Sarah Abbott

Sarah Abbott was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1969. Abbott completed her studies before moving in the 1990s to Toronto, Ontario where she began her career. At this point in time, Abbott was mostly creating short films.[1]

She works primarily on films involving human rights, gender and sexuality studies, and issues pertaining to Indigenous peoples. Themes of films produced by Abbott surrounding Indigenous issues include the culture of First Nations people and the problems that they face in their communities, as well as addressing other social and ethical issues. Many of Abbott's films are experimental - relying on imagery, sound, and voice overs - and are left open for interpretation which allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions and meaning from the work.[2]

Abbott created a short film based on Canadian writer Nancy Jo Cullen's short story of the same name: Why I Hate Bees.[1][5] In this experimental film, Abbott used the text from the short story to have as narration. Utilizing the filming techniques of optical printing and animation, the film emphasizes the experience of the viewer's senses through sound and colour motifs. The plot focuses on a girl's memories as she retells her childhood near-death experience. The film was well-received and won “Best Lesbian Film” from Inside Out in 1998, the grand prize at the Cabbagetown Film Festival in 1999, and an honourable mention at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 2000.[5]

For her first documentary film, Tide Marks (2004), Abbott traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to record the residential women's stories and experiences of the apartheid. The film was created to be as objective as possible to ensure an organic and true portrayal of the community and people involved in the project. Although filming was set back by a key testimonial dropping out, Abbott chose to go forward with her work and create the film as it is today.[6]

Abbott is now working at the University of Regina. Abbott started a program at the university that involves hands-on learning for the film students, the students are placed on film sets with qualified film-workers. Abbott incorporated an element of Indigenous studies into this project; the last two student assisted films, Out In The Cold and This Time Last Winter, feature issues affecting First Nations communities within these films.[7]

Abbott's film Out In The Cold was filmed on location in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and is about the “Starlight Tours”. A “Starlight Tour” is when a police officer picks up an Indigenous citizen under the guise of an arrest or a ride home and instead drops the person off further out into the middle of nowhere, often during freezing temperatures. These “tours” are an alleged practice committed by some members of the Saskatoon police that are being investigated.[8] The film is a black-and-white fictional piece inspired by the death of Neil Stonechild. The main character, Thomas, is driven out of the city limits by police and left to walk home in below freezing weather. The young man meets the specters of two men, one malevolent and the other benevolent, who had previously died from being left in similar conditions. Out in the Cold was created to call attention to the potential crimes committed - the Starlight Tours - and create conversations about the mistreatment of First Nations by police and government officials. For this film Abbott received the Mayor's Arts and Business Award for Innovation in the Arts in 2009.[8][9]