Metis poet Gregory Scofield defines himself on Bravo! -- Singing Home the Bones

Chronicling Métis poet Gregory Scofield’s journey as he pieces together his fractured identity, Singing Home the Bones: A Poet Becomes Himself captures a dynamic Canadian grasping for a sense of wholeness. The one-hour documentary, written by Sandy Mayzell, directed by Hilary Pryor, and produced by The May Street Group in association with Bravo!, premieres July 5 at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT.

Gregory’s thirst for his own history and desire to put himself in context results in a frank portrait of life with a mother plagued by alcoholism, the abuse suffered at the hands of his step-father, his struggle to define his sexuality and the search for his estranged birth father. Revisiting the pivotal geographical locations of his childhood, Gregory confronts the brutality and bigotry he has faced in his life, but focuses on the positive, transforming his sadness and rage into acts of creativity and community. Stitched together by Gregory’s voice as he chants, sings and recites his own work, Singing Home the Bones culminates in Gregory’s dramatic first meeting with his birth father’s British widow.

Gregory Scofield is a Métis poet, non-fiction writer, activist and community worker whose maternal ancestry can be traced back five generations to Kinesota, Manitoba and the Red River Settlement. His paternal ancestry is Polish-Jewish and German. Born in Maple Ridge, B.C., Gregory spent his early childhood in northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon and the Lower Mainland of B.C. He has published five books of poetry and received the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, The Canadian Author’s Association Most Promising Young Writer Award and the Confederation of Poets Prize. Gregory’s memoir, Thunder Though My Veins: Memories of a Métis Childhood, was published in 1999.

The May Street Group, situated in beautiful Victoria B.C., has earned an international reputation for producing award-winning and entertaining television for Canadian and world markets, telling stories about people and the experiences that unite us including documentaries, movies-of-the-week, dramas, children’s programming, and lifestyle series.

Bravo!, a division of CHUM Television, is a sojourn in the television universe where viewers make a regular appointment with the arts (www.bravo.ca). A proud supporter of the Canadian independent production community, Bravo! funds approximately 100 hours of independently produced documentaries and performing arts specials a year. Bravo! has been a major contributor to such productions as Bathroom Divas, Godiva’s, Detective Murdoch Mysteries and Gemini award-winning Camp Hollywood.