In Memory of Ellen Monague

A Special Tribute to Our Friend Ellen Monague (1956 – 2008)

In the spring of this year, imagineNATIVE, and the film and theatre communities of Toronto and beyond, lost a dear friend and colleague when Ellen Monague left this world too suddenly and far too soon. With her ready smile and warm hugs, Ellen was a fixture at imagineNATIVE, where she blocked off her calendar and dedicated every waking minute to watching films, screening her own work, cheering on colleagues and ripping up the dance floor. Her joyful and adventurous spirit will be with us all this year as we celebrate the achievements of the last ten years, of which she was an enormous contributor and supporter as audience member, filmmaker and Board member.

Of her enthusiasm and dedication to the festival, Ellen’s family writes, “Every year she anticipated the beginning of the imagineNATIVE Festival. It was, as she described, her “Christmas”; she would clear her calendar so she could take in all that the festival had to offer. Ellen often expressed her love of film and the arts and showed her support at every possible chance. We know that her presence will be missed at this year’s festival.” Prior to joining the imagineNATIVE Board in 2008, Ellen was an early supporter of the festival and premiered her first work, the music video Beausoleil – Beautiful Sun, at imagineNATIVE in 2004. Ellen’s short film Chimnissing – N-daa-yaan (Christian Island – My Home) screened in 2005 and she co-directed (with Pamela Matthews and Indigenous Culture and Media Innovations youth project) the film Lucky 13, which screened at last year’s festival. Ellen’s work revealed her love of family, friends and community and the deep attachment she had to her home – Beausoleil First Nation, on beautiful Christian Island, Georgian Bay.

imagineNATIVE will honour Ellen with a video montage at the festival’s Welcome Reception at the Native Canadian Centre, Wednesday, October 14, 1:00 pm. We would also like to take this opportunity to announce a new ongoing annual award in her memory, the Ellen Monague Award for Best Youth Work, which will be inaugurated at the 2010 festival. This award is a tribute to Ellen’s commitment to young artists, and to her own youthful spirit.