Navajo Film Themselves

Mitakuye Oyasin(en)

Lakota people from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota describe the ongoing struggle of their people.

Ikátena(pt)

J'aime toute(fr)

At the age of eight, José shows us his village, Nutashkuan, and everything he loves there.

Mother Earth’s Inner Organs(en)

The first mountains that the Amsterdam-based Colombian artist and filmmaker Ana Bravo Pérez saw in the Netherlands were black. In this experimental work, she follows the stench of the coal in the port of Amsterdam back to its origin: an open wound in northern Colombia. The mine is located in the territory of the Wayuu and has a huge impact on the indigenous people.

Plains: Testimony of an Ethnocide(en)

A documentary on the massacre of Planas in the Colombian east plains in 1970. An Indigenous community formed a cooperative to defend their rights from settlers and colonists, but the government organized a military operation to protect the latter and foreign companies.

Xadalu e o Jaguaretê(pt)

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.

Club Native(en)

With moving stories from a range of characters from her Kahnawake Reserve, Mohawk filmmaker, Tracey Deer, reveals the divisive legacy of more than a hundred years of discriminatory and sexist government policy to expose the lingering "blood quantum" ideals, snobby attitudes and outright racism that threaten to destroy the fabric of her community.

Double M Country(en)

Carrie Davis was part of the child removal system near the end of the Sixties Scoop. With guidance from her uncle Emmett Sack and the community, Carrie reconnects to their land, language, and culture.

Bearing Witness Native American Voices in Hollywood(en)

For over 100 years, Hollywood cinema has crafted the ultimate "villain"- the Indian, as they were labeled in early Westerns. Confined almost exclusively to this genre, the Western became a vehicle for American racism, obscuring the genocide upon which the United States was built. In this documentary, only Native Americans are given a voice to share their story, one that has been overshadowed by Hollywood's portrayal. Their narrative, part of the larger American story, highlights how cinema has long been used as a powerful propaganda tool, distorting history and perpetuating harmful stereotypes.

Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary(en)

The title of this video, taken from the texts of the architect Kengo Kuma, suggests a way of looking at everything as “interconnected and intertwined” - such as the historical and the present and the tool and the artifact. Images and representations of two structures in the Portland Metropolitan Area that have direct and complicated connections to the Chinookan people who inhabit(ed) the land are woven with audio tapes of one of the last speakers of chinuk wawa, the Chinookan creole. These localities of matter resist their reduction into objects, and call anew for space and time given to wandering as a deliberate act, and the empowerment of shared utility.

Contrary Warriors: A Film of the Crow Tribe(en)

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.

Maximón: Devil or Saint(es)

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.

The Warrior Tradition(en)

The astonishing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and largely-untold story of Native Americans in the United States military. Why do they do it? Why would Indian men and women put their lives on the line for the very government that took their homelands?

Crazywise(en)

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.

Mankiller(en)

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.

Cidadão Jatobá(pt)

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.

Dolores(es)

Praia da Saudade(pt)

A documentary about climate change in Brazil, especially at Atafona Beach (in the Campos de Goytacazes region), which is being swallowed up by the sea. Narrated by Sonia Guajajara and Sidarta Ribeiro, the film deals with the genocide of the native people of Goytacazes.

Miam a? (Comment va?)(fr)

As Long as the Rivers Run(en)

Examines the violence and civil disobedience leading up to the hallmark decision in U.S. v. Washington, with particular reference to the Nisqually Indians of Frank's Landing in Washington.