A First Nations woman confronts her cousin about spreading rumours about her authenticity as a Native woman.

Creative team

Writer: Andrew Genaille
Director: Alex Zahara
Producers: Robert Genaille, Andrew Genaille, Lisa Genaille, Alex Zahara

Filmmaker’s statement

The script for Not Indian Enough, which was written by my friend Andrew Genaille, spoke to me because it comments on a situation that many Indigenous people have been thrust into: that of being forced to compete for the few jobs and opportunities that exist for them.

As a society we like to say that opportunities are unlimited for everyone, regardless of race, colour, creed or religion. In theory this may be true but, in the real world, not so much.

That being said, Not Indian Enough also speaks to the pettiness of the human condition – something that is common in all people. Instead of helping each other out and taking a higher road, we often think of ourselves first and fail to see the long view of how our decisions today could affect not only us, as the individual, but also our family, social group, village, town, city, our people and our society as a whole.

Unfortunately our actions can sometimes reinforce the stereotypical behavior that people outside our ethnic group may hold of us.

In the end, in order to create a truly fruitful and equitable society, we need to take responsibility for our actions and break all the behaviors we have been conditioned to have.

This is the message of Not Indian Enough and this is exactly why I wanted to help make it.

About Alex Zahara

Alex Zahara has a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting from the theatre program at the University of British Columbia and has been a working actor for over 18 years.

Based in Vancouver, Alex has over 100 screen credits in television and film and has appeared in numerous plays.

Alex recently directed and co-produced his first short film, Not Indian Enough, and co-produced the feature Patterson’s Wager, as well as having a lead role in the film.

Alex’s recent acting credits the lead antagonist in the feature film Lonesome Dove Church with Tom Berenger.

Alex has starred and co-starred in such shows as ABC’s Once Upon A Time as King Midas, AMC’s Hell On Wheels as US Calvary officer Lieutenant Weston (recurring) and can be seen as Doctor Renard in the upcoming feature film Horns starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Alex has received a Leo nomination for best actor in the short film Evirati and Jessie Richardson theatre award nominations for his work in the plays Mojo and The Promised Land as lead actor.