The Lake / nx̌aʔx̌aʔitkʷ

The Lake / nx̌aʔx̌aʔitkʷ is an inspiring music documentary about an extraordinary friendship between two singers & teachers - Heather Pawsey of Vancouver’s Astrolabe Musik Theatre, and Delphine Derickson of Westbank First Nation - and the groundbreaking cross-cultural collaboration in which they decolonized a historic Canadian opera by incorporating syilx / Okanagan perspectives. The film brings to life all of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous storytelling, music making and dancing from the original production, alongside a bracingly honest oral history of the successes and failures of the project. It’s a film about a journey that is, in itself, a continuation of that journey. Filled with laughter and tears, and alive to the rhythms of water and wind, The Lake / nx̌aʔx̌aʔitkʷ celebrates the magic that’s possible when people start to really listen to one another. A Telus Original, produced with the support of the Vancouver Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, Creative BC / Amplify BC, the Central Okanagan Foundation, the Deux Mille Foundation, the Hamber Foundation, the SOCAN Foundation and the Ambache Charitable Trust, and with the sponsorship of Westbank First Nation, Turning Point Ensemble, Quails’ Gate Estate Winery and the Canadian Music Centre in BC.

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(L-R) Heather Pawsey & Delphine Derickson behind the scenes / Photo by Maggie MacPherson

Heather Pawsey, Corinne Derickson & Delphine Derickson, performing Corinne's "nx̌aʔx̌aʔitkʷ dance", to Leslie Uyeda's "Incantation" / Photo by Maggie MacPherson

The cast & crew behind the scenes / Photo by Maggie MacPherson

(L-R) Kwangmin Brian Lee as "Mac", Barbara Towell as "Marie", Heather Pawsey as "Susan" & Angus Bell as "John" / Photo by Maggie MacPherson

(L-R) Angus Bell as "John", Heather Pawsey as "Susan", Barbara Towell as "Marie" & Kwangmin Brian Lee as "Mac" / Photo by Maggie MacPherson