Derrière chaque image, une histoire

Haida Carver

January 1964 •English

On Canada's Pacific coast this film finds a young Haida artist, Robert Davidson, shaping miniature totems from argillite, a jet-like stone. The film follows the artist to the island where he finds the stone, and then shows how he carves it in the manner of his grandfather, who taught him the craft.

Thacker Pass: Mining The Sacred

September 2023 •English

In Nevada’s remote Thacker Pass, a fight for our future is playing out between local Indigenous tribes and powerful state and corporate entities hellbent on mining the lithium beneath their land. Vancouver-based Lithium Americas is developing a massive lithium mine at Thacker Pass, but for more than two years several local tribes and environmental organizations have tried to block or delay the mine in the courts and through direct action.

When the Mountains Tremble

September 1983 •Spanish

A documentary on the war between the Guatemalan military and the Mayan population, with first hand accounts by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú.

Nika tsheka uiten mishkut

Invalid date •French

Gros chat

June 2022 •French

Siméon Malec, host on Pakueshikan FM radio, receives Marie-Soleil Bellefleur on the air to discuss new regulations concerning salmon nets. To their great dismay, the duo is constantly interrupted by increasingly worrying calls... It seems that a lion has been seen in the community!

Sabino Vive: Las últimas fronteras.

February 2015 •Spanish

The documentary recreates the facts in the life of the Yukpa Chief, Sabino Romero, an indigenous fighter killed on March 3, 2013, in the Chaktapa community of the Sierra de Perija in Zulia state, Venezuela. The film reflects the infinite struggle of Sabino and his people, accompanied by the social groups, in this story of truly libertarian images made with blood and fire, revealing the skein of interests that forged and carried out Sabino's murder, and the attitude Inhuman and murderous of those who made it another victim of history.

Maximón: Devil or Saint

February 2014 •Spanish

MAXIMÓN - Devil or Saint is a documentary about the controversial Maya deity, also known as San Simon or the drinking and smoking saint of Guatemala. He is a mixture of ancient Maya beliefs and Christianity. The movie concentrates on the people who surround Maximón with their strong personalities, opinions and faith. The documentary gives us a rare view into the rituals and fiestas honoring Maximón. The cult of Maximón is flourishing because he performs miracles. He is also feared and despised because he is used to cast curses that can result in death. Ultimately, Maximón transcends the duality of good and evil, reflecting the Maya cosmovision in which everything in the universe co-exists.

Women in the Shadows

January 1991 •English

Filmed on location in Saskatchewan from the Qu'Appelle Valley to Hudson Bay, the documentary traces the filmmaker's quest for her Native foremothers in spite of the reluctance to speak about Native roots on the part of her relatives. The film articulates Métis women's experience with racism in both current and historical context, and examines the forces that pushed them into the shadows.

Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier

November 1991 •English

An intimate exploration of the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977, with commentary from those involved, including Peltier himself.

Falas da Terra

April 2021 •Portuguese

'Falas da Terra' sheds light on the plurality and the struggle of the indigenous people for the right to exist, in a historical rescue of valuing their cultures.

Baraka

September 1992 •English

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Crazywise

June 2017 •English

Western culture treats mental disorders primarily through biomedical psychiatry, but filmmakers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson reveal a growing movement of professionals and survivors who are forging alternative treatments that focus on recovery and turning mental “illness” into a positive transformative experience.

First Daughter and the Black Snake

April 2017 •English

The “Prophecy of the 7th Fire” says a “black snake” will bring destruction to the earth. For Winona LaDuke, the “black snake” is oil trains and pipelines. When she learns that Canadian-owned Enbridge plans to route a new pipeline through her tribe’s 1855 Treaty land, she and her community spring into action to save the sacred wild rice lakes and preserve their traditional indigenous way of life. Launching an annual spiritual horse ride along the proposed pipeline route, speaking at community meetings and regulatory hearings. Winona testifies that the pipeline route follows one of historical and present-day trauma. The tribe participates in the pipeline permitting process, asserting their treaty rights to protect their natural resources. LaDuke joins with her tribe and others to demand that the pipelines’ impact on tribal people’s resources be considered in the permitting process.

Xetá

March 2010 •Portuguese

Keep Talking

March 2017 •English

Three Alaska Native women work to save their endangered language, Kodiak Alutiiq, and ensure the future of their culture while confronting their personal demons. With just 41 fluent Native speakers remaining, mostly Elders, some estimate their language could die out within ten years. The small community travels to a remote Island, where a language immersion experiment unfolds with the remaining fluent Elders. Young camper Sadie, an at-risk 13 year old learner and budding Alutiiq dancer, is inspired and gains strength through her work with the teachers. Yet PTSD and politics loom large as the elders, teachers, and students try to continue the difficult task of language revitalization over the next five years.

Cidadão Jatobá

May 1987 •Portuguese

Two Lawalapiti young men from Alto Xingu learn to build a canoe from the bark of the jatobá tree, a quick and simple technique that leaves the tree still rooted and alive, and that has ceased to be used and is only known by the oldest Lawalapiti men.

Nuuca

July 2018 •English

In this evocative meditation, a disturbing link is made between the resource extraction industries’ exploitation of the land and violence inflicted on Indigenous women and girls. Or, as one young woman testifies, “Just as the land is being used, these women are being used.”

Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii

July 2004 •English

Filmmaker Kevin McMahon accompanies the Haida delegation on a repatriation trip to Chicago in 2003. His film reveals the whole repatriation process through the stories and experiences of the people who participated, both Museum staff and the Haida people.

Xadalu e o Jaguaretê

September 2019 •Portuguese

Documentary that accompanies the exchange between the mestizo urban artist Xadalu and the filmmaker of the Mbya Guarani ethnic group Ariel Kuaray Ortega. As part of his artistic quest, Xadalu goes on an immersion in Guarani territory, accompanied by Ariel. While traveling between villages, Xadalu transforms his experiences into art. After this period, Xadalu travels spreading his work through the streets of several cities. Ariel accompanies him filming wherever they go. Xadalu introduces Ariel to a new world: the world of street art. United in the same fight for the indigenous cause, Xadalu and Ariel cross over for special places and experiences, while their relationship evolves and changes.

Contrary Warriors: A Film of the Crow Tribe

November 1985 •English

Examines the impact a century of struggling for survival has on a native people. It weaves the Crow tribe's turbulent past with modern-day accounts from Robert Yellow-tail, a 97-year-old Crow leader and a major reason for the tribe's survival. Poverty and isolation combine with outside pressures to undermine the tribe, but they resist defeat as "Contrary Warriors," defying the odds.