As a citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes, Justin Deegan created Tahnaanooku' as an experimental, community-rooted, and culturally immersed story to preserve the last of the Arikara language. Deegan's grandmother is one of the last to speak the language, guiding the film through the spiritual and historical ties of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara people with the construction of the Garrison Dam. Deegan rejects the Western narrative, choosing a non-linear, metaphor-driven style, to center around the Indigenous values of language, memory, and land. This supports the Fourth Cinema as it reclaims the Indigenous identity and affirms cultural sovereignty.

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Tanhanaanooku' is an experimental short film that explores the deep spiritual connection between the land, water, and the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara people. The film takes audiences through the past, present, and future, reflecting on the construction of the Garrison Dam and its manipulation of the Missouri River. The dam has reshaped the landscape and all the lives tied to it. At the heart of the story is Darline, the director's grandmother - an activist for the land and Indigenous people, and one of the last speakers of the ancient Arikara language. Her presence in the film anchors it to its cause of land and cultural preservation, environmental loss, and the strength of Indigenous knowledge and language.

Lakota Woman: The Siege at Wounded Knee is a key example of Indigenous Fourth Cinema through production methods, casting, and commitment to authentic storytelling. With the use of oral storytelling techniques and Indigenous movements, the film challenges mainstream portrayals of Indigenous people and of Native history. The film's cast has a majority Indigenous cast, including activists and community members. Each actor brings their own experience to their role, reinforcing the cultural authenticity of the film. Also, the film's use of activism and struggle against assimilation supports the ideas of Fourth Cinema as the film reclaims the Indigenous narrative. Lakota Women is more than just a historical drama; it serves as a form of cultural preservation, ensuring that the significance of the resistance at Wounded Knee is told from an Indigenous perspective. 

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The film follows Mary Crow Dog, a Lakota woman who has recently returned from the boarding school where they believes Lakota are being white washed. Before leaving, her grandfather, Fool Bull, tells her the story of Wounded Knee, where their ancestors were massacred in 1890. Mary finds friends along her journey home to Rosebud Indian Reservation. After a near-death collision with a train, some of her friends died, and the turning point for Mary to reclaim her life. She joined the American Indian Movement that occupied the town of Wounded Knee in 1973. The group was supported by various tribe members and Vietnam Veterans, but was continuously taken down by police. Although the fight was long and the Lakota people stood their ground, the police reclaimed Wounded Knee, ending the mission of the American Indian Movement

Centered around Indigenous struggles, land rights, and resistance, On Sacred Ground is a Fourth Cinema film. Although told from the perspective of an outsider, the film weaves through real footage of the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests and a fictional narrative. The story highlights tensions between corporate interests, state power, and the Sioux people with rights to their sacred land. Throughout the transformation of the main character, he and the audience learn an understanding of the Water Protectors' cause and the trauma inflicted on the land and people. The commitment to telling a story grounded in Native freedom and environmental justice places the film under the mission of Fourth Cinema: evaluating Indigenous voices, preserving cultural identity, and challenging the dominant narrative through storytelling.

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The film On Sacred Ground is a narrative piece focusing on the protests and political disputes of the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was to aid in transferring oil from the northern part of the country to the southern portion of Texas. The main conflict of the film follows a retired Army veteran, Dan McCallister, who now works as a freelance journalist and suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Seeing the protestors, the Water Protectors, and state officers triggers his PTSD as he is trying to gain information for his upcoming articles. By continuing to come back and witness what is happening in the Water Protectors and learning what they are fighting for, Dan realizes he was wrong about the pipeline. The land it is being built on should belong to the Sioux tribes, and the government and pipeline companies are ignoring the rights of the Sioux people. After saving one of the Water Protectors leaders from a flash grenade from the pipeline security, they help perform a ritual for Dan to help him heal not only from the attack on the protestors, but also his PTSD.   

The film uses many clips at the beginning and throughout the film of real footage from 2016. There is news footage, videos from YouTube, and other clips from protests and rallies against the pipeline.  The directors Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, also use a lot of montage shots to show what Dan's mind is facing while having his PTSD episodes. It is combined with some Visual effects, but mostly special effects. This includes different lighting scenarios that shift the mood of the film. When emotions need to be increased, there is a shift in harsh red and orange lighting, or strong blues and cool lighting.