The Cinematheque

Navajo filmmaker Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso’s debut feature documentary illuminates the resistance and activism of land and water protectors around the world. The award-winning film follows the director across three continents to visit with Indigenous activists from the La Guajira region in rural Colombia, the Tampakan region of the Philippines, the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Mexico, and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, providing each with a platform to share their story of struggle against resource colonization. In the end, she brings back the lessons and teachings she has learned to her home territory of Dinétah, where she can empower her people and create hope for a future when the land is protected and decolonized. Powerlands speaks to the solidarity of Indigenous peoples around the world and their experiences of displacement, exploitation, and resistance.

In English, Diné, Spanish, Wayuu, Visayan, Blaan, and Zapotec with English subtitles

Best Feature
American Indian Film Festival 2022

Post-screening Q&A with director Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso (via Zoom).