Award-winning screenwriter Wenonah Wilms visited Missouri State University from Minnesota to participate in MSU’s film series hosted by the Department of Media, Journalism and Film. She presented her 2016 short film “Waabooz” on Tuesday, Nov. 30 in the Robert W. Plaster Student Union theater. As someone who is Native American herself, she believes showing a variety of cultures in the media is extremely important.

 

The film is about an insecure and shy Native American boy named Rabbit. Rabbit, a member of the Ojibwe tribe, is extremely nervous to dance in the upcoming powwow and begins to draw Waabooz (which means “rabbit” in the language of the Ojibwe people) –– a superhero that embodies his desired self: bold and courageous. Through traditional oral storytelling and magical imagination, Rabbit's mysterious grandfather helps bring Waabooz to life.

 

Wilms knew she wanted the storytelling of Waabooz to be visualized like a comic book so the film goes back and forth from live-action to animation. The story of Waabooz is told in a comic book style format which was done by artists and animators Nicolas Selma and Amanda Aguilar.

 

“The idea came from an article I read about a comic book artist named Jeffrey Veregge who was the first Native American Marvel artist,” Wilms said. “I’m also Native American, and the article talked about him growing up as a little boy on the reservation and how he always wanted to be Batman or Superman. The things he drew were always the mainstream comics, and I thought that was really sad because we don’t have our own superheroes.”

 

Wilms expressed how important it is for individuals to continue the traditions from their heritage no matter if the culture is well-known or not. Everybody has interesting stories from their background that have been passed down throughout generations –– especially Native Americans’. Wilms’ way of keeping her Native American traditions alive is by expressing them in film, as she says they aren’t shown much in media.

 

“It’s very important to tell your own story,” Wilms said. “It creates a much more authentic voice because people have been there. They know these characters, they know the setting and they know what’s important to the culture specifically, like elders’ oral storytelling… That’s just something that should be in our stories.”

 

Wilms said the most important quality for screenwriters to have is the ability to work as a team. Film is an extremely collaborative industry so avoid getting “too precious about any ideas.”

 

Wilms also gave tips for writers trying to get through writer’s block. “I know the smartest thing to do is create an outline, but that’s just not for me. My process is very internal and I usually don’t run the idea by anybody for a little while because it sort of takes the wind out of it. Once you give it a little bit of life by sharing the idea before writing, people will poke holes in it and you’ll change it before it’s even written”.

 

Wilms is currently adapting the young adult novel “Firekeeper's Daughter” by Angeline Boulley for the Obamas' Higher Ground Productions and Netflix. 

 

At the screening of “Waabooz,” Wilms shared a lot of applicable information for aspiring writers and people wanting to make it big in the film industry. MSU’s Department of Media, Journalism and Film is going to continue hosting events like this in their film series throughout the school year.

 

The official trailer