Indigenous Studies


A COMMON SEQUENCE
A COMMON SEQUENCE

2023  Anthropology  Biology  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Health  Indigenous Studies  Latino Studies  Religion & Spirituality  Science  Sociology  Spanish Language 

Within the human struggle to live and work on a changing planet, questions of value, extraction, and adaptation echo across seemingly disparate worlds. A Common Sequence examines shifts of life and labor through a critically-endangered salamander and plant patents in the apple industry. Weaving the stories of Dominican nuns running a conservation lab, a group of fisherman attempting to live off of a depleting lake, engineers developing AI-driven harvesting machines, and an indigenous biomedical researcher resisting the commodification of human DNA, the film becomes a meditation on the shifting border between the natural and unnatural world, and the dynamics of power at play.

HOUSE SPECIAL
HOUSE SPECIAL

2023  Asian Studies  Cultural Studies  Education  Gastronomy  Immigration  Indigenous Studies  Family Relations  Sociology  Women's Studies  World History 

A five-part docu series that chronicles the Chinese Canadian experience through the lens of small-town Asian food joints and the families that run them. Ride the rails with chef and author, Jackie Kai Ellis, as she explores Canadian Chop Suey cuisine.

CANE FIRE
CANE FIRE

2022  American Studies  American History  Cinema Studies  Indigenous Studies  Media Studies 

A kaleidoscopic portrait of Hawaiʻi and the economic and cultural forces that have cast Indigenous and working-class residents as "extras" in their own story


EXPEDITION CONTENT
EXPEDITION CONTENT

2021  Anthropology  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Education  Indigenous Studies  Political Science  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Sociology  World History  2022 

An immersive marvel of sonic ethnography, Expedition Content draws on audio recordings made by recent college graduate and Standard Oil heir Michael Rockefeller as part of the so-called Harvard-Peabody Expedition to Netherlands New Guinea in 1961

LIMBO
LIMBO

2021  Latin-American Studies  Spanish Language  Indigenous Studies  Short Films  Sensory Ethnography Lab 

An oneiric journey through Alex's life as a former guerrilla leads to a reckoning with the devil inside of him. His only cure is ayahuasca,  sacred plant used by the indigenous community where he comes from. As both a perpetrator and victim, Alex exemplifies the complexity of the Colombian conflict and the difficulties of simply moving on.  

RED CHEF REVIVAL
RED CHEF REVIVAL

2020  Indigenous Studies  Cultural Studies  Native American Studies  Cinema Studies 

Red Chef Revival is a unique and intimate documentary that follows three trailblazing chefs on a cross country journey to redefine and reclaim Indigenous cuisine. Using food as their access point, these chefs discover a new path to reconciliation, while working with ingredients you won't find in any cookbooks, like bison heart, beaver tail, moose nose, seal and cougar. 

HÍBRIDOS, THE SPIRITS OF BRAZIL
HÍBRIDOS, THE SPIRITS OF BRAZIL

2019  Anthropology  Cultural Studies  Cinema Studies  Dance  Directed by Women  Indigenous Studies  Latin-American Studies  Music  Religion & Spirituality 

HÍBRIDOS, THE SPIRITS OF BRAZIL is an ethnomusicological journey into the sacred culture of Brazil, from Roman Catholic to Ubanda and candomblé--mixures of African traditions with Catholicism.

KEEP TALKING
KEEP TALKING

2018  Native American Studies  American Studies  Kartemquin Films  Cultural Studies  Indigenous Studies 

Keep Talking follows four Alaska Native women fighting to save Kodiak Alutiiq, an endangered language now spoken by less than 40 remaining fluent Native Elders.

THE MODERN JUNGLE
THE MODERN JUNGLE

2018  Anthropology  Cinema Studies  Indigenous Studies  Latin-American Studies  Media Studies 

A genre-bending portrait of globalization, we follow a Mexican Zoque shaman and his encounters with outside forces—from capitalism, to the culture of cinema, and the directors themselves.

GHOSTS OF OUR FOREST
GHOSTS OF OUR FOREST

African Studies  Music  Anthropology  Indigenous Studies  2017  Dance  Environmental Studies  Performing Arts  Loud Roar Productions 

Forcefully removed from their ancestral home by the Ugandan government to protect the endangered gorilla population, the indigenous Batwa people start a music club in hopes to preserve their culture through song and story.

SURVIVORS ROWE
SURVIVORS ROWE

2017  Indigenous Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Religion & Spirituality  Loud Roar Productions 

Survivors Rowe documents the tragic stories of three men who were victims of Ralph Rowe, an Anglican priest who molested over 500 children, and the courageous journey they undertake to arrive at a place of healing and forgiveness.

RESOLUTE
RESOLUTE

2017  Cultural Studies  Environmental Studies  Family Relations  Indigenous Studies  Loud Roar Productions  Political Science  World History  Short Films 

Zipporah was a girl when her family was among the eighty Inuit to be sent to the high arctic by the Canadian government. Through haunting interviews, archival footage and experimental animation, Resolute tells a story familiar to thousands of indigenous families in Canada and beyond.

LA LAGUNA
LA LAGUNA

2016  Latin-American Studies  Environmental Studies  Indigenous Studies  Anthropology  Children & Young Adult  Family Relations  Short Films  Cultural Studies  Spanish Language 

An immersive, visually stunning portrait of a childhood on the margins of society by Emmy-nominated director Aaron Schock, La Laguna documents the remarkable journey undertaken by a Mayan adolescent as he tries to navigates the changing world around him in the endangered rainforests of southern Mexico.

VIRAMUNDO: a musical journey with gilberto gil
VIRAMUNDO: a musical journey with gilberto gil

Music  Anthropology  2013  Indigenous Studies  Latin-American Studies 

After decades of sold out shows and international recognition, musician Gilberto Gil embarks on a new kind of world tour. Traveling from Brazil to Australia and Africa, where he meets with local indigenous communities, Gil continues the work he began as Brazil's first black Minister of Culture - promoting the power of cultural diversity in a globalized world and sharing his vision for the future: a diverse, interconnected planet filled with hope, exchange… and of course music!

SURVIVAL PRAYER
SURVIVAL PRAYER

Environmental Studies  Native American Studies  Anthropology  2013  Indigenous Studies 

On a remote archipelago in the Pacific Northwest, an uncommon abundance of animal and vegetable life has sustained the Haida people for countless generations. Following traditional food harvesters as they gather and prepare for the winter, Survival Prayer is an intimate ethnographic portrait of an indigenous community and the conditions - environmental and man-made - that threaten their way of life.

WAVUMBA: THEY WHO SMELL OF FISH
WAVUMBA: THEY WHO SMELL OF FISH

Anthropology  Indigenous Studies  African Studies  Environmental Studies  Cultural Studies  Religion & Spirituality  Literature  Aging / Gerontology  2013 

A gorgeously filmed ethnographic portrait of an elderly Kenyan shark fisherman who has a primeval bond with the ocean and its creatures, Wavumba: They Who Smell of Fish delivers an enchanting depiction of Africa's storytelling tradition, where fantasy, dreams, belief and reality blend.

CANICULA
CANICULA

Anthropology  Latin-American Studies  Indigenous Studies  2012 

An engrossing ethnographic work, Canícula is a study of the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Totonac people of Veracruz, Mexico, who have resided in this region for thousands of years. Beautifully photographed, this documentary features rare footage of the Totonac's "voladores" ritual ("the flying dance"), named an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.

TWELVE CANOES
TWELVE CANOES

Anthropology  Indigenous Studies  Cultural Studies  2010  Directed by Women 

An extraordinary and exquisite work of anthropology, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Rolf de Heer, Twelve Canoes paints a vivid portrait of the people, history, culture and place of the Yolngu people whose homeland is the Arafura Swamp of north-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia.

THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF
THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF

Environmental Studies  Anthropology  Native American Studies  Sociology  2009  Indigenous Studies 

An astounding new documentary on the first victims of global warming, The Last Days of Shishmaref travels to a small village in northwest Alaska, home to an Inupiaq Eskimo community, where homes are literally falling into the sea. The entire village is expected to disappear within 10 years.

MYSTIC VOICES: the story of the pequot war
MYSTIC VOICES: the story of the pequot war

Native American Studies  Indigenous Studies  Anthropology  American History 

Narrated in part by Roy Scheider, Mystic Voices tells the story of a pivotal event in the early history of the Colonial America that set the stage for the ultimate domination of Native Peoples by European settlers.