From a northern Manitoba reserve to walking the red carpet at Cannes, Sonya Ballantyne (BA 14) overcame adversity and self-doubt to write and create her most honest art.
Sonya is Cree and grew up in Misipawistik (Grand Rapids) Cree Nation and Chemawawin (Easterville) Cree Nation. From an early age, she was told the life of a writer, especially a writer of Cree heritage, was not a viable one. Still, she read books, watched movies, and wrote; feeling in her heart she was meant to lead a creative life.
Today, Sonya is an accomplished writer, director, and filmmaker smashing through her own limitations and succeeding in ways she never thought possible.
“It blows my mind to be able to do my work and make a living at it and not suffer,” said Sonya. “When you grow up poor, as an adult, you never want to go back.”
Sonya left home at the age of 17, to complete her Bachelor of Arts in psychology at the University of Manitoba. She spent years being ashamed of her Cree heritage and from where she came. “I was really ashamed of my background,” said Sonya. “When you’re not around your own people, you become scared and take on the opinion of others.”
Sonya thought because she was Cree and a girl, it made her less intelligent and less accomplished. “I was so terrified of people finding out I was a Rez kid,” said Sonya. Over time, Sonya learned to embrace her authentic self and celebrate who she is through her writing. “I realized how important it was for Native kids like me to hear from somebody who was from a reserve and doing cool things.”
UWinnipeg Film Department teaches self-acceptance
Sonya’s journey of self-acceptance was heavily impacted by her time studying film at The University of Winnipeg. Film school encouraged her to embrace her authentic self and create the person she wanted to be. “The university experience is for finding out who you are,” said Sonya.
“When I came to UWinnipeg, I had a more realistic idea of what I wanted to accomplish,” said Sonya. “It wasn’t about finding a job or building a career. I wanted to focus on taking in all the knowledge I could and establish if film was really what I wanted to do.”
While at UWinnipeg, Sonya met her mentor, local filmmaker Shereen Jerrett. “Shereen taught me a lot, including how to trust myself as a writer,” said Sonya. “It was very cool to be in a class with a teacher who was gung-ho with making sure you told the most honest story you could.”
The university experience is for finding out who you are.
Sonya Ballantyne
One of the more impactful courses for Sonya was Voice and Speech Skills for Presentation and Performance. “My voice class really got me to open up in terms of telling my own story and focusing on what stories I wanted to tell. A lot of my work is autobiographical. I like to hide bits of myself behind superhero veneers. Voice class helped me realize I don’t need to hide who I am to make it impactful.”
University wasn’t easy for Sonya. “There were many times I wanted to quit,” she said. Sonya relied heavily on the tight-knit community she found within her film cohort and professors. She also connected with Indigenous Student Services Centre who provided a little taste of home in ceremony and community.
“Community was such an important thing when I was younger,” said Sonya. “A lot of us are first generation coming to university and the Indigenous Student Services Centre really helps with providing that small community, especially of people who understand what it’s like to be Indigenous.”
Sonya says her experience at UWinnipeg was filled with support and encouragement. It set the foundation for Sonya’s writing to be limitless. “Shereen told me film and writing are basically showing the world how you see it. I also like the idea the world is a magical place because you decide it is, so I want to make things look beautiful and create the world I want to see.”
Sonya enjoys writing and creating roles from a positive light. “There is this belief in Cree culture that stories have a life of their own,” said Sonya. “Stories have a spirit. If you take on a dark story, it lives with you.” Sonya learned this firsthand when she worked on the show Taken, a series exploring the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Providing a space for Indigenous voices
No matter the project, Sonya’s writing aims to advocate for Indigenous voices and provide a space where others can be included and heard. “I always wanted to see stories of women or girls like me,” said Sonya. “When I grew up and saw there wasn’t a lot, I decided that I must do it.”
Sonya’s directorial debut alongside co-director Stephan Peterson, is a feature-length documentary called The Death Tour. The Death Tour is about a grueling winter wrestling tour that travels through northern Manitoba communities only accessible by ice roads. This film screened at the Cannes Film Festival Docs in Progress in 2023 and can be viewed on CBC Gem.
“I am really proud of this movie,” said Sonya. “I was really scared to do this film because I wanted to focus on being a writer. But I realized how much my input and ideas were needed and wanted. My co-director brought me on for a reason.”
Sonya will be one of the featured panelists at the UWinnipeg Homecoming Alumni Panel, Stories from the Heart: Alumni Filmmakers on the World Stage on September 26, 2024. More details on this panel discussion and other Homecoming events can be found on the Homecoming 2024 site.
