A television show teaching kids to celebrate their local culture was shot in South Porcupine this weekend.
A Lopii Productions crew was in town to shoot Couleurs du Nord that will be aired on the French channel TFO. The docuseries showcases the beauty and identities of the North through conversation, collaboration and colour.
"It's definitely special to show South Porcupine and such community, its own culture, own stories and own pride they have," said Rennata Lopez, Lopii productions CEO
The crew is also planning to shoot on Mattagami First Nations, Thunder Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie.
"It's all about teaching kids to celebrate where you come from, celebrate who you are," she added.
Métissée Franco-Ontarian artist Mique Michelle is back as the host of the show. In each episode, she travels to a different Northern Ontario community, working with the youth on designing and painting a mural at each location.
Olivia Robertson, Emma Seim, Aiden Blain, and Avery Peever are the four children participating in the recently filmed episodes.
The mural painting portion was planned to start on Friday morning at 38 Main St., but the heavy rain pushed them to relocate to Northern College for a conversation with the four participants.
The shoots are an opportunity for the local kids to be featured on the television show.
"They are artists, but they are also our tour guides. They are showing us South Porcupine from their perspective. They are the ones telling the stories," Lopez said.
The show's first season was also filmed in Timmins, along with Kapuskasing, Cochrane and other locations and is expected to start airing on Sept. 11. It tells the stories of northern, rural and Indigenous communities through the eyes of local youth and teach viewers about their community's history, culture and traditions.
Lopez also expressed her hope to tell more stories about the underrepresented communities in the North. She also said the company is working closely with the Timmins Economic Development Corporation. (TEDC)
Noella Rinaldo, TEDC community economic development director, is thrilled to have them in town.
"Every time when we get them here is a win. We hope they enjoy the city and they come back and enjoy the people and their response they get and doing their production," she said.
Rinaldo also talked about the importance of having multicultural television productions.
"The productions that came here are in the French language, which is very important. They are trying to show some diversity," she said.
She is also hopeful that many more the community can attract many more film productions in the future.
