"Unrepentant: Disrobing The Emperor," by Reverend Kevin Annett, with an introduction by Dr. Kurt Kaltreider of Ashland, Oregon. In this David/Goliath epic story, Reverend Annett, a defrocked United Church of Canada minister, describes the widespread atrocities that occurred in 141 native residential schools and the unexplained death of over 50,000 children over a 120-year history. The last school was closed in 1996.
The announcement follows recent worldwide media attention focused on child abuse, trafficking and international cover-up by religious and government organizations.
In 1992 in a small Vancouver Island community, Reverend Annett discovered a long history of rape, sodomy and murder in a local "school" run by his employer, the United Church of Canada. His further research documented a century-old pattern of similar widespread abuse by all three major Canadian church organizations. Under federal government mandate, hundreds of thousands of native children were
forcibly separated from their parents by the RCMP, delivered to the care of
these "schools," and subjected to a culture of inhumane treatment that in more subtle form continues in contemporary Canada. The same pattern - on an even larger scale - has existed in the United States.
Refusing to remain silent, Annett was first fired from his position as minister
and then defrocked in a "trial" by the United Church, the only instance of its kind in Canadian history. Alone against the forces of church and state Annett, as a skid-row minister, broadcaster, author and film-maker, has lectured widely in North America and Europe, an advocate for international recognition and justice for aboriginal people.
After years of indifference and ostracism in his own country, Kevin Annett has gained recognition internationally. He has written, directed and produced a documentary film, "Unrepentant," which won "Best Director" at the New York Independent Film Festival in 2006. The following year it was awarded "Best Foreign Film" at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, followed in 2009 by the "Best Feature Film" award at the Canadian Native Film Festival in Edmonton. He has lectured widely at universities from McGill and Toronto to Berkeley and from the University of Chicago and Syracuse to Boston College, and to anthropological and historical societies, humanist, native and community groups in Ireland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Belgium and the UK.
Recently, he delivered a major lecture to the Philosophical Society at the University College of Cork, one of the oldest and largest academic societies in Europe. Winning the debate, resolved "that the Pope is not immune from arrest or fallibility," in which he argued in the affirmative, Annett faced as opponent a Vatican lawyer.
"Disrobing The Emperor" is the story of one man's fight for truth, but in a
broader sense, it points hopefully toward a better world for all nations and
their indigenous people.