The Whistler Film Festival (WFF), in conjunction with the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC), presents the award-winning National Geographic documentary Sugarcane, a tribute to the resilience of Indigenous peoples and their way of life.
This debut feature from directors Julian Brave NoiseCat (Tsq’escen/Lil’wat) and Emily Kassie portrays a community during a moment of international reckoning and a journey to break the shackles of intergenerational trauma. It is a timely movie to watch ahead of National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.
In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of a residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, touching off a national outcry. Sugarcane is set during this groundbreaking investigation.
“This film was born of haunting truths and mythic forces. It was made through the combined perspectives of insiders and outsiders,” said co-director Brave NoiseCat in a press release. “From the outset, we knew that Sugarcane needed to convey how the past is present for the survivors of residential schools and their descendants. How the death toll from a century-long colonial effort by the Church and government continues to rise.
"So for nearly three years, we lived alongside our participants, feeling the rawness of their pain and bearing witness to the bravery in their resilience, while documenting a vibrant world in a moment of historic reckoning."
Brave NoiseCat will be in attendance for an audience Q+A following the show.
Catch Sugarcane on Aug. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the SLCC Theatre. Click here to purchase tickets, which are $20.
