Intimate doc ‘Endless Cookie’ takes two Canadian brothers from Shamattawa to Sundance

A still from the documentary "Endless Cookie" is shown on a handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-© 2024. Endless Cookie Ontario Inc. **MANDATORY CREDIT**

By Alex Nino Gheciu

The initial concept for “Endless Cookie” seemed straightforward: two half-brothers -- one Indigenous, one white -- tell stories about their different upbringings, brought to life through animation.

Making it work, however, proved anything but simple.

Seth and Peter Scriver say they began recording sessions for their documentary nine years ago, but things quickly descended into “chaos,” thanks to the lively energy of Peter’s house in Shamattawa, a First Nations reserve in northern Manitoba.

“It was impossible to find silence,” recalls Peter on a virtual call from Toronto.

“There’s seven kids living in Pete’s house and he’s got 12 dogs,” Seth laughs.

“We literally got interrupted one million times. And then it was kind of just like, `I think we have to just go with what is real.”'

The result is a loopy hangout film that leans into its imperfections -- and one that will have its world premiere Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

Animated in Seth’s surreal hand-drawn style, “Endless Cookie” unpacks the brothers' complex relationship, beginning in the late 1970s when Peter left Shamattawa to live with their father in Toronto.

The doc embraces the messiness of its storytelling, where everyday sounds -- baby gurgles, toilet flushes and all -- become part of the texture, punctuating the Canadian brothers' heartfelt yarns. Their families and pets also play active roles, often breaking into the narrative with their colourful interjections.

“It’s kind of terrifying, but also exciting, just putting yourself out there and making a movie about your family that’s real,” says Seth, who also co-directed the 2013 animated road trip film “Asphalt Witches.”

“Even though this movie looks totally unreal, it’s all very personal.”

Their doc is among several Canadian projects premiering at Sundance, which starts Thursday. Other films bound for the Park City, Utah festival include “Two Women,” a carnal comedy by Montreal’s Chloe Robichaud about two jaded suburban moms, and “Dead Lover,” a horror feature by Toronto’s Grace Glowicki about a gravedigger determined to bring her drowned lover back to life.

In “Endless Cookie,” Peter recalls being 11 when his estranged father came to Shamattawa, where he was living with his mother, and asked him to move to Toronto. He remembers the culture shock he felt when he arrived in the city, including his own amazement that every house had plumbing.

“Living out in the bush in a cabin, everybody has their own outhouses. Then you move to the city and people have toilets in their houses. So I learned a lot,” says Peter, who’s now 62.

Seth was born years later. Now 46, he remembers Peter being “like an uncle” in the household when he was growing up. He’d come to realize the differences in their identities and upbringings, especially when he eventually visited Shamattawa after Peter moved back there as an adult.

Despite its comedic tone, “Endless Cookie” carries layers of tragedy -- including the story of Peter’s brother being abducted and brought to a residential school when he was a child. Elsewhere, the film touches on the lack of access to clean drinking water among First Nations communities in Canada -- Shamattawa has been under a boil water advisory since 2018.

“I think most people who live in Canada have heard these stories but they’re tuning them out now, so it’s nice to bring them up in a different way -- like surprise-attack people with them,” says Seth.

Peter says Indigenous people have spent decades having a different culture thrust on them and “being told that your beliefs and your history are no frickin' good.” Yet he’s hopeful for the future as more Indigenous stories are being shared.

“The way native people have been conditioned to think and to behave, it’s all coming undone now,” he says.

The film’s title is a nod to both Peter’s daughter Cookie, and the seemingly endless journey it took to bring the project to life. Seth attributes the delay partly to the logistical issues of travelling from Toronto to Shamattawa, which is only accessible by ice roads or air.

“It was nerve wracking because all the kids were growing up and they had voices in the movie. It was like, `Damn, all their voices are changing! Everyone’s going to be adults soon,”' he says.

The Scrivers say they are still in disbelief that “Endless Cookie” is premiering at Sundance. They’ll be heading to Utah with three of Peter’s children -- Cookie, Simone and Chris -- whose voices are in the film.

The brothers have been in a mad rush to get Peter a new passport -- he hasn’t had one in decades.

“We went to the passport office and everyone was showing off his 1985 passport, looking at it like it was some kind of archival wonder,” says Seth.

“I don’t know if they were more (surprised) that they were seeing an antique or that I used to be that good looking,” laughs Peter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2024.