Instruction Hub

RCtv: Indigenous Realities – Hope and Resilience in Community

Welcome. This Instruction Hub is your one-stop shop for all the links, resources, and instructions your class will need to participate in the livestream.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] or at 1‑888‑508‑0881 ext. 229.

We hope you enjoy the programme.

Ce Centre d’instructions est également disponible en français. Il suffit de cliquer sur la langue désirée dans le menu supérieur.

If you need to share information about the livestream with parents, feel free to use this template letter.

See Template

1. Prepare Your Class

Our livestream lesson plan was designed by educators like you to enrich your students’ learning experience before, during, and after the event. Feel free to use any or all of these included activities:

  • Pre- and post-viewing activities
  • Guiding discussion questions
  • Suggested additional activities
  • Student handouts
  • Comprehension and discussion questions for the film
Get Lesson Plan

Image of Classroom Sensitivity Support Resources

To provide a supported and safe learning environment during the film and livestream viewings, please use these guides, developed in collaboration with a diverse set of educators, including those who identify as Indigenous, Black and/or persons of colour. The package includes best practices for teachers, a handout for students, and information about external support and counselling services for youth.

Go to Resources

You can also refer to the following mental health resources provided by the production team for The Grizzlies:

We’ll have lots of opportunities for engagement in the livestream itself through our interactive platform, but your students can also get involved with hands-on activities leading up to the livestream.

Here are just a few ideas:

  • Print out this poster to put in your classroom or school to build excitement for the event
  • Design your own event posters
  • Build a creative activity around the film, like a visual art or music prompt
  • Students can help set up the big screen and sound equipment for your group to watch. You can even use the school auditorium or theatre.
  • Share any student work based on our lesson plans with the email below

If your students do get involved, we’d love to hear about it – or even see photos. Write to us at [email protected]. 

2. Show the Film

Our livestream centres on The Grizzlies, so be sure to watch that first. We recommend screening the film and the livestream close together to ensure the content is still fresh in students’ minds.

The Grizzlies is 106 minutes long.

NOTE: You can watch the film and a recording of the livestream any time you’d like, up to the end of the school year, but only questions and comments submitted by April 16 can be included in the show. Our interactive platform will still be live all year for students to add their insights, and read through comments from their peers.

A personal link to stream the film has been sent to your email inbox  –  look for the subject line “RCtv Instructions #02: Your Link for The Grizzlies“. The link will be active for 18 days, from the very first time you hit play. 

For those of you teaching remotely, you may share the film link directly with your students, but please make sure to communicate that it is a private link.

If you ordered a DVD, you will receive that in advance of the date you requested.

*Please note: if you’ve requested to preview the film, we will send it to your inbox shortly after you register.

About the Film
Content Advisory

  • We highly recommend you test the system beforehand using the same computer, projector, and speakers you’ll be using on the screening day. You can test using this short preshow video.
  • Connect your device to the projector or monitor using an HDMI cable or similar setup. This is much more reliable than connecting wirelessly through an application like Chromecast or AirPlay.
  • How’s the aspect ratio? If the picture seems distorted, stretched, or squashed, try adjusting the aspect ratio settings on your projector.
  • Project the film on the largest screen you can.
  • Show the film in the darkest room you can. Draw the blinds or curtains, if possible.
  • Be sure to make the video full-screen by double-clicking the centre of the video, or clicking the square full-screen button in the bottom-right corner.
  • For detailed instructions and FAQ, please see our Streaming Platform Guide.

Want to extend the discussion after the livestream? These curated films provide additional opportunities for conversation in the classroom, either before or after viewing of the livestream. As completely optional viewing, these films won’t be addressed as part of the livestream, but can provide further entry points into the subject matter. To order a copy, just fill out the form below.

Note: For a personalised form prefilled with your information, please click on the “Order Films” button in any of our monthly newsletters, or write to [email protected].

Film list:

Aqijuq: Playing on a Frozen Land (8 Min)

Inuit youth from across Nunavut come together for an indoor soccer (or “futsal”) tournament that proves as inspiring as it is competitive.

Arctic Song (6 Min)
Inuktitut with English subtitles

A traditional song sharing the Inuit creation stories for the land, waters, and sky, set to breathtaking animation.

Le Chemin Rouge (Red Path) (15 Min)
French with English subtitles

This moving documentary tells the story of Tony Chachai, a young man who goes on a journey to reconnect with his Atikamekw roots by dancing in powwows.

The Creator’s Game (41 Min)

After being denied entry into Europe because of their Haudenosaunee passports, the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team are forced to forfeit their shot at the World Championship. A year later, we follow the team as they fight to bring the title and national sovereignty to their people.

Jordan Gordon’s Guide to Kuujjuaq (4 Min)

Jordan Gordon is thrilled to show you around his hometown, taking you through the highlights with a wonderful mix of humour and charm.

Now is the Time (16 Min)

In 1969, the community of Old Massett raised a totem pole carved by Robert Davidson, the first new pole in Haida Gwaii in almost a century. 50 years later, a Haida filmmaker remixes the incredible archival footage and animation to reflect on the important event.

Zaasaakwe (5 Min)

A powerful call to action to all Indigenous people to shout for joy and celebrate their identity.

Order a film

3. Participate in the Livestream

We’ve created an engaging and easy-to-use platform for students across the country to interact with one another, and with our special guest Anna Lambe.

Whether you’re joining live or watching a recording of the livestream, this is an important way to get your students participating through discussion boards, quiz questions, chat, and of course, asking questions.

It’s really easy – your students simply go to this link to participate: www.reelcanada.ca/RCtvForum2025/

If you’re watching the livestream on April 16:
Use Meeting Pulse during the livestream to engage, share, and interact in real time.

If you’re watching the recording after April 16:
There are two opportunities to participate: 

  • For a chance to have your students’ comments included in the livestream, make sure to watch the film and engage on Meeting Pulse BEFORE April 16. You can log on right after watching the film. 
  • Then, connect again on Meeting Pulse for new activities while you’re watching the livestream recording.

Students can use Meeting Pulse individually at their seats or as a class on one screen at the front. 

And don’t worry, everything on Meeting Pulse is anonymous, and all discussions will be moderated by our team.

🔴 TIP: Be sure to test out the interactive platform beforehand using your school network. If Meeting Pulse is blocked by your school board, please put in a request with your board to have it unblocked for a few days.

The livestream airs on Wednesday, April 16. If you’re watching live, make sure to check the time in your region, and if you’re planning to watch the recording, it will be available immediately afterwards at all the same links below.

Here are your links to participate:

A. Watch the Livestream:
www.reelcanada.ca/RCtvLivestream2025

B. Use the Interactive Platform:
www.reelcanada.ca/RCtvForum2025 

C. Livestream & Interactive Platform side-by-side on one screen:
www.reelcanada.ca/RCtvCombo2025 

🔴 TIP: For the best experience, make sure students use our interactive platform while watching.

About The Guest:

Anna Lambe, Star of The Grizzlies

Anna Lambe is getting rave reviews as the star of the new hit comedy North of North, produced by CBC, APTN, and Netflix. She is an accomplished Inuk actress and activist from Iqaluit, NU, who has held key roles in film and TV in The Grizzlies, Three Pines, Trickster, Warrior Up!, and True Detective: Night Country, alongside Jodie Foster. Lambe is a recipient of multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Stacey Aglok MacDonald, Co-Producers of The Grizzlies

Producing partners Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Stacey Aglok MacDonald are award-winning Inuk filmmakers residing in Iqaluit, NU, who use the power of film to preserve and share Inuit traditions and contemporary culture. Arnaquq-Baril is the director of Angry Inuk, which won audience choice awards at both Hot Docs and TIFF’s Canada’s Top 10. Aglok MacDonald is the producer of the sci-fi hit Slash/Back, and the award-winning short film Throat Song. Through their production company, Red Marrow Media, they have co-created some of the most influential Indigenous Canadian film and television, from The Grizzlies, to the Canadian Screen Award-winning documentary Twice Colonized, and most recently, the hit comedy North of North.

Jason Ryle, Host

Jason Ryle is a producer, film programmer, and arts consultant based in Toronto. Through his mother, he is Anishinaabe and a member of Lake St. Martin First Nation, Manitoba. Jason was a senior leader at imagineNATIVE, the world’s largest showcase of films by Indigenous artists, for eighteen years, and was its director between 2010 to 2020. His film work has screened at the Berlinale and at TIFF, where he is currently an International Programmer.

REEL CANADA’s livestreams are generously supported by funders like the Youth Take Charge Program, who want to hear what your students have to say about the event. Help keep this programme free by having each student complete a short feedback form right after watching the livestream.

You’ll receive a package of printed feedback forms in the mail, along with a pre-paid return envelope. If you need to print more forms, or forms in a different language, they’re available here in French and English.

In the package, you’ll also find a printed teacher feedback form for you, or you can complete an online version instead.

To return the completed forms, simply mail them back to this address using the pre-paid envelope provided. Postage will be covered by REEL CANADA.

REEL CANADA
489 College St, Unit 303
Toronto, ON
M6G 1A5

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write to [email protected]

Or give us a call toll-free at 1-888-508-0881 ext. 229

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