1. Savages: The Story of Human Zoos (Sauvages, au cœur des zoos humains)
For more than a century the great colonial powers put human beings, taken by force from their native lands, on show as entertainment, just like animals in zoos; a shameful, outrageous and savage treatment of people who were considered subhuman.
It has an average vote of 7.8 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. 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.
4. Amazônia, A Nova Minamata? (Amazônia, A Nova Minamata?)
(Amazônia, A Nova Minamata?)
5. Son of Torum (Toorumi Pojad)
In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit.
6. The People of the Kattawapiskak River
Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis.
7. Mother's Land (Panambi)
Waking up in a nightmare before the sunrise of December 30, 2020, the indigenous community of the Tumandok was suddenly surrounded by fear. Panambi features the stories of bright memories of the past and the despair of having now as a mere memory of the future without a trace of justice; how they lived and what they lived for. A decades-long struggle is shot, one in the lens of a mother paralyzed by fear; another from a mother raged and moved by fear—both looking forward to a better tomorrow.
8. Evicted City (Ma cité évincée)
Montreal — one of the few remaining affordable cities in North America — is now in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis. An intimate portrait of socio-political resistance, this multilayered film explores the human impact of real estate speculation on the cities of tomorrow.
9. Deep Roots
Lonnie Kauk’s personal journey to honor his indigenous Yosemite roots, and to connect with his legendary father by repeating his iconic climbs.
10. Cartas do Kuluene (Cartas do Kuluene)
(Cartas do Kuluene)
11. Still We Rise
50 years on, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is the oldest continuing protest occupation site in the world. Taking a fresh lens this is a bold dive into a year of protest and revolutionary change for First Nations people.
12. Spirit of the Reindeer (Mjandasj - renarnas rådare)
The third and final part of a trilogy based on Arctic creation myths. The film is a multifaceted tissue weave of myths and traditions reflected in the symbiosis between reindeer, human and landscape.
13. Start Wearing Purple (Start Wearing Purple)
Choosing hope over despair, Berliners are banding together to get their houses back from big investors. This documentary film follows five Berlin citizens of different backgrounds, countries, and diverse stories. They find themselves among almost two thousand similarly dedicated people to fight together for one cause.</p><p> While their personal motivations differ, they all believe they can convince Berlin that the only way to make housing affordable again is to drive real estate companies out of their city.</p><p> The stakes are high, the movement is strong. But with almost nothing in their hands, they have to prevail against an overwhelming opposition of the real estate lobby and politicians willing to sell out the city they call home.
14. Someone Lives Here
Chronicles the modern-day David and Goliath tale amidst North America's housing crisis. During the pandemic, Khaleel Seivwright, a young Toronto carpenter, builds life-saving shelters for unhoused people facing the winter outside. His actions attracted international acclaim but also staunch opposition from the city government, portraying a compelling narrative set against the backdrop of societal challenges and governmental resistance.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
15. Coffee: Songs of Smoke (Café: Cantos de humo)
In the town of San Miguel Tzinacapan, in Puebla’s Nahua Mountain Range, a family lost its father. His absence transforms the lives of those who were so deeply connected to him. Tere, now in charge of the family, must make money by selling crafts. Jorge is about to finish school and will soon have to choose his own path. Chayo, 16, must make an important decision. A year has passed, and the members of the family have been able to redefine themselves, finding their own destiny while always venerating their father’s memory.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
16. Monica in the South Seas (Monica in the South Seas)
Finnish filmmaker and artist Sami van Ingen is a great-grandson of documentary pioneer Robert Flaherty, and seemingly the sole member of the family with a hands-on interest in continuing the directing legacy. Among the materials he found in the estate of Robert and Frances Flaherty’s daughter Monica were the film reels and video tapes detailing several years of work on realising her lifelong dream project: a sound version of her parents’ 1926 docu-fiction axiom, Moana: A Romance of the Golden Age.
17. Heartbeat of a Nation
A short documentary that celebrates Dene cultural reclamation and revitalization, in which a father passes on traditional knowledge to his child through the teachings of a caribou drum.
18. Wood Mountain Poems
In this short documentary, Canadian poet Andrew Suknaski introduces us to Wood Mountain, the south central Saskatchewan village he calls home. In between musings on his poetry, which is tinged with nostalgia and the vast loneliness of the plains, the poet discusses the area’s multicultural background and Native heritage, as well as the customs and stories of these various ethnic groups.
19. The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau
In this revealing study of Norval Morrisseau, filmed as he works among the lakes and woodlands of his ancestors, we see a remarkable Indigenous artist who emerged from a life of obscurity in the North American bush to become one of Canada's most renowned painters. Morrisseau the man is much like his paintings: vital and passionate, torn between his Ojibway heritage and the influences of the white man's world.
20. Augusta
This short documentary is the portrait of an 88-year-old woman who lives alone in a log cabin without running water or electricity. Augusta is a non-status Shuswap Indian living in the Williams Lake area of British Columbia. She recalls past times, but lives very much in the present. Self-sufficient, dedicated to her people, she spreads warmth wherever she moves, with her songs and her harmonica.
