The Fifth Region
The 5th Region is a short narrative film that discusses the lives of Nancy and Joshua who are Inuit but raised in southern Canada. All their lives they struggled with aspects of their identities and now begin to redefine what it means to be a young urban Inuk growing up under the shadow of the Sixties Scoop and […]
Territories
A giant in the world of documentary photography, Larry Towell has garnered several top-level honors, including the 2005 Priz Nadar and the first Henri Cartier-Bresson Award. This program follows Towell as he uses his camera to confront foreboding landscapes and shed light on struggling communities—drawing parallels between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the militarization of the […]
Uprooted Generation
Part poem and part documentary, this film is dedicated to the victims of residential schools. The film includes reflections on cultural disconnection, personal and community trauma, resilience, and the healing power of art.
Betsiamites
What does it mean to be Indigenous in today’s world? The film heads out to the North Coast of Québec to meet residents of Pessamit, an Innu community formerly named Betsiamites. In a face to face with the camera, their voice, direct and unexpected, is heard. 13 members of the community discuss their daily lives, […]
The Art of Resistance
Argentina’s troubled history, culminating in the major crisis of 2001, has seen the rise of a wave of original artistic and cultural expression. The documentary The Art of Resistance introduces us to several creators and artist collectives who use artistic expression as a means to deliver powerful social statements, explore unbridled creativity, and participate actively […]
Inukshop
Filmmaker Jobie Weetaluktuk, originally from Inukjuak, Quebec, mixes archival and new footage that encourages us to think about how we’ve perceived and interacted with Inuit culture throughout history.
Sonny Side Up
This film tells how a young men changes his life from drugs and alcohol to become a traditional dancer.
You Are On Indian Land
Released in 1969, this short documentary was one of the most influential and widely distributed productions made by the Indian Film Crew (IFC), the first all-Indigenous unit at the NFB. It documents a 1969 protest by the Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) of Akwesasne, a territory that straddles the Canada–U.S. border. When Canadian authorities prohibited the duty-free cross-border […]
Another Word For Learning
What does it mean to decolonize schooling, and to create environments of learning that challenge capitalist modes of education? Co-produced by Cinema Politica Productions and Wide Open Exposure, ANOTHER WORD FOR LEARNING examines the disconnect between the contemporary colonial educational system and Indigenous communities, in light of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the painful […]
The Pā Boys
Himiona Grace’s exploration of masculinity and Māori identity in THE PĀ BOYS is full of passion, creativity and anguish. The film follows a fictional Reggae band as it tours Aotearoa from Wellington to Cape Reinga, struggling to keep cohesion and community among its members. At the heart of this dramatic feature (which has its share […]
O Tamaiti
Seen through the eyes of 11 year old Tino, the eldest of five children in a Samoan family, the film opens with the birth of yet another baby, and Tino must cope with the added pressures and responsibilities expected of him as the eldest. With mother and father figures who are heard but not seen, […]
Two Cars, One Night
Set in the carpark of a rural pub in Tek Kaha, New Zealand, this award-winning short comedy from Taika Waititi tells the story of two brothers, Romeo and Ed, who wait in the car while their parents are inside drinking. Romeo spots Polly, an eleven-year-old girl who is also waiting for her parents in their […]
Tama Tū
Every culture has its stories and its heroes. For the Māori, the men of the 28th Battalion are legendary. These were soldiers who owed no allegiance to a national flag, but fought and died in the thousands amid the Second World War because they were warriors at heart. Numerous books and films have been made […]
Illusions of Control
Taking inspiration from the late cultural theorist Lauren Berlant’s influential scholarly work Cruel Optimism, Vancouver-based director Shannon Walsh delivers a philosophical portrait of five women’s stories of survival and transformation on a global scale. A compelling meditation on resilience in the face of disaster, ILLUSIONS OF CONTROL unfolds in landscapes that are irrevocably shaped by […]
Bikes vs Cars
The bicycle, an amazing tool for change. Activists and cities all over the world are moving towards a new system. But will the economic powers allow it? Bikes vs Cars, a new film project from BANANAS!* and Big Boys Gone Bananas!* director Fredrik Gertten, looks into and investigates the daily global drama in traffic around […]
Kivitoo: What They Thought of Us
In 1962 three men died in a tragic accident in the Inuit community of Kivitoo. Only three days after their burial – when the community was still in deep mourning – the RCMP arrived and forced everyone to move to a camp in Qikittajuaaq. The RCMP promised that the community would be allowed to return […]