Gail Maurice

Aberdeen

An idyllic childhood with her mooshum and kookum, or grandparents, in her community of Peguis First Nation dissipates as Aberdeen’s hard-partying and absentee parents distances her from that haven. Now an adult, sleeping on public benches, Winnipeg-based Aberdeen is in survival mode. The last remaining stable parts of her life begin slipping away — her reliable brother Boyd is ill and gives up Aberdeen’s grandkids to the foster care system. Then she loses her ID.

Bones of Crows

Cree matriarch Aline Spears survives a childhood in Canada’s residential school system to continue her family’s generational fight in the face of systemic starvation, racism, and sexual abuse. She uses her uncanny ability to understand and translate codes into working for a special division of the Canadian Air Force as a Cree code talker in World War II. The story unfolds over 100 years with a cumulative force that propels us into the future.

Rosie

An orphaned Indigenous girl is forced to live with her reluctant, street-smart, francophone auntie and her two best friends in 80's Montreal.

Night Raiders

The year is 2043. A military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are property of the State. A desperate Cree woman joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a State children’s academy and get her daughter back. Night Raiders is a female-driven dystopian drama about resilience, courage and love.

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics dives deeply into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride and Envy) and the Seven Sacred Teachings (Love, Respect, Wisdom, Courage, Truth, Honesty and Humility), as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby. Brought to life by Terril Calder’s darkly beautiful stop-motion animation, her inner turmoil of abuse is laid bare with unflinching honesty. Convinced she’s soiled and destined for Hell, Baby Girl receives teachings that fill her with strength and pride, and affirm a path towards healing. Calder’s tour-de-force unearths a hauntingly familiar yet hopeful world that illuminates the bias of colonial systems.

Québexit

Québexit is a multi-lingual (English, French, Cree) ensemble political comedy: when a transnational pipeline leads to a successful third Québec sovereignty referendum, a small road at the Québec-New Brunswick border becomes a lighting rod of conflict between the new Québec military, the Canadian Armed Forces and two indigenous women who traverse the border frequently.

Inconvenient Indian

Based on the bestselling book, this urgent feature documentary from celebrated director Michelle Latimer will take viewers on a journey into the mind of one of the world’s foremost Indigenous intellectuals, and one of our greatest storytellers: Thomas King.

The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw

As MITZI BEARCLAW turns 25 years-old, she is faced with a tragic decision – stay in the big city to pursue her dream of designing hats or leave her boyfriend and return home to her isolated reserve to help care for her sick mother. Loyal to her family, Mitzi reluctantly returns to Owl Island to find that not much has changed. Her confidence and modern style clash with the sleepy, slow-paced island; the bullies are the same; the handsome HONEYBOY is still running the water taxi; and ANNABELLE, Mitzi’s mother is still as bitter and unloving as ever. She’s also reunited with her spiritual friends, FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY who guide her as she navigates a year of anger, loss and love. Mitzi is soon surprised to find comfort in being home and starts to question her destiny.

Camera Test

What gets lost when female voices are stymied during the creative process? Pairing intimate interviews with absurdist re-enactments, Joyce Wong crafts a tartly subversive look at patriarchy and racism in the film industry.

Falls Around Her

A world-famous Anishinaabe musician returns to the reserve to rest and recharge — only to discover that fame (and the outside world) are not easily left behind.

Four Faces of the Moon

Follow the animated journey of an Indigenous photographer as she travels through time. The oral and written history of her family reveals the story — we witness the impact and legacy of the railways, the slaughter of the buffalo and colonial land policies.

Wakening

In the near future, the environment has been destroyed and society suffocates under a brutal military occupation. A lone Cree wanderer Wesakechak searches an urban war zone to find the ancient and dangerous Weetigo to help fight against the occupiers.

Boxed In

In this short film, a young woman of mixed ancestry struggles with an Equal Opportunity Form that requires her to respond to the dilemma: Ethnicity - Choose One.

Finn's Girl

Dr. Finn Jeffries plays a new stepmother to her deceased lover's daughter Zelly. She also took over her lover's abortion clinic that is being protested by increasingly violent "pro-lifer's".

Johnny Greyeyes

Johnny GreyEyes is a girl from an injun family. Since her childhood she was abused by her father and one day she killed him. She was arrested and convicted by the court to a long term in local prison. Where she finds the woman, another inmate, who became for her and her family and her first love.

Big Bear

The story of Big Bear, the real life Cree chief who campaigned for his people and their land against the Canadian government in the 1870s and 1880s.

Wind River: Rising

Terror has escalated on the Wind River reservation as a series of ritualistic murders remain unsolved. The FBI therefore enlists the aid of Hanson, a newly minted tracker for the U.S. Fish & Game, who becomes embroiled in a desperate and dangerous fight between the authorities, a vigilante and the Reservation he calls home.

Giant Mine

CBC's dramatic account of the tragedy of Yellowknife's Giant Mine, in which 9 miners were killed during a bitter labour dispute.