Indigenous
Angry Inuk
In her award-winning documentary, director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril joins a new tech-savvy generation of Inuit as they campaign to challenge long-established perceptions of seal hunting. Armed with social media and their …
Being Prepared
As the global pandemic reaches into the Arctic Archipelago, Inuk filmmaker Carol Kunnuk documents how unfamiliar new protocols affect her family and community. Her vividly specific soundtrack juxtaposes snippets from …
Bill Reid Remembers
Bill Reid Remembers is a beautiful tribute from Alanis Obomsawin to her friend’s remarkable life and rich legacy. Despite spending his early life away from his nation’s culture, renowned Haida …
Birth of a Family
In this deeply moving feature-length documentary, three sisters and a brother meet for the first time. Removed from their young Dene mother during the infamous Sixties Scoop, they were separated …
Camp Morningstar
This film shares the story of Camp Morningstar, a sacred camp established on the east side of Lake Winnipeg that was erected in response to the proposal of a silica …
Context
This story begins over a century ago, when the City of Winnipeg decides that the water surrounding the traditional Anishinaabe territory of what is now Shoal Lake 40 First Nation …
Crazywater
This feature-length documentary from Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen is an emotional and revealing exploration of addiction among Indigenous people in Canada.
After years of struggle and shame, 5 Indigenous Canadians …
Elders / Gitchi-aya'aag
The Elders of Shoal Lake 40 prepare a feast as part of their annual Fall Harvest, where they share traditional knowledge and teachings with the people of the community. As …
Etlinisigu'niet (Bleed Down)
In five short minutes, this short film destroys any remaining shreds of the myth of a fair and just Canada. Children forced from their homes and sent to residential schools, …
Evan's Drum
An adventurous young boy and his determined mother share a passion for Inuit drum dancing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Evan’s Drum is a joyful visit to a family’s loving home, …
Ever Deadly
This film discusses topics of trauma and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.
Ever Deadly is an immersive, visceral music and cinema experience featuring Tanya Tagaq, avant-garde Inuk throat singer, and …
Fight
This short documentary introduces us to Randy Baleski, a Winnipeg high school teacher and former boxer who has a unique approach to helping students at risk of not graduating: get …
Fisher River
This film narrows in on stories of generosity and perseverance in Fisher River Cree Nation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stories include the purchase and distribution of fish …
Heartbeat of a Nation
In Heartbeat of a Nation, a short documentary by Eric Janvier that celebrates Dene cultural reclamation and revitalization, a father passes on traditional knowledge to his child through the …
Hebron Relocation
In Hebron Relocation, Holly Andersen explores what makes a place a home as she learns more about her community’s connection to generations of displaced northern Labrador Inuit.
Hi-Ho Mistahey!
In 2010, a national movement for fairness in education for First Nations children, in safe and suitable schools, was born in the Cree community of Attawapiskat. This was Shannen’s Dream. …
Holy Angels
In 1963, Lena Wandering Spirit became one of the more than 150,000 Indigenous children who were removed from their families and sent to residential school. Jay Cardinal Villeneuve’s short documentary …
Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair
As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system. With determination, …
Inconvenient Indian
In this time of radical change and essential re-examination, Inconvenient Indian brings to life Thomas King’s brilliant dismantling of North America’s colonial narrative, reframing this history with the powerful voices …
Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger
Alanis Obomsawin's 52nd film tells the story of how the life of Jordan River Anderson initiated a battle for the right of First Nations and Inuit children to receive …
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab …
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy
Follow filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as she creates an intimate portrait of her community and the impacts of the substance use and overdose epidemic. Witness the change brought by community members …
Love is the First Sacred Lesson
Love Is the First Sacred Lesson is a first-person documentary that follows the filmmaker’s journey to connect and reconcile the different parts of their identity: queer, trans, Mi'kmaq. An existential …
Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again
Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again shares the powerful story of Mary Two-Axe Earley, who fought for more than two decades to challenge sex discrimination against First Nations women …
Matheson Island
This film tells the story of the Whiteways of Matheson Island, who for generations have depended on commercial fishing as a means of survival and livelihood. The Whiteways share their …
Men / Ininiwag
The men of Shoal Lake 40 tell the story of life in the community from their perspective, in the lead-up to their annual powwow. Lorne Redsky works the outdated pump …
Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher
Part oral history and part visual poem, Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher is the story of Evelyn Campbell, a trailblazer for an Inuit-led educational system in the small community of Rigolet, …
Mobilize
This short film, crafted entirely out of NFB archival footage by First Nations filmmaker Caroline Monnet, takes us on an exhilarating journey from the Far North to the urban south, …
Nalujuk Night
Nalujuk Night is an up close look at an exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, Labrador Inuit tradition. Every January 6th from the dark of the Nunatsiavut night, the Nalujuit appear on …
Nimmikaage (She Dances for People)
Both a requiem for and an honouring of Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, this short film deconstructs the layers of Canadian nationalism.
Ninan Auassat (We, the Children)
More than just a riveting documentary, this is a call to action at a time when Indigenous youth are demanding the right to be recognized and an opportunity to blossom.
Now Is the Time
When internationally renowned Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old, he carved the first new totem pole on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii in almost a century. On the …
Our Maternal Home
Filmmaker and educator Janine Windolph ventures from Saskatchewan to Quebec with her two teens and younger sister, tracing their familial origins to the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi. Against the …
Our People Will Be Healed
Our People Will Be Healed, Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film, reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. The Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education …
The People of the Kattawapiskak River
The People of the Kattawapiskak River by Alanis Obomsawin looks at the causes of a housing crisis in a Northern Ontario Cree community in 2011.
Poplar River
This film explores the special connection that Poplar River First Nation has to the lands and waters surrounding their community. Poplar River community members Sophia Rabliauskas and Clint Bittern share …
Red Path
This short documentary tells the story of Tony Chachai, a young Indigenous man in search of his identity. Moved by the desire to reconnect with his Atikamekw roots, he delivers …
Reel Injun
In this feature-length documentary, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an entertaining and insightful look at the portrayal of North American Indigenous people throughout a century of cinema. Featuring hundreds of …
The Road Forward
The Road Forward, a musical documentary by Marie Clements, connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of …
Sisters & Brothers
In a pounding critique of Canada's colonial history, this short film draws parallels between the annihilation of the bison in the 1890s and the devastation inflicted on the Indigenous population …
Stories Are in Our Bones
In this layered short film, filmmaker Janine Windolph takes her young sons fishing with their kokum (grandmother), a residential school survivor who retains a deep knowledge and memory of the …
Upstairs With David Amram
Before her storied career as one of Canada’s foremost documentary filmmakers, Alanis Obomsawin was an acclaimed singer and musician at the forefront of the Indigenous rights movement in North America. …
Voices Across the Water
There is a moment during the construction of a canoe when its true form is revealed. A hull drops into place. The elegant arc of a bow cuts forth. A …
WaaPaKe Tomorrow
For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s deeply personal documentary WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) moves beyond intergenerational trauma, with …
We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice
The rights of First Nations children take centre stage in this monumental documentary. Following a historic court case filed by the Assembly of First Nations and the Child and Family …
Women / Ikwewag
Shoal Lake 40 women talk about their struggles, and those of their parents and grandparents, in trying to raise their families in a hazardous state of enforced isolation. Everyone in …
Youth / Oshkaadiziig
Shoal Lake 40 youth share what it’s like to be forced to live away from their close-knit families and community to attend high school in Kenora, Ontario. The community’s school …
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up
On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a gunshot to the back of his head after entering Gerald Stanley’s rural property with his friends. …
this river
This short documentary offers an Indigenous perspective on the devastating experience of searching for a loved one who has disappeared. Volunteer activist Kyle Kematch and award-winning writer Katherena Vermette have …