She Cried That Day

Homeland

Following four Lakota families over three years, Homeland explores what it takes for the Lakota community to build a better future in the face of tribal and government corruption, scarce housing, unemployment, and alcoholism. Intimate interviews with a spiritual leader, a grandmother, an artist, and a community activist from South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation reveal how each survives through family ties, cultural tradition, humor, and a palpable yearning for self-reliance and personal freedom.

American Native

Thirty miles from Manhattan a group of mysterious mountain people fight for recognition as a legitimate Native American tribe from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. What begins as their journey travels the country as Native American’s fight for their rights at Standing Rock, Apache Junction and throughout the United States. Examining through expert interviews and unbridled access to the ­community, the film provides an in ­depth look at the complex past, volatile present and endangered future of the Ramapough Mountain Indians and what it truly means to be a “Native American”.

Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting

Examining the movement that is ending the use of Native American names, logos, and mascots in the world of sports and beyond.

In Whose Honor?

Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves — Indian mascots and nicknames have historically been first draft picks in American sports. But for Charlene Teters, a Spokane Indian, transplanting cultural rituals onto the field is a symbol of disrespect. Jay Rosenstein follows Teters' evolution from mother and student into a leading voice against the merchandising of Native American symbols — and shows the lengths fans will go to preserve their mascots.

Parasisi

On the border of Surinam and French Guyana, indigenous Wayana territory is overrun by intruders. Illegal gold miners poison the river, missionaries repress indigenous identity, and even doctors with the best intentions leave marks that are often silently violent. The Wayana call these intruders Parasisi.

Las mujeres deciden

Maria, a young Spanish doctor, works in a maternity hospital in the Ecuadorian rain forest. She is shocked about the premature pregnancies and the violence women in Ecuador have to face. She meets Mishell, an adolescent abused by her father, and Yanina, a woman who decides to perform a clandestine abortion. Maria discovers that behind unintended pregnancies often hides sexual violence.

Potlatch...a strict law bids us dance

Presents the history of the conflict between the Canadian government and the Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific over the ritual of the Potlatch. Archival photographs and films, wax roll sound recordings, police reports, the original potlatch files, and correspondence of agents form the basis of the reconstruction of period events, while the film centres on a Potlatch given today by the Cranmer family of Alert Bay.

The Land is the Culture: A Case for BC Indian Land Claims

"A documentary film which looks at the issue of British Columbia Native land claims and how the aboriginals link their culture to the land, which has been stolen by the dominant white culture of North America. In the film, the argument is presented that the lands have been taken from the Natives without any clear treaty agreements and how attempts had been made to wipe out Native culture through the Residential School system. " Produced by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs in 1975.

NUKED

The US detonated 67 nuclear weapons over the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War, the consequences of which still reverberate down four generations to today. "NUKED," is a timely new feature documentary focussing on the human victims of the nuclear arms race, tracing the displaced Bikinian's ongoing struggle for justice and survival even as climate change poses a new existential threat. Using carefully restored archival footage to resurrect contemporaneous islanders’ voices and juxtaposing these with the full, awesome fury of the nuclear detonations, NUKED starkly contrasts the official record with the lived experience of the Bikinians themselves, serving as an important counterpoint to this summer’s Oppenheimer.

LaDonna Harris: Indian 101

A documentary film about Comanche activist LaDonna Harris, who led an extensive life of Native political and social activism, and is now passing on her traditional cultural and leadership values to a new generation of emerging Indigenous leaders.

James Bay 1975: The Shock of Two Nations

A dive into the origins of two revolutions: the rapid expansion of Hydro-Québec with the construction of the La Grande hydroelectric power plant, a project championed by Premier Robert Bourassa, and the awakening of Indigenous nations. A clash of civilizations where two worldviews collide. Quebec, buoyed by the momentum of the Quiet Revolution, takes control of its destiny. Meanwhile, in the North, young Inuit and Cree rise up for the first time to protect what is most precious to them: their land and their culture. At the heart of the conflict is the James Bay construction site, the largest of its kind in North America.

The Good Canadian

The world knows the image of the good Canadian. But what if there was a dark secret behind a national identity? THE GOOD CANADIAN exposes the truth behind the idea of a True North strong and free. In this unflinching and eye-opening documentary, directors Leena Minifie and David Paperny move us through the corridors of systemic inequity, from the Indian Act to residential schools, to modern-day family separation. Fusing shocking footage with detailed interviews with experts, advocates, whistleblowers and politicians, THE GOOD CANADIAN challenges national myth-making, while offering Canadians the chance to forge a new identity from the truth.

Promised Land

Promised Land is a social justice documentary that follows two tribes in the Pacific Northwest: the Duwamish and the Chinook, as they fight for the restoration of treaty rights they've long been denied. In following their story, the film examines a larger problem in the way that the government and society still looks at tribal sovereignty.

The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters

For almost a century, the Coast Salish knitters of southern Vancouver Island have produced Cowichan sweaters from handspun wool. These distinctive sweaters are known and loved around the world, but the Indigenous women who make them remain largely invisible.

Echoes Within

“Can I be nostalgic about something I’ve never experienced?” asks debut filmmaker Pranami Koch. She has in mind her grandmother, a person she never knew who belonged to the Koches, a people in India with their own culture and traditions. In her search for connection and identity, Pranami travels to the countryside and immerses herself in the Koch community.

Writing Hawa

Afghan documentary maker Najiba Noori offers not only a loving and intimate portrait of her mother Hawa, but also shows in detail how the arduous improvement of the position of women is undone by geopolitical violence. The film follows the fortunes of Noori’s family, who belong to the Hazaras, an ethnic group that has suffered greatly from discrimination and persecution.

Foundational Black American

Uncover the hidden history of Foundational Black Americans and Black Indians-present before Columbus and vital to building the U.S.-in this powerful documentary that reclaims a buried legacy.

Jeff Weise: My Personal Documentary

Documentary about the Red Lake school shooting and its perpetrator, Jeff Weise.

The Lost Spirits

The last surviving Native Americans on Long Island are the focus of The Lost Spirits. The film chronicles their struggles as an indigenous people to maintain their identity amidst relentless modernization and a heartless bureaucracy.

Mot vinden