By Maud Weaver

In October 2020, filmmaker Cole Forrest, a George Brown College (GBC) alumnus, released Nbisiing, his first documentary-style film. The film touches on themes of fear and anxiety but also highlights the importance of reconnecting with your community.

“One of the most important things we can do as not only Indigenous filmmakers, but filmmakers, artists, whoever, is represent our communities in any way that we can,” says Forrest.

Forrest graduated from GBC’s Video Design and Production program. He sees his time at GBC as a jumping off point to what he is creating now.

“My time in the video design and production program helped in building a foundation for me to really jump off of.”

Nbisiing tells the story of Forrest returning to his community in North Bay during the pandemic. ‘Nbi’ means water, and the documentary focuses on the water and confronts his fear of it as he looks to the land for guidance.

“When we were on the Goose Island, I found my first eagle feather which is a very special thing in Indigenous cultures. That really cemented for me that that’s what I was supposed to be doing.”

This documentary caused Forrest to face a lot of fear and anxiety around the pandemic, the water and returning to his community, but he has felt supported and is overall grateful for where he is now.

“You hope that your community can give you what you need, and I really feel like my community does that in a really good way.

You can watch Nbisiing by clicking here.