Indigenous
65 products
CBQM
Duration: 2h12
Subscription access
The radio station CBQM operates out of Fort McPherson, a small town about 150 km north of the Arctic Circle in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Through storytelling and old-time country music, filmmaker and long-time listener Dennis Allen crafts a nuanced portrait of the "Moccasin Telegraph," the radio station that is a pillar of local identity and pride in this lively northern Teetl'it Gwic...
Picturing a People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer
Picturing a People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer
New product!Duration: 51 minutes
Subscription access
A unique portrait of George Johnston, a photographer who was himself a creator of portraits and a keeper of his culture. Johnston cared deeply about the traditions of the Tlingit people, and he recorded a critical period in the history of the Tlingit nation. As filmmaker Carol Geddes says, his legacy was "to help us dream the future as much as to remember the past."
Camera Trap
Duration: 52 minutes
Subscription access
The Porcupine Caribou herd, one of the largest in North America, faces an uncertain future due to climate change, industrial development, and political tensions. The Gwich'in people, who have relied on the herd for generations, see their future at risk and call for global attention. Peter Mather, a teacher and aspiring photographer, began his career in Old Crow, where he became passionate about...
OrHoDa
Along the Amur River, mountains abound with mysterious lively treasures. The gifts of the sky were only visible to those who honor the powers that flow through the vast taiga. To find what human desires, ritual offerings to the mountain’s guardian spirits must be properly performed. But most importantly, one must face the gods with a serene, translucent heart. An animated reinterpretation of an...
Silakut
Subscription access
In this feature documentary, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk talks to people from the five Northern Baffin Communities affected by the proposed expansion of the Mary River Mine Iron Ore Mine. These conversations clearly show the predicament these communities are in – being torn between wanting to support the opportunities the expanded mine brings – but also wanting to protect their environment and cu...
Hunting with my Ancestors - Bowhead Whale Hunt
Hunting with my Ancestors - Bowhead Whale Hunt
Duration: 1h40Subscription access
Inuit have hunted bowhead whales for thousands of years, using stone tools to hunt these 25-ton mammals. In 2016, Igloolik community received a tag to harvest a bowhead; Zacharias Kunuk documents this hunt - from the selection of hunting captains and planning to the large-scale hunt and the ensuing community-wide harvest and distribution of food.
One Day In the Life of Noah Piugattuk
One Day In the Life of Noah Piugattuk
Duration: 3h46Subscription access
Kapuivik, north Baffin Island, 1961. Noah Piugattuk’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dogteam, just as his ancestors did when he was born in 1900. When the white man known as Boss arrives in camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change.
Mémoire battante
Subscription access
Three memories – that of the Innu, the Jesuit, and Lamothe – juxtapose without contradicting each other, define without harming each other, evaluate without diminishing each other. In this feature-length film, Arthur Lamothe captures the daily life of the Innu and the culture of an indigenous people gradually being decimated.
Living Here
_Living Here_ is a story made of solitude and wind, told with the poetry of Nunavik's stark tundra and the beauty of young Martha's words.
Forests
In a dark, ambiguous environment, minuscule particles drift slowly before the lens. The image focuses to reveal spruce trees and tall pines, while Innu voices tell us the story of this territory, this flooded forest. Muffled percussive sounds gradually become louder, suggesting the presence of a hydroelectric dam. The submerged trees gradually transform into firebrands as whispers bring back th...
Spirit Emulsion
A woman's connection to her mother in the spirit world reactivates Taíno culture and presence, revealing a realm unseen. Meanwhile, amidst a backdrop of flowers everywhere, an ancestral act of sovereignty extends into the future. Filmed on Super 8 and developed by hand with plant medicines and botanicals, Spirit Emulsion evokes a language for Taíno filmmaking in relationship to the earth and co...
My Father's Tools
Taking a cinéma-vérité approach, filmmaker Heather Condo simply documents the art of weaving black ash rib baskets, a tradition handed down from generation to generation. With no voice-over or dialogue, the film focuses on the work of the director's partner, Stephen Jerome, his talent and the attention to detail involved in making these baskets. The result is both a physical and spiritual exper...
Nothing About Moccasins
There's not going to be a film about moccasins. That's how the director's grandmother decided to respond to her granddaughter's project. The film will be about transmission, but without giving away secrets that don't belong to us.
Waseskun
Une plongée au cœur de Waseskun, un établissement de réinsertion pour hommes autochtones au passé criminel. Un regard empathique dénué de naïveté qui décrit sans tabou la complexe reconstruction d’hommes en lutte contre eux-mêmes. À Waseskun, la guérison passe par la spiritualité et par une réappropriation de l’identité et de la culture ancestrale. Une chronique sensible à propos de rescapés de...
Living Like the Land
On the shore of the Great Slave Lake, the Denes survived more than 100 years of colonialism. Even today, they have to face massive challenges in order to regain pride and connection to the land. Through encounters with young Denes, this documentary illustrates how they still try to live the Dene way of life. _Living Like the Land_ gives an authentic look at the life of the Dene people, the last...
The Wind Blows the Border
On the border between Brazil and Paraguay, a war is being waged around the expansion of Brazilian agribusiness. On one side sits lawyer Luana Ruiz, the heiress to contested lands and one of the strongest supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro. On the other side sits teacher, Guarani-Kaiowá leader and activist Alenir Ximendes, fighting for the protection of her community, their lands and Indigen...
Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
Duration: 58 minutesSubscription access
Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specializing in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the Lodge’s programs and services are Indigenous-run and based in culturally appropriate recovery and healing techniques. Framing the short documentary with the words of the great Plains Cree Chief Pîhto...
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises
Duration: 3h28Subscription access
In this feature-length documentary from Alanis Obomsawin, the filmmaker returns to the village where she was raised to craft a lyrical account of her own people. After decades of tirelessly recording others' stories, she focuses this film on her own.
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Metis Child
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Metis Child
Duration: 58 minutesSubscription access
Richard Cardinal died by his own hand at the age of 17, having spent most of his life in a string of foster homes and shelters across Alberta. In this short documentary, Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin weaves excerpts from Richard’s diary into a powerful tribute to his short life. Released in 1984—decades before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—the film exposed the systemic neglect and...
Incident at Restigouche
Subscription access
On June 11 and 20, 1981, the Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) raided Restigouche Reserve, Quebec. At issue were the salmon-fishing rights of the Mi’kmaq. Because salmon has traditionally been a source of food and income for the Mi’kmaq, the Quebec government’s decision to restrict fishing aroused consternation and anger. Released in 1984, this groundbreaking and impassioned account of the police ...
CBQM
Duration: 2h12
Subscription access
The radio station CBQM operates out of Fort McPherson, a small town about 150 km north of the Arctic Circle in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Through storytelling and old-time country music, filmmaker and long-time listener Dennis Allen crafts a nuanced portrait of the "Moccasin Telegraph," the radio station that is a pillar of local identity and pride in this lively northern Teetl'it Gwic...
Picturing a People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer
Picturing a People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer
New product!Duration: 51 minutes
Subscription access
A unique portrait of George Johnston, a photographer who was himself a creator of portraits and a keeper of his culture. Johnston cared deeply about the traditions of the Tlingit people, and he recorded a critical period in the history of the Tlingit nation. As filmmaker Carol Geddes says, his legacy was "to help us dream the future as much as to remember the past."
Camera Trap
Duration: 52 minutes
Subscription access
The Porcupine Caribou herd, one of the largest in North America, faces an uncertain future due to climate change, industrial development, and political tensions. The Gwich'in people, who have relied on the herd for generations, see their future at risk and call for global attention. Peter Mather, a teacher and aspiring photographer, began his career in Old Crow, where he became passionate about...
OrHoDa
Along the Amur River, mountains abound with mysterious lively treasures. The gifts of the sky were only visible to those who honor the powers that flow through the vast taiga. To find what human desires, ritual offerings to the mountain’s guardian spirits must be properly performed. But most importantly, one must face the gods with a serene, translucent heart. An animated reinterpretation of an...
Silakut
Subscription access
In this feature documentary, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk talks to people from the five Northern Baffin Communities affected by the proposed expansion of the Mary River Mine Iron Ore Mine. These conversations clearly show the predicament these communities are in – being torn between wanting to support the opportunities the expanded mine brings – but also wanting to protect their environment and cu...
Hunting with my Ancestors - Bowhead Whale Hunt
Hunting with my Ancestors - Bowhead Whale Hunt
Duration: 1h40Subscription access
Inuit have hunted bowhead whales for thousands of years, using stone tools to hunt these 25-ton mammals. In 2016, Igloolik community received a tag to harvest a bowhead; Zacharias Kunuk documents this hunt - from the selection of hunting captains and planning to the large-scale hunt and the ensuing community-wide harvest and distribution of food.
One Day In the Life of Noah Piugattuk
One Day In the Life of Noah Piugattuk
Duration: 3h46Subscription access
Kapuivik, north Baffin Island, 1961. Noah Piugattuk’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dogteam, just as his ancestors did when he was born in 1900. When the white man known as Boss arrives in camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change.
Mémoire battante
Subscription access
Three memories – that of the Innu, the Jesuit, and Lamothe – juxtapose without contradicting each other, define without harming each other, evaluate without diminishing each other. In this feature-length film, Arthur Lamothe captures the daily life of the Innu and the culture of an indigenous people gradually being decimated.
Living Here
_Living Here_ is a story made of solitude and wind, told with the poetry of Nunavik's stark tundra and the beauty of young Martha's words.
Forests
In a dark, ambiguous environment, minuscule particles drift slowly before the lens. The image focuses to reveal spruce trees and tall pines, while Innu voices tell us the story of this territory, this flooded forest. Muffled percussive sounds gradually become louder, suggesting the presence of a hydroelectric dam. The submerged trees gradually transform into firebrands as whispers bring back th...
Spirit Emulsion
A woman's connection to her mother in the spirit world reactivates Taíno culture and presence, revealing a realm unseen. Meanwhile, amidst a backdrop of flowers everywhere, an ancestral act of sovereignty extends into the future. Filmed on Super 8 and developed by hand with plant medicines and botanicals, Spirit Emulsion evokes a language for Taíno filmmaking in relationship to the earth and co...
My Father's Tools
Taking a cinéma-vérité approach, filmmaker Heather Condo simply documents the art of weaving black ash rib baskets, a tradition handed down from generation to generation. With no voice-over or dialogue, the film focuses on the work of the director's partner, Stephen Jerome, his talent and the attention to detail involved in making these baskets. The result is both a physical and spiritual exper...
Nothing About Moccasins
There's not going to be a film about moccasins. That's how the director's grandmother decided to respond to her granddaughter's project. The film will be about transmission, but without giving away secrets that don't belong to us.
Waseskun
Une plongée au cœur de Waseskun, un établissement de réinsertion pour hommes autochtones au passé criminel. Un regard empathique dénué de naïveté qui décrit sans tabou la complexe reconstruction d’hommes en lutte contre eux-mêmes. À Waseskun, la guérison passe par la spiritualité et par une réappropriation de l’identité et de la culture ancestrale. Une chronique sensible à propos de rescapés de...
Living Like the Land
On the shore of the Great Slave Lake, the Denes survived more than 100 years of colonialism. Even today, they have to face massive challenges in order to regain pride and connection to the land. Through encounters with young Denes, this documentary illustrates how they still try to live the Dene way of life. _Living Like the Land_ gives an authentic look at the life of the Dene people, the last...
The Wind Blows the Border
On the border between Brazil and Paraguay, a war is being waged around the expansion of Brazilian agribusiness. On one side sits lawyer Luana Ruiz, the heiress to contested lands and one of the strongest supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro. On the other side sits teacher, Guarani-Kaiowá leader and activist Alenir Ximendes, fighting for the protection of her community, their lands and Indigen...
Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
Duration: 58 minutesSubscription access
Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specializing in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the Lodge’s programs and services are Indigenous-run and based in culturally appropriate recovery and healing techniques. Framing the short documentary with the words of the great Plains Cree Chief Pîhto...
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises
Duration: 3h28Subscription access
In this feature-length documentary from Alanis Obomsawin, the filmmaker returns to the village where she was raised to craft a lyrical account of her own people. After decades of tirelessly recording others' stories, she focuses this film on her own.
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Metis Child
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Metis Child
Duration: 58 minutesSubscription access
Richard Cardinal died by his own hand at the age of 17, having spent most of his life in a string of foster homes and shelters across Alberta. In this short documentary, Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin weaves excerpts from Richard’s diary into a powerful tribute to his short life. Released in 1984—decades before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—the film exposed the systemic neglect and...
Incident at Restigouche
Subscription access
On June 11 and 20, 1981, the Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) raided Restigouche Reserve, Quebec. At issue were the salmon-fishing rights of the Mi’kmaq. Because salmon has traditionally been a source of food and income for the Mi’kmaq, the Quebec government’s decision to restrict fishing aroused consternation and anger. Released in 1984, this groundbreaking and impassioned account of the police ...
