By Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter NORTH SHORE NEWS

A North Vancouver filmmaker is set to release his latest short film, Shacktown, next week, reflecting on the experiences he and his friends had growing up on the North Shore.

Shacktown focuses on teenager Nevin who lives on the B次元官网网址淩ezB次元官网网址� and is convinced to start selling weed. But when a dealer tries to recruit his younger cousin, Nevin stands up to protect him. Nevin, however, has to make the choice of getting the money or facing the consequences.

B次元官网网址淕rowing up in high school, thereB次元官网网址檚 lots of fork-in-the-road moments where you can go one way or the other,B次元官网网址� filmmaker Mike Nichol said. B次元官网网址淔or Shacktown, thatB次元官网网址檚 what I was thinking, when you donB次元官网网址檛 have the support, whoB次元官网网址檚 there to help you?B次元官网网址�

Nichol is an emerging Black Haida filmmaker who was born and raised in North VancouverB次元官网网址檚 Lynn Valley. His family is from G瘫aw Tlagee (Old Masset), an Indigenous Canadian village on Graham Island in Haida Gwaii, B.C.

Last year Nichol was selected in the Indigenous edition of Telus Storyhive, a program that gives people from underrepresented communities in B.C. the opportunity to share their stories. Shacktown was filmed over two days on the Capilano Reserve, telling what is a very personal story for Nichol.

The young filmmaker thinks back to an episode in his own life, being involved in the wrong crowd. Some friends were selling weed, and the cops came. That brought Nichol to his own B次元官网网址渇ork-in-the-road moment.B次元官网网址� Did he want to keep going down this path, or not?

B次元官网网址淚 wasnB次元官网网址檛 even the one doing it, but youB次元官网网址檙e hanging around the wrong crowd, and it can happen. That was where my parents came in and helped me,B次元官网网址� Nichol said.

He transferred schools to focus on sports, and was grateful he had friends and family that he could talk to. Now he is using these experiences to relate to others who may have gone through similar situations or need support.

B次元官网网址淪eeing yourself in the story, the lesson can make a lot more of an impact rather than someone else,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淪o thatB次元官网网址檚 kind of why I wanted to make this story with these kids.B次元官网网址�

But Shacktown isnB次元官网网址檛 just about those fork-in-the-road moments, he said, adding that it also shows how some urban Indigenous kids navigate the world on a daily basis.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not always about their culture, itB次元官网网址檚 just their day-to-day lives,B次元官网网址� Nichol said. B次元官网网址淚 was trying to take a neo-realist approach to filmmaking, where itB次元官网网址檚 people in poverty that are just trying to get by on everyday problems.B次元官网网址�

Nichol was recently selected to participate in the Whistler Film Festival Indigenous Fellowship in December, where he will work on a web series about a group of Indigenous kids struggling with their identities.

Shacktown will premiere on Telus Optik TV on Nov. 12, and play in Los Angeles during the LA Skins Festival on Nov. 23.