very good~ Hot Docs - Documentaries about Indigenous Lives

'I was always looking out for a native puppet, and I would never see one.' | Bighetty & Bighetty

The Bighetty brothers are trying to do something very important — spread the Cree language and culture across the Canadian prairies and around the world — in the most joyful way possible: with puppets. Ken, Andrew, Kelsey, and Daniel, and their alter egos The Chief, Baptiste, Michel and Marcel showcase the lighter side of Indigenous life. Representing indigenous characters, they show how joyful and fun-loving Indigenous culture is. This story shows how the infectious power of laughter can change lives.

Germaine Arnaktauyok: Indigenous Arts & Storytelling

In this final episode of the Indigenous Arts & Storytelling series host Lindsay Lachance speaks with Inuk artist Germaine Arnaktauyok about the myths, legends and traditional ways of life portrayed in her artwork that is being featured on the National Arts Centre Kipnes Lantern in June as part of National Indigenous History Month.

Dancers of Damelahamid

This interview is about Indigenous Theatre’s premiere Indigenous Arts Festival, Mòshkamo. Based in Vancouver, the family-led Dancers of Damelahamid has built on over half a century of public performance to establish itself as a preeminent professional Indigenous dance company.

Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger

Alanis Obomsawin's 52^nd film tells the story of how the life of Jordan River Anderson initiated a battle for the right of First Nations and Inuit children to receive the same standard of social, health and educational services as the rest of the Canadian population.

doesn't work: Colonization Road

Anishnaabe comedian and activist Ryan McMahon takes us to his hometown of Fort Frances, Ont., where the main drag is called "Colonization Road." These roads were literally built to bring colonizers to the area. McMahon looks at the legacy these roads have left on the region's First Nations communities and asks what "decolonization" means in a place where colonization is so deeply embedded.

link no work: Sober House: A Sign of Change in Cree Nation (Short Docs)

Lynden, Ayla, Paywapin and Camryn are four urban Cree teens who have each had their lives negatively impacted by alcohol: through having adults in their lives struggle with alcohol addiction, losing loved ones to drunk driving accidents, or struggling with addiction themselves.

Angry Inuk

For decades, animal rights activists have targeted Canada's seal hunt as cruel, barbaric, and unnecessary. For Inuit communities in Canada's north, however, seal meat is an important part of the traditional diet and selling seal skins provides a crucial source of income.

Inuk filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril visits these communities to talk about how the bans on seal products has affected them, then follows a group of Inuit youth as they go to Europe to lobby the European Union for change.

Life in the City of Dirty Water

Cree climate activist Clayton Thomas-Müller takes us through his journey, from overcoming trauma and addiction in his hometown of Winnipeg — the titular City of Dirty Water — to becoming a leader for his people and our planet.

Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier

In 2013, gossip and sports columnists unexpectedly turned their eyes to Easterville, a tiny community in Northern Manitoba where most of the residents are members of the Chemawawin Cree Nation. A local woman — Shelly Chartier — had orchestrated a series of elaborate catfishing scams that had ensnared, among other people, NBA power forward Chris "Birdman" Andersen.

"Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up" a documentary film

The death of a young Cree man, Colten Boushie captures international attention and raises disturbing questions about racism in Canada's legal system. The documentary focuses on the 2016 death of Colten Boushie, and depicts his family's struggle to attain justice after the controversial acquittal of Boushie's killer.