‘This Is Not a Ceremony’ Shares the Stories of Modern First Nations People in Cinematic VR

Meta’s VR for Good initiative funds, fosters, and promotes immersive storytelling focused on social impact. And today, we’re honored to announce the launch of This Is Not a Ceremony, an unforgettable cinematic VR experience that shares the stories of modern First Nations people in the hopes of inspiring empathy and action.

In This Is Not a Ceremony, you’ll enter a dreamlike plane of existence where spirits and time flow and merge and stories come to life all around you. The 360-degree experience is available for free in Meta Quest TV on the Meta Quest Platform in English (with and without subtitles), Blackfoot, and French.

We sat down with Niitsitapi writer and director Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon) to learn more.

I have worked in the movie business since I was 16. I started as an actor in films like Dreamkeeper and Hank Williams First Nation and the TV series Arctic Air and Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock. After some time, I realized that I wanted to have a hand in creating films. I wanted to say something. I felt that Indigenous people were not well represented in movies and TV, so I was working to change that. I returned to Simon Fraser University and took the Film Production BFA. After school, I started working as a PA and later an AD in various film and TV productions shooting in Vancouver.

This is my first VR project. I want to work in XR more. I see a combination of theater and film involved in the art form. There’s also something wholly unique in XR, which is the audience’s active participation in a way TV, film, or theater do not encapsulate.

This Is Not a Ceremony required an understanding of space and depth in telling to fully understand these real-life events like Brian’s or Adam’s story. Take Brian’s story in the hospital. I knew that it was important for the audience to have a sense of the space—how close he was to the front desk at the hospital, how close the doctors and nurses were to him. I watched a lot of the security footage from his time at the hospital, and it’s sad how many people had a chance to save his life yet could not act because of the biases they may carry—the bias towards Indigenous people that many North Americans carry.

I applied to the ImagineNATIVE digital project prize with the pitch for This is Not a Ceremony. The project was selected through a jury of media professionals. After receiving this award, I began working with the NFB producers at Vancouver’s digital studio.

The poets are co-witnesses to these events. In some ways, the poets represent how younger indigenous men may feel hearing these same stories. While the documentary tells Adam’s and Brian’s stories, it’s also essential to document Indigenous men’s feelings when hearing these types of stories. We hear these types of stories too often. We need the institutions to change. I like Dana Claxton’s work. She has many great pieces, and her work in experimental videos like Buffalo Bone China or He Who Dreams is impressive, so when thinking of the poets, I was also reminded of some of her earlier works like the twins, which may or may not be a homage.

Lillian Howard, who played the Matriarch that guides us through the experience, was such an amazing person and Nuu-chah-nulth elder. She was a friend and respected elder in Vancouver. I was always impressed by Lillian’s ability to affect change, as she was responsible for several social programs in Vancouver. I’ve often seen people in the activist community create change with a righteous and angry energy, not unlike the poets. Lillian was very sweet and kind yet still effective in making change. I wanted people to encounter both types of energy so that they might realize both are valid.

Inii (Buffalo) are so essential to us Blackfoot. While I have several ideas on why we included the buffalo in this piece, I am much more interested in the viewers’ response to seeing the buffalo. Why does the Meta Quest community think I had this in the project? #TINACvr with your thoughts?

The project took about four years from development to completion—so many, many moments. We would need to do a whole podcast series to talk about everything.

I hope that people realize there are many barriers that Indigenous people still face in North America. I hope that non-Indigenous will have a heart and look out for Indigenous people as we navigate these institutions: health care, the legal system, the child and welfare system...

Any of the 150 people that went there to the same waiting room as Brian had the opportunity to help. Yet they chose not to act likely because of the bias many carry towards Indigenous people. Brian could have filled many stereotypes, yet that wasn’t the reality. North America needs to get right with Indigenous people, but we must also get right with each other. Non-indigenous and Indigenous people have work to do together, although it may be time for non-Indigenous people to carry some weight—as Indigenous people, we have held the burden and done the heavy lifting for some time.

Tales From The Rez is a spooky horror anthology series for APTN lumi that I produced through my company Blackfoot Nation Films. I directed an episode, and my good friend and collaborator Trevor Solway directed the other five. The series will be on APTN Lumi soon.

Regarding XR projects, I want to make an interactive dome project which would also play in VR.

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