Sugarcane
NEW DOCS
When unmarked graves are discovered near the grounds of a former residential school for Indigenous children near British Columbia’s Sugarcane reserve, the Williams Lake First Nation community launches an investigation to expose this painful history. For the remaining survivors, the torture and sexual abuse that took place at St. Joseph’s Mission school continues to reverberate in psychologically and emotionally devastating ways. Directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie weave together different narratives centered on healing—the ongoing search to discover the truth and account for every child, a father’s personal journey to break intergenerational trauma, and a former chief’s quest for accountability from the highest levels of the Catholic Church. Now, as elders in their community, the survivors reclaim their community’s stolen humanity through the power of collective grief. Where the abusers at St. Joseph’s enacted colonial violence, Sugarcane is an emphatic refusal of the Indigenous spirit to be broken, buried, and erased. KL
Filmmaker Q&A following screening
Directors
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Producers
Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn
Editors
Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke
Cinematographers
Christopher LaMarca, Emily Kassie
Release Year
2024
Festival Year
2024
Country
Canada, United States
Run Time
107 minutes