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Honey For Sale

Director Amanda Strong (Michif)
Year 2009
Run Time 7min
Genre Documentary
The director focuses her camera on the tenuous life of a honeybee in this poetic and thoughtful meditation on the fragility of human existence.

Director

Amanda Strong (Michif)

Writers

Amanda Strong (Michif), John Sedore

Producer

Amanda Strong (Michif)

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Vtape

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Against The Grain

Director Curtis Mandeville (Métis)
Year 2009
Run Time 24min
Genre Documentary
Survivors of the Indian residential school system attempt to cope with its impact on their personal lives and communities. A good primer for discussions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.

Director

Curtis Mandeville (Métis)

Writer

Curtis Mandeville (Métis)

Producers

Curtis Mandeville (Métis), Eileen McCord

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

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Kajutaijuq: The Spirit That Comes

Director Scott Brachmayer
Year 2014
Run Time 15min
Genre Drama, Thriller
Part Inuit legend, part thriller, an Arctic hunter tries to live by the traditional skills his grandfather taught him — but they are difficult for a modern man to apply, and the price of failure is high.

Director

Scott Brachmayer

Writer

Scott Brachmayer

Cast

Johnny Issaluk

Producer

Nyla Innuksuk (Inuk)

Genres

Drama, Thriller

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Environment, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

Inuktitut

Language Version

EN Subtitles

Canadian Distributor

North Creative Films Inc.

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Barefoot

Director Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)
Year 2012
Run Time 11min
Genre Drama
In a tight-knit Cree community in northern Saskatchewan, 16-year-old Alyssa enjoys the attention that comes with pregnancy — until her secret plan unravels.

Director

Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)

Danis Goulet is an award-winning Cree/Métis filmmaker from La Ronge, SK, now based in Toronto. Her films have screened at festivals worldwide including Sundance, Berlinale, TIFF, and MoMA. She is a former programmer and current board member for TIFF, and was the former Director of the imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival. Her latest projects include the TV series Reservation Dogs, and the upcoming feature film Ivy

Writer

Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)

Cast

Emily Roberts, Cole Ballantyne

Producer

Christine Kleckner

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Treeline Pictures

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Aviliaq (Entwined)

Director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk)
Year 2014
Run Time 15min
Genre Drama, Romance
In the 1950s, two Inuit women attempt to protect their relationship when pressure from their community forces them to marry men.

Director

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk)

Arnaquq-Baril is an award-winning Inuk filmmaker whose work has screened on CBC, APTN, and at festivals like Hot Docs, imagineNATIVE, TIFF and many others. Her credits include the award-winning doc Angry Inuk, Aviliaq, Inuit High Kick, Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos and The Embargo Project. She also produced the award winning film The Grizzlies, the 2022 film Slash/Back, and co-founded the Inuit production company Red Marrow Media. She is currently producing the documentary Twice Colonized.

Writer

Dallas Varcoe

Cast

Miali Buscemi, Malaya Qaunirq Chapman

Producers

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk), Miriam Levin-Gold, Anne-Marie Stuart

Genres

Drama, Romance

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

Inuktitut

Language Version

EN Subtitles

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Assini

Director Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis)
Year 2015
Run Time 13min
Genre Drama
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.

Director

Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis)

Writer

Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis)

Producers

Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis), Melanie Bray

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Language Version

None

Canadian Distributor

Vtape

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Indian

Director Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux)
Year 2008
Run Time 2min
Genre Comedy
In this amusing and powerful short, the etymology of the world "Indian" is deconstructed at the Canadian National Spelling Bee.

Director

Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux)

Writer

Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux)

Cast

Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux)

Producer

Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux)

Genre

Comedy

Interests

BIPOC Stories, History, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Winnipeg Film Group

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Fighting Chance

Director Alexandra Lazarowich (Cree)
Year 2011
Run Time 9min
Genre Animation, Family
An Indigenous youth with a family history of residential schooling, 13-year-old Joey is arrested and put into a group home where he gets a chance to turn his life around.

Director

Alexandra Lazarowich (Cree)

Writers

Karl Giroux, Alexandra Lazarowich (Cree), Lewaa Nasserdeen

Cast

Tanner Bornowsky, Karl Giroux

Producer

Alexandra Lazarowich (Cree)

Genres

Animation, Family

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

BearPaw Legal Education

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Empty

Director Jackie Traverse (Anishinaabe)
Year 2009
Run Time 5min
Genre Animation, Documentary, Drama
Set to a song by Little Hawk, this animated story is a daughter's starkly honest tribute to her estranged mother.

Director

Jackie Traverse (Anishinaabe)

Writer

Jackie Traverse (Anishinaabe)

Producer

Joe MacDonald

Genres

Animation, Documentary, Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Winnipeg Film Group

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Birchbark

Director John Hupfield (Anishinaabe)
Year 2008
Run Time 4min
Genre Animation, Family
Symbols of traditional knowledge come alive and find themselves inside the pages of a book.

Director

John Hupfield (Anishinaabe)

Writer

John Hupfield (Anishinaabe)

Genres

Animation, Family

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Vtape

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Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves

Director Neil Christopher
Year 2011
Run Time 12min
Genre Animation, Drama
It begins as a hunting trip out on the ice for two Inuit hunters. However, soon they find themselves lost and the only safe haven to be found for miles is a mysterious village filled with the sounds of drum dancing and revelry. Unfortunately, this village turns out to be even more dangerous than the frigid ocean as the men realize that in this strange land, men can change into wolves.
 

Director

Neil Christopher

Writer

Neil Christopher

Producers

Neil Christopher, Louise Flaherty (Inuk)

Genres

Animation, Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

Inuktitut

Language Versions

EN Dub, EN Subtitles

Canadian Distributors

Inhabit Media, Taqqut Productions

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Dancers of the Grass

Director Melanie Jackson (Métis/Saulteaux)
Year 2009
Run Time 2min
Genre Animation, Family
Spectacular stop-motion animation breathes life into a traditional dance.

Director

Melanie Jackson (Métis/Saulteaux)

Writer

Melanie Jackson (Métis/Saulteaux)

Producers

Dennis Jackson (Cree), Melanie Jackson (Métis/Saulteaux), Anand Ramayya

Genres

Animation, Family

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

National Film Board (NFB)

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Aboriginality

Directors Dominique Keller, Tom Jackson (Cree)
Year 2007
Run Time 5min
Genre Action/Adventure, Animation
A young boy is transported through his television set to the scene of a traditional Indigenous hoop dance, encountering his family's cultural heritage in a new way. Includes spoken word rap in English and in Cree.

Directors

Dominique Keller, Tom Jackson (Cree)

Writer

Dominique Keller

Cast

Dallas Arcand (Kipohtakaw)

Producers

Dominique Keller, Bonnie Thompson

Genres

Action/Adventure, Animation

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

National Film Board (NFB)

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Forgotten Warriors

Director Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis)
Year 1997
Run Time 51min
Genre Documentary

Thousands of Indigenous people enlisted and fought for Canada in World War II, even though they could not be conscripted. While they fought for the freedom of others, they were being denied their rights back home. 

As a reward for service, veterans were allowed to buy land at a cheap price. However, many Indigenous soldiers were never told about the land entitlement, and some returned home to find the government had seized parts of their reserve lands to compensate non-Indigenous veterans.

Narrator Tootoosis gives a historical overview, while Indigenous veterans share their poignant and unforgettable war memories, and the ways in which they have healed.

Director

Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis)

Writer

Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis)

Cast

Nathaniel Arcand (Cree), Gordon Tootoosis (Cree), Michèle Audette (Innu)

Producers

Michael Doxtater (Haudenosaunee), Carol Geddess (Tlingit), Jerry Krepakevich

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Classics, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Language Versions

EN CC, FR Subtitles

Canadian Distributor

National Film Board (NFB)

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Joe

Director Jill Haras
Year 2002
Run Time 8min
Genre Animation
An animated tribute to real-life African Canadian hero Joe Fortes, who overcame discrimination and prejudice to become a beloved member of the Vancouver community.

Director

Jill Haras

Genre

Animation

Interests

Biography, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

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Christopher Changes His Name

Director Cilia Sawadogo
Year 2000
Run Time 6min
Genre Animation
Tired of having such a common name, Christopher decides to start using a unique name from his family’s homeland of Trinidad, a decision that has unexpected consequences.

Director

Cilia Sawadogo

Genre

Animation

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker

Original Language

English

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From Far Away

Directors Shira Avni Serene, El-haj Daoud
Year 2000
Run Time 6min
Genre Animation
A young girl adjusting to life in Canada is scared by her new school’s Halloween event, but soon recovers when she gains acceptance from her peers.

Directors

Shira Avni Serene, El-haj Daoud

Genre

Animation

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences

Original Languages

English, French

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Awaskinawason (Children of Earth)

Director Antony Dubé (Atikamekw)
Year 2015
Run Time 3min
Genre Animation, Drama
Awaskinawason is made up of the Atikamekw words awacic (child), aski (earth) and takonawason (having the responsibility for). A plea to respect the great circle of life.

Director

Antony Dubé (Atikamekw)

Writer

Antony Dubé (Atikamekw)

Genres

Animation, Drama

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Environment, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

Other Language

Language Versions

EN Subtitles, FR Subtitles

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In the Shadow of the Pines

Director Anne Koizumi
Year 2020
Run Time 8min
Genre Documentary
Growing up, Anne Koizumi was embarrassed of having her father work at her school. Years later, she sees their relationship in a new light.

Director

Anne Koizumi

Writer

Anne Koizumi

Producers

Sahar Yousefi, Anne Koizumi

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Camille Turner

Director Van Royko
Year 2018
Run Time 7min
Genre Documentary
Performance artist Camille Turner uses her works to explore and expose Canada’s racist history and shines a light on the continuing forms of oppression.

Director

Van Royko

Producers

Nabil Mehchi, Frank Fiorito

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, History, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English