Indigenous Studies

Indigenous Studies

SUGARCANE
SUGARCANE
One of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year, Sugarcane is a stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life. In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities.
FOLLOW THE WATER
FOLLOW THE WATER
Demand for lithium, which is needed for the massive batteries of electric cars, is unprecedented. But what impact is this having on the environment and the people who live and work next to these lithium mines? In this timely and absorbing documentary, several protaganists talk about their connection to one of the largest lithium mines in the world: from the efforts of an indigenous woman fighting for water rights to new questions being raised by leading scientists.
SHORT FILMS BY THE YANOMAMI
SHORT FILMS BY THE YANOMAMI
The three short films in this series inaugurate the new audiovisual production of the Yanomami, one of the largest Indigenous groups living in Amazonia today. They are produced by Yanomami young people as part of a group specifically formed to disseminate their traditions and teachings to Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous people. The first film is made with the participation of the great leader and shaman Davi Kopenawa. The other two are the first to be directed by Yanomami women.
ANERCA, BREATH OF LIFE
ANERCA, BREATH OF LIFE
Anerca is a fascinating exploration into the breathing techniques of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. There are two types of breathing, life-sustaining breath, and that which expresses existence. The film composes a poetic ethnography inspired by the singing, dancing, forms of contemporary existence and, above all, the vital breath of these nomad communities mistreated by history. 
MALNI - TOWARDS THE OCEAN, TOWARDS THE SHORE
MALNI - TOWARDS THE OCEAN, TOWARDS THE SHORE
A poetic documentary circling the origin of the death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, Małni follows two people as they wander through their surrounding nature, the spirit world, and something much deeper inside. Hopinka takes us on a journey through language and belief, offering a beautiful lesson about humanity’s place on this and other worlds, deceptively small and profoundly deep.
HENRY GLASSIE: FIELD WORK
HENRY GLASSIE: FIELD WORK
The worldwide travels and unique cultural finds of renowned American folklorist Henry Glassie are enthrallingly chronicled in this portrait. Field Work allows us to witness the walling up of a massive kiln in Piedmont, North California, and features archival recordings of Glassie's encounters with carpet weavers and ceramicists in Western Turkey, and storytellers in Collins and Hogan's home country of Ireland, where Glassie's subjects reflect on their troubled present by talking about the past.
SWARM SEASON
SWARM SEASON
The extinction of honey bees on a remote volcanic island of Hawaii, indigenous cosmology, and a secret NASA project intersect in this gorgeous, thought-provoking documentary. With an artist's eye for details and plenty of time for amazement, Swarm Season draws fascinating parallels between the micro- and macrocosm, and challenges our understanding of nature, the world and ourselves.
CABALLERANGO
CABALLERANGO
In the Mexican village of Milpillas, deteriorating economic and social conditions have led to a wave of suicides among its young people. The remarkable new documentary Cabellerango, from filmmaker Juan Pablo González, examines one such case, relying on conversations with family members and townspeople to piece together the factors that led to this tragic incident, and in the process, reflect upon the changes occurring across much of the country.
SMALL PEOPLE, BIG TREES
SMALL PEOPLE, BIG TREES
Famed anthropologist Louis Sarno discovered the music of the Bayaka pygmies nearly 30 years ago and dedicated his life to their study and preservation. Following Sarno’s death in 2017, the filmmakers travelled to the rain forests of Central Africa to live with the Bayaka and provide a crucial ethnographic portrait of their cultures and traditions under seige from Western influence.
A RIVER BELOW
A RIVER BELOW
A captivating documentary about the ethics of activism in the modern media age, A River Below examines the efforts of two conservationists in the Amazon – one, a marine biologist, the other, an animal activist and host of a popular National Geographic TV show – whose methods to save the mythical pink river dolphin from extinction trigger unforeseen consequences.
WILD PLANTS
WILD PLANTS
From urban farms in Detroit to Native-owned agriculture projects across the midwest to guerrilla gardens in Zurich, Wild Plants is a kaleidoscopic portrait of activists around the world who are creating their own botanic utopias.
KIVALINA
KIVALINA
This tender portrait of an Inupiaq Eskimo community who are living on an island that is disappearing into the sea is both an elegy to the indigenous cultures of the Arctic and a harrowing vision of climate change in America.
LIVING WITH GIANTS
LIVING WITH GIANTS
In a remote arctic village, a young Inuk boy's transition into adulthood becomes a quiet and devastating portrait of the issues facing the entire Inuit community in the outstanding documentary Living with Giants
THE ILLINOIS PARABLES
THE ILLINOIS PARABLES
Filmmaker Deborah Stratman recounts eleven episodes in American history — from the violent eviction of the Cherokee to the invention of the nuclear reactor to the murder of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton — to consider how societies are shaped by belief and ideology.
THE RIDE
THE RIDE
This intimate, moving documentary follows young Lakota riders on a 300-mile trek on horseback through the South Dakota badlands, as they retrace the fateful journey of their ancestors that culminated at Wounded Knee.
MINERITA
MINERITA
An acclaimed, award winning documentary about the women of a remote mining town in Bolivia where life above ground is just as dangerous as below.
DAUGHTERS OF ANATOLIA
DAUGHTERS OF ANATOLIA
A singular portrait of a nomadic goat herding family whose livelihood and traditions are being threatened by an increasingly urbanized world.