2015 Archive

The Cree Hunters of Mistassini
Running Time: 60 mins.

An NFB crew filmed a group of three families, Cree hunters from Mistassini. Since times predating agriculture, this First Nations people have gone to the bush of the James Bay and Ungava Bay area to hunt. We see the building of the winter camp, the hunting and the rhythms of Cree family life.

January 23, 2015

Crazy Water
Running Time: 60 mins.

This feature documentary, directed by Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen, is an emotional, honest, and revealing exploration of substance abuse among First Nations people in Canada. We meet Alex, Stephen, Paula and Desirae, who courageously share their experiences. Alex's struggles with alcoholism were an attempt to forget the abuse he suffered at a residential school. Stephen was trying to bury a childhood trauma. For Paula and Desirae, two mothers with a history of addiction, family becomes the key to breaking the cycle of abuse.

February 20, 2015

Home Fire
Running Time: 40 mins.

Home Fire explores family violence and restorative justice from an Indigenous perspective and healing programs.

March 20, 2015

Land of Oil and Water
Running Time: 45 mins.

This documentary follows the journey of Warren Cariou, a writer from northern Saskatchewan, who learns that oil sands companies from Alberta are expanding into his homeland. Warren travels back to the Cree and Dene community of La Loche and to the nearby Metis village of Buffalo Narrows to ask people what they hope the development will bring in the future, and also what they fear about it. He then travels across the border to Alberta and speaks to the Indigenous people there who have lived with oil sands development for more than thirty years. The film provides a personal and compelling portrait of Indigenous communities and their struggle to preserve their way of life in the face of rapid and relentless change.

The Sacred Relationship Healing the Water, Healing Ourselves
Running Time: 55 mins.

The Sacred Relationship explores how reconciling the relationship between Indigenous people and the rest of Canada can lead to healthier water. Featuring Indigenous Elders and top Western scientists, The Sacred Relationship explores: Indigenous worldview, water and ceremony, European settlement and colonization, reconciliation and common ground between Indigenous and Western science.

The Strong People
Running Time: 40 mins.

The Strong People, the Elwha Klallam Tribe, is a documentary made by Emerson students Heather Hoglund and Matt Lowe chronicling the largest dam removal in the United States on the Elwha River in Washington state.

Gifts from the Elders
Running Time: 60 mins.

"Gifts from the Elders" follows five Anishinaabe youth on a summer research project with their Elders, whose stories guide them on a journey back to proceeding generations that lived a healthy lifestyle off of the land. Their stories chronicle the devastating impact that environmental and cultural dispossession had on the flow of knowledge from Elders to youth, and ultimately on the health of their people. As their summer comes to an end, the youth emerge with "gifts" of knowledge and teachings from their Elders, inspiring a renewed determination to forge a hopeful and healthy future for the next generation.

Healing Walks
Running Time: 32 mins.

Healing Walks is a documentary calling attention to the destruction of the tar sands and deforestation in Alberta, Canada and the courageous Indigenous communities fighting back. Participants staged an eight mile Healing Walk Ceremony to acknowledge the damage of tar sands oil mining on their land and local communities.