Bonus Films
Celebrating Indigenous Stories Livestream
In addition to the feature film, Night Raiders, that will be showcased as part of the Celebrating Indigenous Stories livestream, the bonus films below provide an additional avenue to have a conversation around the themes of racism, oppression, equity, and justice with your class in even greater depth. These short films represent the work of Indigenous filmmakers from across the country. It’s your choice if, when, and how you’d like to incorporate them into your courses.
To request links for any of these bonus films, please complete the Order Form above.
If you have already worked with REEL CANADA before, please refer to one of our teacher newsletters, or send an email to [email protected] to ask for your personalized form. This will ensure that your registration is logged with your existing REEL CANADA account, and will also make it quicker and easier for you to complete the form.
Assini
(13 Min)Seven-year-old Assini and her friends often play Cowboys and Indians. But when Assini discovers that she herself is an "Indian," the game takes a new turn.
Christmas at Moose Factory
(13 Min)Legendary documentarian Alanis Obomsawin’s debut film is a first-hand look at the experience of children in a residential school during Christmastime.
Four Faces of the Moon
(13 Min)This intricate stop-motion animation interlaces Canada’s colonial past with writer-director Amanda Strong’s personal family history — and illuminates Cree, Métis, and Anishinaabe reclamation of culture, language, and Nationhood.
Lost Moccasin
(11 Min)Bradford Bilodeau tells the story of how he reconnected with his birth family after being raised apart from them due to his forced adoption in the Sixties Scoop.
Savage
(6 Min)This “residential school musical” uses song and dance to depict a little girl’s dehumanizing journey into the residential school system, as well as her mother’s pain.
Sisters and Brothers
(3 Min)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. Part of the Souvenir series, it’s one of four films by First Nations filmmakers that remix archival footage to address Indigenous identity and representation, reframing Canadian history through a contemporary lens.
Wakening
(9 Min)In the near future, the environment has been destroyed and society suffocates under a brutal military occupation. A lone Cree wanderer searches an urban war zone to find the ancient and dangerous Weetigo to help fight against the occupiers.
Content note: The film is set in a post-conflict war zone, and depicts armed characters.
Wapawekka
(16 Min)Josh and his father visit their family cabin in Saskatchewan for the last time, confronting the generational differences between their Cree heritage and Josh's urban lifestyle.
When the Children Left
(13 Min)With no high school in their community, the people of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation must send their children away from home at only 14 years old in order to access educational opportunities.
Zaasaakwe
(5 Min)A powerful call to action to all Indigenous people to shout for joy and celebrate their identity.