Māoriland Film Festival 2020 Day Three

Ru

Year: 2019 Director: Awanui Simich-Pene Duration: 16 minutes Language: English Nation: Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hāua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto A pregnant woman must fight for her life when she inadvertently becomes a victim of a violent initiation. Inyanka Sni Year: 2018 Director: Razelle Benally Duration: 4 minutes Nation: Oglala Lakota, Diné Months after being assaulted, a young woman is overwhelmed by the presence of a man watching her.

Moloka’i Bound

Year: 2019 Director: Alika Maikau Duration: 8 minutes Language: English Nation: Kanaka Maoli

A wayward young man, recently released from prison, struggles to reconnect with his son and Hawaiian

heritage.

Ties That Bind

Year: 2018 Director: Michael Hudson Duration: 12 minutes Language: English Nation: Bangarang - Yorta Yorta Nation A young man finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Hurt and frustrated, he is triggered to make a life-changing decision.

Saturday 26 September, 12:00 pm, Māoriland Hub

Papatuānuku, Mother Earth sustains us and gives us our identity.

But she also needs us to protect her. Hedtoft Year: 2019 Director: Inuk Jorgensen Duration: 12 minutes Language: Danish with English Subtitles Nation: Greenlandic Inuit The personal story of the greatest tragedy in Greenlandic maritime history, told by the grandson of one of the 95 passengers who lost their lives on the cold stormy night of January 30th, 1959, when M/S Hans Hedtoft - on its maiden voyage when it allegedly hit an iceberg.

Along the Water’s Edge

Year: 2019 Director: Jonathan Elliott Duration: 3 minutes Language: English Nation: Tuscarora Nation

Indigenous communities across Canada face water crises. Set in the near future, the film explores the potential impacts these crises can have on Indigenous people living in these communities,

should the issues continue to be ignored.

Now Is The Time

Year: 2019 Director: Christopher Auchter Duration: 16 minutes Language: English Nation: Haida

At just 22 years old, Haida carver Robert Davidson carved the first totem poles to be seen in Haida Gwaii for almost a century. 50 years on, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter looks back on that momentous occasion.

Sky Aelan

Year: 2019 Duration: 7 minutes Nation: Solomon Islands

An island nation reflects on the sacred connection to their mountains. They are at risk of being lost to logging. Shot and directed by nine Solomon Island filmmaker from multiple Indigenous communities around the country. Produced with support from Nia Tero Foundation.

The Crying Fields

Year: 2019 Director: Hayley Morin Duration: 19 minutes Language: English Nation: Enoch Cree Nation

In 2014, the Enoch Cree Nation discovered unexploded landmines left from World War II when their land was used as a practice bombing site. Forcing the closure of two vital parts of their community, the nation tries to pick up the pieces and move on.

Standing Above the Clouds

Year: 2019 Director: Jalena Keane Lee Duration: 15 minutes Language: English Nation: Kanaka Maoli

The story of inter-generational women activists, Ku Kia’i Mauna (guardians of the mountain), who are at the forefront of the movement to stop an 18 storey telescope from being built on Mauna Kea.

Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up

Saturday 26 September, 1:30 pm, The Civic Theatre

Year: 2018 Director: Tasha Hubbard Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes Language: English Nation: Cree

On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a close-range gunshot wound after driving into Gerald Stanley’s rural property with his friends. The jury’s subsequent acquittal of Stanley captured international attention, raising questions about racism embedded within Canada’s legal system and propelling Colten’s family to national and international stages in their pursuit of justice. Sensitively directed by Tasha Hubbard, Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up weaves a profound narrative encompassing the filmmaker’s own adoption, the stark history of colonialism on the Prairies, and a vision of a future where Indigenous children can live safely on their homelands.

Māoriland is honoured to host director, Tasha Hubbard alongside the Boushie whānau at this screening of Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up. The screening will be followed by a NATIVE Minds session with Tasha and the Boushie whānau.

Mitzi Bearclaw

Saturday 26 September, 2:00 pm, Māoriland Hub

Year: 2019 Director: Shelley Niro Duration: 1 hour 36 minutes Language: English Nation: Mohawk

Mitzi Bearclaw’s dream to design cool hats is put on hold when she decides to move back to her isolated home reserve to look after her sick mother.

Rustic Oracle

Saturday 26 September, 6:00 pm, Māoriland Hub

Year: 2019 Director: Sonia Boileau Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes Language: English Nation: Mohawk When her devoted sister vanishes from their Mohawk community, eightyear-old Ivy joins her mother Susan in a desperate search; one that lays bare the indifference of authorities to missing Indigenous teens. As their investigation leads them from their cloistered community, Sonia Bonspille Boileau (Le Dep) uncovers moments of warmth and grace in this delicate depiction of a child forging a stronger sense of identity and family by contending with the unthinkable. Recommended for audiences 13 +

Bingo Shorts (13+)

Saturday 26 September, 5:30 pm, The Civic Theatre

Love short films? Love playing Bingo or Housie? In this session, you can do both!

Recommended for audiences 13 + Kaiyii Year: 2018 Director: Joshua Manyheads Duration: 14 minutes Language: English Nation: Blackfoot Confederacy, Siksika Nation In a dystopian future, a group of misfits seek refuge from the harsh winter and find a strange Indigenous woman. Nightcrawler is tasked with one simple goal: gain the woman’s trust and be invited to the old tribal reserve, a land of wealth and abundance. She offers more than they bargain for.

Giant Bear

Year: 2018 Director: Neil Christopher, Daniel Gies Producer: Monica Ittusardjaut, Nadia Mike Duration: 12 minutes Language: Inukitut Nation: Inuit

A starving hunter’s quest for answers, leads him straight to a Nanurluk, an iceberg-sized polar bear. To survive he

must pit his wits against a fearsome foe.

Ribadit

Year: 2019 Director: Elle Sofe Sara Duration: 9 minutes Language: Sámi with English Subtitles Nation: Sámi

Ribadit or ‘pulling in the belt’ was a tradition in Sápmi. In this film, we meet two elders who have experienced this tikanga.