Please join The Museum of Vancouver as they screen films by Indigenous directors for Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30th. The films chosen focus on how Indigenous communities are coming together to heal and move forward.
 

WaaPake (Tomorrow) – directed by Jules Arita Koostachin (2023, 80 min) – SCREENING AT 10:30 am

In Swampy Cree, the word WaaPaKe means tomorrow—and as Attawapiskat filmmaker Jules Koostachin says in her deeply personal documentary, “Tomorrow means hope. It means that we have a future.”

A powerful film about intergenerational trauma and healing, examined through an Indigenous lens, WaaPaKe reveals the reality of living in the shadow of residential school experiences and explores ways in which we can change the narrative to one that offers hope and a view to the future. The film creates a space for reflection and discussion so that the descendants of residential school survivors may respond to this shared burden of history and confront the cyclical nature of intergenerational trauma in their own lives and beyond.

“…a tender portrait of how we shift from a trauma-centric conversation to one of actionable healing and acceptance within family – with community, land, love and culture. WaaPaKe is a testimony of courage, care and respect.”
—ImagineNATIVE 2023

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/863967679

and

Our People Will Be Healed – directed by Alanis Obomsawin  (2017 , 96 min) – SCREENING AT 1:00 pm

Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. The Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre in Norway House, north of Winnipeg, receives a level of funding that few other Indigenous institutions enjoy. Its teachers help their students to develop their abilities and their sense of pride. In addition to teaching academic subjects, the school reconnects students with their ancestral culture.

The fifth film in a cycle that began with The People of the Kattawapiskak River, Our People Will Be Healed adopts an optimistic tone without denying a dark past. It bears witness to the tragedies that have befallen the Plains Cree, such as being confined to reserves, forbidden to practise any cultural ceremonies, including the Sun Dance, and sent off to residential schools. But first and foremost, the film conveys a message of hope: that in an appropriate school environment, one that incorporates their people’s history, language and culture, Indigenous youth can realize their dreams.

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/231577135

Both screenings are free and everyone is welcome. Admission to the MOV Galleries is by donation with proceeds going to the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society.

More info at https://museumofvancouver.ca/truth-and-reconciliation-day-nfb-film-screenings or contact 604-736-4431 or guestservices@museumofvancouver.ca