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