1. Our Law
At Western Australia’s first Indigenous-run police station, two officers learn language and culture to help them police one of the most remote beats in the world.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
2. Nose and Tina
The unusual story of Nose and Tina, 2 people in love. He is employed as a brakeman, she as a sex worker.
3. Hollow Water
This documentary profiles the tiny Ojibway community of Hollow Water on the shores of Lake Winnipeg as they deal with an epidemic of sexual abuse in their midst.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
4. The Haida in Canada (Die Haida in Kanada)
Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the west coast of Canada, is home to Skil Jaadee and her family. They live in harmony with nature and have made it their mission to save their language and preserve their history.
5. Incident at Restigouche (Les Événements de Restigouche)
Incident at Restigouche is a 1984 documentary film by Alanis Obomsawin, chronicling a series of two raids on the Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation by the Sûreté du Québec in 1981, as part of the efforts of the Quebec government to impose new restrictions on Native salmon fishermen. Incident at Restigouche delves into the history behind the Quebec Provincial Police raids on the Restigouche Reserve on June 11 and 20, 1981. The Quebec government had decided to restrict fishing, resulting in anger among the Micmac Indians as salmon was traditionally an important source of food and income. Using a combination of documents, news clips, photographs and interviews, this powerful film provides an in-depth investigation into the history-making raids that put justice on trial.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
6. WINHANGANHA
WINHANGANHA - is a lyrical journey of archival footage and sound, poetry and original composition. It is an examination of how archives and the legacies of collection affect First Nations people and wider Australia, told through the lens of acclaimed Wiradjuri artist, Jazz Money.
7. For Twenty Cents A Day
A film documenting work shortages during the Depression of the 1930s and the attempts to deal with the unemployed, in particular young men. The film discusses the establishment of relief camps and projects, where men were paid twenty cents per day; the founding of organizations such as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation , Workers' Unity League, and Relief Camp Workers' Union; general unionization and protest of the unemployed, including the On To Ottawa Trek, Regina Riot, sit-in strike from May to June 1938 at the Vancouver Main Post Office, Vancouver Art Gallery and Hotel Georgia, and the resulting Bloody Sunday of June 19.
8. Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky
A new songline for 21st century Australia - a fresh look at the Cook legend from a First Nations' perspective - the songline tells of connection to country, resistance and survival and features the cheeky, acerbic and heartfelt showman - Steven Oliver and a host of outstanding, political Indigenous singer/songwriters.
It has an average vote of 5.3 on TMDB.
9. From Harling Point
This documentary tells the story of a Chinese cemetery in BC that became a National Heritage site. For Chinese pioneers who died in Canada, Victoria's Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point was a temporary resting place until their bones could be returned home. This film traces the rich history of the Vancouver Island cemetery from controversy and neglect to its revival as a historic site. Told by those closest to it, the story of Harling Point is a metaphor for Canada, a country still working on making a home for all who live within its borders.
10. Let's Go Get Small
The Canadian Coast Range is a humbling place. The range dwarfs both exceptionally large human beings and egos with its foreboding size. Norseman Productions follows Dave Treadway and Henrik Windstedt as they push into the range on snowmobiles in pursuit of big lines the Coast Range is never short of.
11. KONELĪNE: our land beautiful
Set deep in the traditional territory of Tahltan First Nation, Northern British Columbia’s Red Chris gold and copper mine is the backdrop to a lyrical tapestry of landscapes and diverse personal stories from the land. Language preservation initiatives and mining opposition evoke emotional tones as the story swells with ravishing images of wilderness as a rough and untamed beauty. A thoughtful shift from Wild’s traditional narrative style of radical point of view documentary, "KONELĪNE" is a meditation on nature, culture, and economy as experienced by those who live and work on the land.
12. Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii
Filmmaker Kevin McMahon accompanies the Haida delegation on a repatriation trip to Chicago in 2003. His film reveals the whole repatriation process through the stories and experiences of the people who participated, both Museum staff and the Haida people.
13. Takeover
Although specific to time and place, the film is timeless and universal in its observations of a conflict between an Indigenous minority and a powerful government.
14. A Tent on Mars (Une tente sur Mars)
Three decades after the shuttering of the mining town of Schefferville, the Innu people, who moved in after the non-natives abandoned the town, are facing a new challenge: the iron mines are about to be reopened. Land, identity and legitimacy are central to the dialogue between peoples locked in parallel struggles, the Québécois and the First Nations.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
15. Whispers / Megan Cope
A documentary short which follows follow Quandamooka artist Megan Cope in the creation of her work 'Whispers' and the lead up to the opening of the exhibition at Sydney Opera House in 2023.
16. Blockade
"Blockade" takes place in the mountains and valleys of northern British Columbia, at the heart of the boldest aboriginal land claims case to challenge the white history of Canada. The Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs claim that everything within 22,000 square miles, including the trees, is rightfully theirs.
17. Fast Horse
The Blackfoot bareback horse-racing tradition returns in the astonishingly dangerous Indian Relay. Siksika horseman Allison Red Crow struggles with secondhand horses and a new jockey on his way to challenging the best riders in the Blackfoot Confederacy.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
18. Kainai
On the Kainai First Nations Reserve, near Cardston, Alberta, a hopeful new development in Indigenous enterprise. Once rulers of the western plains, the Bloods live on a 1 300-square-kilometer reserve. Many have lacked gainful employment and now pin their hopes on a pre-fab factory they have built. Will the production line and work and wages fit into their cultural pattern of life? The film shows how it is working and what the owners themselves say about their venture.
19. Nuxalk Radio
A day in the life of 91.1, Nuxalk Radio, a radio station built to help keep the Nuxalk language alive while broadcasting the laws of the lands and waters.
20. Coast Modern
A core group of architects embraced the West Coast from Vancouver to LA with its particular geography and values and left behind a legacy of inspired dwellings. Today, architects celebrate the influence established by their predecessors.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
