1. Taking Alcatraz
A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island as told by principal organizer, Adam Fortunate Eagle. The story unfolds through Fortunate Eagle's remembrances, archival newsreel footage and photographs.
2. Chenalhó: en el corazón de los Altos (Chenalhó: en el corazón de los Altos)
(Chenalhó: en el corazón de los Altos)
3. Milikᵘ tshishutshelimunuau (Milikᵘ tshishutshelimunuau)
The journey of a young candidate running in the Pessamit community band council elections.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
4. Lady Warrior
This documentary follows a Cree woman as she takes on the Indian Relay race season, as well as the Canadian authorities in her quest to give Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women a voice.
5. Elementa
A black-and-white visual meditation of wilderness and the elements. Wildlife filmmaker Richard Sidey returns to the triptych format for a cinematic experience like no other.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
6. Os Arara (Os Arara)
Documentation of the preparations and expeditions of the Frente de Atração Arara da Funai, in the state of Pará, Brazil. With the construction of the Transamazônica, the Arara territory is cut in half, and the Indians react by attacking the workers. Aware that all contact is a creation of dependency, the sertanista Sydney Possuelo, who also reflexively narrates the documentary, leads the expeditions that aim to identify the groups, how many individuals there are, establishing territorial limits to protect the area against invaders and loggers in the region.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
7. Baraka
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
It has an average vote of 8.227 on TMDB.
8. Phoolan
Phoolan is a documentary film about the extraordinary life of a village girl, gang-rape survivor, bandit leader, and finally parliamentarian. This is the story of one woman’s fight against incredible odds for justice and dignity. Known as India’s Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi is considered by many to be one of the most extraordinary and controversial women of our time.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
9. Grey Horse
Samuel Grey Horse, an Indigenous equestrian from Austin, Texas, is known for rescuing horses from being put down. After a riding accident lands him in a coma, Grey Horse experiences an afterlife vision that changes his perspective on the world and his place in it.
10. Neighbor by Neighbor: Mobilizing an Invisible Community in Lewiston, Maine
In the summer of 2004, the Mayor of Lewiston, Maine announced a plan to develop a four-lane boulevard across downtown's low-income neighborhood. This project was called "The Heritage Initiative." Contrary to its name, this plan was going to eliminate the downtown's heritage by displacing 850 people from their homes as well as destroy playgrounds, vegetable gardens, and historic buildings. Moving residents out of the city and improving traffic flow was at the heart of this proposal... It was 1960's Urban Renewal all over again. As tragic as the circumstances were, the threat of a road destroying the neighborhood required residents to rise to the challenge of becoming *community organizers. This movie documents 5 years of development and community organizing in Lewiston. It's an exceptional story about the people of Lewiston, but it's also a universal story about the challenges faced by many urban neighborhoods across the United States.
11. Dawnland
They were forced to assimilate into white society: children ripped away from their families, depriving them of their culture and erasing their identities. Can reconciliation help heal the scars from childhoods lost? "Dawnland" is the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the US through the nation's first-ever government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission, which investigated the devastating impact of Maine’s child welfare practices on the Wabanaki people.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
12. Death and Taxes
Twenty-eight people offer their motivations for and methods of resisting the war machine with their tax money. This tightly-paced short film introduces viewers to war tax refusal and redirecting tax dollars to peace, with music by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and First Strike Theatre’s version of “Don’t Pay Taxes” by Charlie King.
13. Anne Braden: Southern Patriot
Anne Braden: Southern Patriot is a first person documentary about the extraordinary life of this American civil rights leader. Braden was hailed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail as a white southerner whose rejection of her segregationist upbringing was eloquent and prophetic. Ostracized as a red in the 1950s, she fought for an inclusive movement community and mentored three generations of social justice advocates. Braden’s story explores not only the dangers of racism and political repression but also the power of a woman’s life spent in commitment to social justice.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
14. The Trip
In this honest and deeply personal account of living with addiction, a young man talks about the realities and challenges of living in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik and the hope he still harbours for himself and his people.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
15. Flor Brilhante e as Cicatrizes da Pedra (Flor Brilhante e as Cicatrizes da Pedra)
(Flor Brilhante e as Cicatrizes da Pedra)
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
16. Les Entremailles (Les Entremailles)
(Les Entremailles)
17. Invasion
In this era of “reconciliation”, Indigenous land is still being taken at gunpoint. Unist’ot’en Camp, Gidimt’en checkpoint and the larger Wet’suwet’en Nation are standing up to the Canadian government and corporations who continue colonial violence against Indigenous people. The Unist’ot’en Camp has been a beacon of resistance for nearly 10 years. It is a healing space for Indigenous people and settlers alike, and an active example of decolonization. The violence, environmental destruction, and disregard for human rights following TC Energy / Coastal GasLink’s interim injunction has been devastating to bear, but this fight is far from over.
It has an average vote of 8.3 on TMDB.
18. Neiwa (Neiwa)
(Neiwa)
19. Guachimontones, los límites del hombre y la naturaleza. (Guachimontones, los límites del hombre y la naturaleza.)
(Guachimontones, los límites del hombre y la naturaleza.)
20. Anerca, Breath of Life (Anerca: Elämän Hengitys)
Markku Lehmuskallio has devoted a large part of his documentary work to the indigenous people of the Arctic Circle. In this latest film, co-directed with his son Johannes Lehmuskallio, he composes a fascinating poetic ethnography inspired by the singing, dancing, forms of contemporary existence and, above all, the vital breath of these nomad communities mistreated by History.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
