Truth and Reconciliation Screening Room

PRPL is proud to partner with The NFB in Libraries to present six short films that explore Indigenous realities and aim to bring a deeper understanding of the tragic and continuing legacy of the residential school system. For two weeks leading up to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, from September 16 to 29^th, from 1pm until closing, PRPL invites community members to drop in to the Screening Room in Meeting Room B where the lineup of films will be playing continuously. Created by Indigenous filmmakers from the late 60s to the present the series exposes Canada’s Colonial history through music and archival imagery, provides remembrance and context through a powerful speech by Senator Murray Sinclair – Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and celebrates young Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island who are practicing and reclaiming culture as a form of healing and resistance.

Total running time is 1h20mins

Warning: several of these films contain disturbing content. Parental discretion, and/or watching the films within a group setting, is strongly advised. If you do not currently have the capacity to engage with these Films, we encourage you to join us again when you feel more supported.

We recommend the University of Toronto Library’s “Indian Residential School Survivors’ Storybase” as a resource for learning more and for its accompanying support resources for “Processing Emotions and Taking Action.” 

The Ballad of Crowfoot

Willie Dunn

1968 10 min

Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The IFC’s inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.

Sisters & Brothers

Kent Monkman

2015 3 min | G

In a pounding critique of Canada’s colonial history, this short film draws parallels between the annihilation of the bison in the 1890s and the devastation inflicted on the Indigenous population by the residential school system. This film is part of Souvenir, a series of four films addressing  Indigenous identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB’s archives.

Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair

Alanis Obomsawin

2021 29 min

As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system. With determination, wisdom and kindness, Senator Sinclair remains steadfast in his belief that the path to actual reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people requires understanding and accepting often difficult truths about Canada’s past and present. Alanis Obomsawin shares the powerful speech the Senator gave when he accepted the WFM-Canada World Peace Award, interspersing the heartbreaking testimonies of former students imprisoned at residential schools. The honouring of Senator Sinclair reminds us to honour the lives and legacies of the tens of thousands of Indigenous children taken from their homes and cultures, and leaves us with a profound feeling of hope for a better future.

Now Is the Time

Christopher Auchter

2019 16 min | G

When internationally renowned Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old, he carved the first new totem pole on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii in almost a century. On the 50th anniversary of the pole’s raising, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter steps easily through history to revisit that day in August 1969, when the entire village of Old Massett gathered to celebrate the event that would signal the rebirth of the Haida spirit.

Red Path

Thérèse Ottawa

2015 15 min | G

This short documentary tells the story of Tony Chachai, a young Indigenous man in search of his identity. Moved by the desire to reconnect with his Atikamekw roots, he delivers a touching testimony on the journey that brought him closer to his family and community. On the verge of becoming a father himself, he becomes increasingly aware of the richness of his heritage and celebrates it by dancing in a powwow.

This film was produced as part of Tremplin NIKANIK, a competition for francophone First Nations filmmakers in Quebec.

That Old Game La Crosse

JL Whitecrow

2018 7 min

Long before Canada became a country, every nation on Turtle Island had its own unique version of a stick-ball game. The most popular one on this continent has always been lacrosse, a game that was gifted to the First Nations by the birds and four-legged animals, and played for centuries as a medicine game. This short film explores how the medicine game that has been passed down from generation to generation by the Haudenasaunee at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre is helping to revive their cultures and restore their communities. Young people have always been at the centre of community for many First Nations societies, and this documentary shares the wisdom of cultivating the spirit of belonging in youth, revealing how this is helping to shape a new future.