Portraits From a Fire

Portraits From A Fire follows Tyler (William Magnus Lulua), an eccentric and lonely teenager who spends his days filmmaking, vlogging his Indigenous community, and hanging out with his grandparents. His father, Gord, is physically present but remains emotionally absent from Tyler’s life for reasons Tyler cannot understand. Then he meets Aaron, a mysterious, charismatic, and influential figure who encourages Tyler to showcase his most personal film about his mother’s disappearance to the community, leading to a reckoning between past and future, life and death, and father and son. This is the story of Tyler’s journey to heal the wounds of the past by opening them once again. And by finding the courage to face the fear of the unknown, he weaves together the strong sacred bonds of family through both living and ancestral realms.

Based on a story by Trevoe Mack and Derek Vermillion, Portraits From A Fire was shot on location in B.C.’s Tl’etinqox (Anaham) Reserve. It won the BC Emerging Filmmaker Award from the Vancouver International Film Festival and Best Canadian Feature Film at the Edmonton International Film Festival. It was made with the support of Telefilm Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Telus Storyhive, BC Arts Council, and the Harold Greenburg Fund.