BTS shot from Strong by NM, September 19, 2019, somewhere near the last hour of a 3 day shoot in Mission B.C.

Grainy, low light, everyone a little tired, not even a good photo - but one of my favourite moments of the day.

Pictured: Keighty Gallagher, Amanda June Giannakos, Emma Lindsay, Johanna Alderliesten

We shot at St Mary's Coqaleetza Center on Stolo Nation lands, a hub of community. A day-care ran simultaneously, familiar shouts of boisterous and happy children ringing out in between our rolling calls On the same land, built in 1863 and torn down in the mid 60’s, was St. Mary’s Indian Residential School. It was a place without mercy or care for the children it housed, instead they were beaten, abused, and strapped to their beds as punishment. At night, when the fog rolled in and we were the last to leave the expansive vacant grounds, it set in the air - the cruelty of that history.

And there we were, with our large lighting set up and business and forward momentum of production. Fighting time and circumstances and the errors that come from being too human in the moment. Standing for hours in a cold room: one hand on the remote head, intricate focus pulling, watching for a speck of dirt on a white trainer, a kick of light that shouldn’t be there, finding the exact mark. Continuity, continuity, continuity. Almost military focus. Production brings everything to the surface, the weakness in your foundation, the grit in your teeth, the humour that can soften a tense moment. Keighty Gallagher stood in the middle of it all. Fully herself, radiating warmth at every moment - never complaining about razor blade motels, the burger that came without the bun, the spasm of muscles from perfect form performed for hours on end.

At the end of the night, she was regaling the promising young 1st AD, the talent assistant who just happened to also be a registered nurse, and my favourite producer with some tale when I walked in. The producer stood to the side with her tray of carefully considered crafty. She took water and made wine; fashioned a Tim Horton’s cup and filled it with popcorn, cut local apples, drizzled them with peanut butter and trail mix, chocolate bark, and dried mango. We drank coffee late into every night.

A singular moment. A group of women, fiercely strong and intense, powerful and at the same time soft and graceful. At ease with themselves and the moment. Without ego or boisterous pride, at work and at kinship in the same breath. A reminder that just because things have been a certain way, they don’t have to continue. We can make things anew, just by being in the room.