Brocket 99

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For other uses of "Brocket", see Brocket.
Brocket 99 - Rockin’ the Country
Directed by Nilesh Patel
Produced by Nilesh Patel
Music by Chris Guy, Patrick Stewart
Cinematography Jason W. Clarke
Editing by Art Maughan
Release date(s) 2006
Running time 98 min
Country Canada
Language English
Official website

Brocket 99 is the name of an underground comedy audio tape that parodies aboriginal people in Canada and the name of two documentary films about the tape (one produced in 2005, and the other currently in production).

Contents

[edit] 1986 tape

The parody played on numerous aboriginal stereotypes and has been characterized as racist. The tape included names of real people, stores and towns. According to the Lethbridge Herald, the tape is an "international underground phenomenon".[1]

The tape was created in 1986 by radio DJs in Lethbridge, Alberta, purportedly inspired by a clip of a parody of gay men running a radio station called "AIDS Radio".[2] The "Brocket 99" tape was never made to be marketed and was meant as a parody.[1]

The premise of the tape was a fictitious radio station broadcasting from Brocket, Alberta, on the Northern Peigan reserve (a real reservation 70 km west of Lethbridge), hosted by a character named "Ernie Scar". It stereotypes natives as drunken bums, welfare receipients and drug addicts and uses deragatory pejorative terms to describe native men as "bucks" and native women as "squaws."

[edit] Documentaries

In 2005, filmmaker Nilesh Patel produced and directed a documentary called Brocket 99 — Rockin' the Country, which examined the ongoing popularity of the tape. CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada described Brocket 99 as "It started as a fake radio show on a cassette. Then it developed a cult following. Brocket 99 is something of a cultural phenomenon in western Canada. It purports to be a radio program on an Indian reserve. Some people find it hilarious and racey. Others say it's outright racist."[3]

In 2006, the film won the SÈquences Magazine Prize in the documentary category at the Montreal First Peoples’ Festival and the Special Recognition Award at the Anchorage International Film Festival.[4][5] The film was also featured at the 2006 Calgary and Edmonton International Film Festivals and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.

In 2007, Gallant Productions announced they are producing a documentary called Brocket 99: Ernie Scar Comes Clean.[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Burroughs, Alexandra. "Is it comedy or racism? Brocket 99 film raises big issues", Calgary Herald, 2005-07-13, pp. E4,E7. 
  2. ^ Beeber, Al. "Brocket 99 documentary ‘pretty provocative,’ says filmmaker", Lethbridge Herald, 2006-09-19. 
  3. ^ "BROCKET 99 - Nilesh Patel". Sounds Like Canada. CBC. 2005-06-30.
  4. ^ Winners 2006. Montreal First Peoples’ Festival. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
  5. ^ Anchorage International Film Festival. Anchorage International Film Festival. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
  6. ^ In Development. Gallant Productions. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.

[edit] External links

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