‘Wilfred Buck,’ About Indigenous Star Lore Expert, Is a Feel-Good Story, Director Lisa Jackson Says – Variety

Mar 15, 2024

Speaking to Variety ahead of her film’s world premiere at leading European doc fest CPH:DOX, Lisa Jackson was keen to emphasize that “Wilfred Buck” is what she calls a “feel-good story” despite addressing dark issues related to Canada’s colonial past.

Written and directed by Jackson (“Biidaaban: First Light”), the film is a hybrid doc that follows the extraordinary life story of the eponymous charismatic science facilitator, an expert in Indigenous lore about astronomy, who overcame a harrowing history of displacement, racism and addiction by reclaiming ancestral star knowledge and ceremony.

Buck, who dropped out of school as a teenager, went back to complete his education as an adult and has two degrees from the University of Manitoba. He has dedicated 25 years to teaching students, from kindergarten to university level, through lectures and planetarium presentations.