Past screening

Sugarcane

Directed by: Emily Kassie, Julian Brave NoiseCat
Runtime: 1h 47min Certificate: 15
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Details

Directed by: Emily Kassie, Julian Brave NoiseCat
Runtime: 1h 47min Certificate: 15
Topics: Personal Stories, Sociopolitical
Last Screened: Wed 9th Oct 2024

An investigation into abuse and missing children at a Canadian Residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve, in the stunning debut feature by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie.

In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities.

Set amidst the groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the heartbreak and beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to survive.

Reviews

'Trauma and truth unearthed in Indigenous children’s schools scandal'

- Guardian