The Cinematheque

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day, a celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ culture and heritage in Canada. Initiated by the Government of Canada in cooperation with Indigenous organizations, this event, occurring on the summer solstice, provides an opportunity to recognize, reflect on, and learn about the rich histories, diverse traditions, and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

To mark the 2019 edition of NIPD, The Cinematheque is delighted to showcase two exceptional documentaries by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, an award-winning, Vancouver-based filmmaker/​actor of Blackfoot and Sámi heritage.

Tailfeathers is a member of the Kainai First Nation (Blood Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy). She is the receipt of a Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award and a Kodak Image Award for her work as an emerging filmmaker. In 2018, she was named Sundance Film Institute’s Merata Mita Film Fellow. Her fiction-feature debut The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, co-directed with Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still), premiered in the Generation platform at Berlinale early this year.

The Cinematheque acknowledges that Vancouver is located on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples, including the traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.