The American Indian's Sacred Ground

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World

July 2017 •English

Documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history, a little-known story built around the incredible lives and careers of the some of the greatest music legends.

Sacheen: Breaking the Silence

April 2019 •English

Revisiting the achievements of Sacheen Littlefeather, the first woman of color to utilize the Academy Awards to make a political statement.

Golden Blood: The Frontiers of Greed

February 2023 •English

Two best friends, Clint and Lenny, set out to pan for gold during the California Gold Rush. They have a stroke of luck and find a significant amount of gold in their pans. As they continue to pan, Clint becomes increasingly fixated on finding more and more gold, to the point where he becomes ruthless and starts to turn on Lenny. Lenny tries to remind Clint of the importance of their friendship and the values they once held, but Clint's greed continues to consume him. Eventually, their friendship is put to the test as Clint's behavior becomes increasingly dangerous and erratic. Will the gold be the end of their friendship, or will Lenny be able to save his friend from the destructive power of greed?

Pablo

November 2013 •English

Documentary that follows Pablo, a man that used to live on the streets in Brazil

Two Spirits

June 2009 •English

Fred Martinez was a Navajo youth slain at the age of 16 by a man who bragged to his friends that he 'bug-smashed a fag'. But Fred was part of an honored Navajo tradition - the 'nadleeh', or 'two-spirit', who possesses a balance of masculine and feminine traits.

American Interior

March 2014 •English

Two men. Two quests. Two centuries apart. Four ways to experience the search for a lost tribe. Film. Book. Album. App.

INAATE/SE/

February 2016 •English

INAATE/SE/ re-imagines an ancient Ojibway story, the Seven Fires Prophecy, which both predates and predicts first contact with Europeans. A kaleidoscopic experience blending documentary, narrative, and experimental forms, INAATE/SE/ transcends linear colonized history to explore how the prophecy resonates through the generations in their indigenous community within Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With acute geographic specificity, and grand historical scope, the film fixes its lens between the sacred and the profane to pry open the construction of contemporary indigenous identity.

Blood Quantum

January 2016 •English

A documentary exploring the controversial use of blood quantum in determining Native American identity.

To Save a Language

November 2020 •Estonian

Linguist Indrek Park has been working with Native American languages for over ten years. The film sees him recording the language of the Mandan tribe, who live in the prairies of North Dakota, on the banks of the Missouri River. The job involves a lot of responsibility, and he is running out of time – his language guide, the 84-year-old Edwin Benson, is the last native speaker of Mandan.

Lakota Nation vs. United States

June 2022 •English

Poet Layli Long Soldier crafts a searing portrait of her Oyate’s connection to the Black Hills, through first contact and broken treaties to the promise of the Land Back movement, in this lyrical testament to resilience of a nation.

The Shaman's Apprentice

May 2001 •English

Scientist Mark Plotkin races against time to save the ancient healing knowledge of Indian tribes from extinction.

My Name is Hungry Buffalo

October 2017 •Czech

This May Be the Last Time

January 2014 •English

Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo's Grandfather disappeared mysteriously in 1962. The community searching for him sang songs of encouragement that were passed down for generations. Harjo explores the origins of these songs as well as the violent history of his people.

The Lost Spirits

January 2009 •English

The last surviving Native Americans on Long Island are the focus of The Lost Spirits. The film chronicles their struggles as an indigenous people to maintain their identity amidst relentless modernization and a heartless bureaucracy.

American Native

November 2014 •English

Thirty miles from Manhattan a group of mysterious mountain people fight for recognition as a legitimate Native American tribe from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. What begins as their journey travels the country as Native American’s fight for their rights at Standing Rock, Apache Junction and throughout the United States. Examining through expert interviews and unbridled access to the ­community, the film provides an in ­depth look at the complex past, volatile present and endangered future of the Ramapough Mountain Indians and what it truly means to be a “Native American”.

Incident at Oglala

May 1992 •English

On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.

Homeland

October 2000 •English

Following four Lakota families over three years, Homeland explores what it takes for the Lakota community to build a better future in the face of tribal and government corruption, scarce housing, unemployment, and alcoholism. Intimate interviews with a spiritual leader, a grandmother, an artist, and a community activist from South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation reveal how each survives through family ties, cultural tradition, humor, and a palpable yearning for self-reliance and personal freedom.

Trudell

January 2005 •English

A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances and politics.

An Indian Story

March 1962 •Hungarian

Still photographs and narration give an overview of the history of the American Indian.

Mankiller

June 2017 •English

The story of an American hero and the Cherokee Nation's first woman Principal Chief who humbly defied all odds to give a voice to the voiceless.