The effects of residential schools, and “how those effects manifest” in subsequent generations, is what motivated choreographer Rayn Cook-Thomas to create The Picker. Featured prominently in the piece is a mask that was used by his mother, Krystal Cook, in her 2011 one-woman show, Emergence (in a nice tribute, she narrates The Picker.) The mask, originally created by artist Miles Lowry, is worn by the aggressor/antagonist in the film, and is used as a tool to symbolize the damage residential schools inflicted on his family, who are from the Kwakwaka’wakw community of Alert Bay’s ‘Namgis First Nation. “Probably half of my living family tree attended residential schools, including my grandparents,” Cook-Thomas said. “This was an important piece that allowed me to talk about the impact that has had.”