The Listuguj First Nation in the Gaspé mourns the death of its most famous filmmaker, Jeff Barnaby.
The sad news was relayed by his family. He died on Thursday of cancer, a disease he had been battling for a year. He was 46 years old.
Jeff Barnaby was born and raised in the Mi’gmaq community of Listuguj before leaving for Montreal.
In honor of the filmmaker, the community of Listuguj organized a four-day sacred fire.
Jeff Barnaby is recognized for his Indigenous identity cinema. Mixing horror, science fiction and Indigenous stories, some call its genre Indigenous Futurism.
In a message composed by his family, it is explained that his passion for the cinema ignited from his childhood when he consumed large quantities of horror and science fiction films.
The filmmaker has written, directed and edited all his films, starting with his first short film From Cherry English (2004), then The Colony (2007), a film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Then followed the films File Under Miscellaneous (2010) and Bleed Down (2015).
In his feature debut, Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013), he provided a scathing indictment of Canada’s residential school system, wrapped in a revenge story set on the fictional Red Crow reservation. This film won several awards, including Best First Canadian Feature at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
For his second feature, Blood Quantum (2019) – a zombie film – the filmmaker had received special permission to film on the JC Interprovincial Bridge. Van Horne between Pointe-à-la-Croix and Campbellton. The bridge was then closed for three nights.
The film has been sold in over 30 territories around the world.
Jeff Barnaby is survived by his wife Sarah Del Seronde and his son Miles.