This playlist was created to commemorate Orange Shirt Day, which was launched in 2013 to call attention to 165 years of residential school experiences between 1831 and 1996. These films illuminate the intergenerational trauma inflicted through this and other forced-assimilation policies which continue to ripple through communities even today. Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici. Films in This Playlist Include Sisters and Brothers Holy Angels Second Stories – It had to Be Done Christmas at Moose Factory The Road Forward Etlinisigu’niet (Bleed Down) Round Up
This playlist was created to commemorate Orange Shirt Day, which was launched in 2013 to call attention to 165 years of residential school experiences between 1831 and 1996. These films illuminate the intergenerational trauma inflicted through this and other forced-assimilation policies which continue to ripple through communities even today.
Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.
Films in This Playlist Include
Sisters and Brothers
Holy Angels
Second Stories – It had to Be Done
Christmas at Moose Factory
The Road Forward
Etlinisigu’niet (Bleed Down)
Round Up
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 by the residential school system.
This film is part of Souvenir, a series of four films addressing Indigenous identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB's archives.This short documentary explores the legacy of residential schools through the eyes of two extraordinary women who not only lived it, but who, as adults, made the surprising decision to return to the school that had affected their lives so profoundly. This intimate and moving film affirms their strength and dignity in standing up and making a difference on their own terms.
Second Stories follows on the heels of the enormously successful First Stories project, which produced 3 separate collections of short films from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Second Stories builds on that success by continuing the training with 3 of the 12 Indigenous filmmakers who delivered such compelling short documentaries. Produced in association with CBC, APTN, SCN, SaskFilm and MANITOBA FILM & SOUND.Released in 1971, this lyrical short documentary marked the directorial debut of legendary Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin. Filmed at a residential school in northern Ontario, it is composed entirely of drawings by young Cree children and stories told by the children themselves. Listening has been at the core of Obomsawin’s practice since the very beginning. “Documentary film,” she said in a 2017 interview, “is the one place that our people can speak for themselves. I feel that the documentaries that I’ve been working on have been very valuable for the people, for our people to look at ourselves… and through that be able to make changes that really count for the future of our children to come.”
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, families examined like livestock in crowded tuberculosis clinics, tainted water and land, poisoned for industry and profit at the cost of Indigenous lives, and the list goes on. But filmmaker Jeff Barnaby's message is clear: We are still here. Featuring the music of Tanya Tagaq.
This film is part of Souvenir, a series of four films addressing Indigenous identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB's archives.This short film traces Pete Standing Alone's personal journey from cultural alienation to pride and belonging. As a spiritual elder, teacher, and community leader of the Kainai Nation of Southern Alberta, Pete works with youth to repair the cultural and spiritual destruction wrought by residential schools. At age 81, he has come full-circle in his dedication to preserving the traditional ways of his people.