.