30ish siblings Michael, Ellie, and James drive to their family cabin to visit their parents Jonathan and Maddie. But when their mom and dad unexpectedly announce their divorce, chaos ensues.
In a time of immense environmental degradation and global uncertainty, the buffalo can lead us to a better tomorrow. After a dark recent history, the buffalo herds of North America are awaiting their return, aided by dedicated Indigenous activists, leaders and communities, including award-winning Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard (nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up). Together with Blackfoot Elder Leroy Little Bear, Hubbard weaves an intimate story of humanity’s connections to buffalo and eloquently reveals how their return to the Great Plains can indeed usher in a new era of sustainability and balance. On her journey, Hubbard explores the challenges faced by buffalo allies and shares the positive steps already taken towards the ultimate – but uncertain – goal of buffalo rematriation. Richly visualised and deeply uplifting, SINGING BACK THE BUFFALO is an epic reimagining of North America through the lens of buffalo consciousness and a potent dream of what is within our grasp.
They say that all’s fair in love and war - I don’t know if all that’s true, but you’re sure to find a little humor throughout both love and war. Sometimes, laughter really does give us the best therapy.
These two documentaries chronicle land based teachings from Indigenous communities and how they're carried forward. Read more about each film below:
"Decolonizing Our Youth": How can we rethink our Education system? Can we trade cinderblock square classrooms for the open skies and river valleys of our ancestors? Join our land based classroom to meet various Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Elders that will share the importance of the traditional land, culture, and the language here on amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Beaver Hills House), also known as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Are you ready to decolonize your learning and come be a student with us?
"Life in the Land": Iikooshtaka’atbaatchaache, home of the Mighty Few. Through grassroots efforts, the Mighty Few are guiding actions that create necessary healing, economic opportunities, and self-determination to thrive into the future. For more information visit info@storiesforaction.org
"Decolonizing Our Youth": How can we rethink our Education system? Can we trade cinderblock square classrooms for the open skies and river valleys of our ancestors? Join our land based classroom to meet various Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Elders that will share the importance of the traditional land, culture, and the language here on amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Beaver Hills House), also known as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Are you ready to decolonize your learning and come be a student with us?
"Life in the Land": Iikooshtaka’atbaatchaache, home of the Mighty Few. Through grassroots efforts, the Mighty Few are guiding actions that create necessary healing, economic opportunities, and self-determination to thrive into the future. For more information visit info@storiesforaction.org
Storytelling is the way knowledge, lessons, and teachings are passed on in Indigenous cultures. These stories take us back to our roots and share the values of our communities, local and abroad, using a variety of techniques. Filmmakers in attendance!
This shorts block travels the globe, meeting folks trying to keep old ways alive. We’ll be confronted with the question of how cultural practices evolve. How do we meet tradition and how does tradition adapt alongside us?
KAM Theatre Lab explores an experimental theatre collective based in a remote northern town in the 1970s-80s. The group combined clown and mask performance with the social commentary embodied in the back-to-the-land movement. The struggles KAM Theatre Lab faced when balancing the motivations of individual artists, the ideals of the collective, and the attempt to earn a living in a marginal town, led to schisms in the troupe. All the exhilaration and tension that come from close personal and creative relationships—while striving for uncompromising artistic and political vision—were manifest in KAM Theatre Lab.
These films celebrate immigrant lives with two unique angles.
"February": A recent immigrant, Miguel (David Ezekiel Duran), struggles to fit into a small town in Wisconsin in February until discovering ice fishing. A portrait of family, resilience, the immigrant experience, and the things we have in common.
In ULTIMATE CITIZENS, Jamshid is an Iranian who came to study in 1970’s America, and due to the Revolution, never went “home.” As a guidance counselor in Seattle Public Schools, Jamshid’s best work takes place out of the building and on a playing field with “his kids,” the children of refugees and immigrants. Their parents are in the grips of their own struggles to make a living and a home in a strange land. Mr. Jamshid is the charismatic, fiery, funny human with a Frisbee in hand, who is the first to show that "love wins" on the field, off the field, at home with family, or boldly forging a new community, in a new country - one kid, chicken, extreme mile and friend at a time.
"February": A recent immigrant, Miguel (David Ezekiel Duran), struggles to fit into a small town in Wisconsin in February until discovering ice fishing. A portrait of family, resilience, the immigrant experience, and the things we have in common.
In ULTIMATE CITIZENS, Jamshid is an Iranian who came to study in 1970’s America, and due to the Revolution, never went “home.” As a guidance counselor in Seattle Public Schools, Jamshid’s best work takes place out of the building and on a playing field with “his kids,” the children of refugees and immigrants. Their parents are in the grips of their own struggles to make a living and a home in a strange land. Mr. Jamshid is the charismatic, fiery, funny human with a Frisbee in hand, who is the first to show that "love wins" on the field, off the field, at home with family, or boldly forging a new community, in a new country - one kid, chicken, extreme mile and friend at a time.
Sometimes the most terrifying situations teach the most important lessons in life. Warning: Some of these films present disturbing images. Viewer discretion advised. Filmmakers in attendance, including "Boundary Waters" star Allison Miller in the director's chair!
What does it mean to be outdoorsy? This block of films will challenge your assumptions about what “wilderness” is and who lives, works, and recreates in it. We’ll travel from Minnesota to Washington State down to Southern Baja and across the world to Mozambique. These films grapple with race, motherhood, sexual preference, immigration, body image, and more as we explore myriad ways of belonging, outside.