Battle Over Bears Ears (2018)

By Blood

American Indians of African descent, or Freedmen, battle their own tribes and the federal government to regain their tribal citizenship. Witness how indigenous American Indian tribes, their minority members, and surrounding communities are confronting racism and intolerance.

Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting

Examining the movement that is ending the use of Native American names, logos, and mascots in the world of sports and beyond.

American Native

Thirty miles from Manhattan a group of mysterious mountain people fight for recognition as a legitimate Native American tribe from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. What begins as their journey travels the country as Native American’s fight for their rights at Standing Rock, Apache Junction and throughout the United States. Examining through expert interviews and unbridled access to the ­community, the film provides an in ­depth look at the complex past, volatile present and endangered future of the Ramapough Mountain Indians and what it truly means to be a “Native American”.

Atomic Homefront

Revealing St. Louis, Missouri's atomic past as a uranium processing center for the atomic bomb and the governmental and corporate negligence that lead to the illegal dumping of Manhattan Project radioactive waste throughout North County neighborhoods.

After Winter, Spring

Family farmers in southwest France practice an ancestral way of life under threat in a world increasingly dominated by large-scale industrial agriculture.

The End of the Line

Examines the devastating effect that overfishing has had on the world's fish populations and argues that drastic action must be taken to reverse these trends. Examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation.

Koyaanisqatsi

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

Inhabitants

For millennia, Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain their traditional land management practices. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. As the climate crisis escalates these time-tested practices of North America's original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.

The Lost Spirits

The last surviving Native Americans on Long Island are the focus of The Lost Spirits. The film chronicles their struggles as an indigenous people to maintain their identity amidst relentless modernization and a heartless bureaucracy.

Against the Grain

A glimpse at how genre film-focused home video companies have taken the charge in preserving, restoring, and releasing so many works which otherwise might have been lost to time.

From the Ashes

Capturing Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry and what its future should be under the Trump Administration. From Appalachia to the West’s Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of the “war on coal” to present compelling and often heartbreaking stories about what’s at stake for our economy, health, and climate.

Mankiller

The story of an American hero and the Cherokee Nation's first woman Principal Chief who humbly defied all odds to give a voice to the voiceless.

Chasing Voices: The Story of John Peabody Harrington

For 50 years, controversial ethnographer John Peabody Harrington crisscrossed the United States, frantically searching and documenting dying Native American languages. Harrington amassed over a million pages of notes on over 150 different tribal languages. Some of these languages were considered dead until his notes were discovered. Today tribes are accessing the notes, reviving their once dormant languages, and bringing together a new generation of language learners in the hope of saving Native languages.

Dislocation Blues

Filmed during the 2016 Standing Rock protests in South Dakota, Sky Hopinka's Dislocation Blues offers a portrait of the movement and its water protectors, refuting grand narratives and myth-making in favour of individual testimonials.

Simon and the Spirit Bear

While most teens spend their days in a self-absorbed haze, Simon Jackson was out in the world connecting with anyone who could help him save the spirit bear. For this, Simon became one of Time's Heroes of the Planet. It's a remarkable accomplishment for one so young, and an inspiring story for lovers of wilderness of all ages. But his devotion to the cause made him an outcast amongst his peers.

Un jour en Italie

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Sweetheart Dancers

Sean and Adrian, a Two-Spirit couple, are determined to rewrite the rules of Native American culture through their participation in the “Sweetheart Dance.” This celebratory contest is held at powwows across the country, primarily for heterosexual couples … until now.

Being Caribou

April 8, 2003: Karsten Heuer + Leanne Allison left the remote community of Old Crow,Yukon, to join the Porcupine Caribou Herd on their epic life journey. For 5 months the Canadians migrated on foot with the 123,000-member herd from wintering to calving grounds in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and back again — 1500km across snow and tundra. They completed their journey on Sept. 8, 2003.

Incident at Oglala

On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.

Marqueetown

Through booms and busts, Delft Theatres and its innovative gem The Nordic endured in Marquette, Michigan for almost 100 years. Bernie Rosendahl’s crusade to restore the historic arthouse to its former glory reveals a hidden cinema empire in the Upper Peninsula.

maɬni—towards the ocean, towards the shore

An experimental look at the origin of the death myth of the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, following two people as they navigate their own relationships to the spirit world and a place in between life and death.

Chernobyl Heart

This Academy Award-winning documentary takes a look at children born after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster who have been born with a deteriorated heart condition.

Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction

The remarkable true story of three animal species rescued from the brink of extinction: California’s enchanting Channel Island Fox, China’s fabled Golden Monkey, and the wondrous migrating crabs of Christmas Island. Discover successful, heartfelt, and ingenious human efforts to rescue endangered species around the world.

Plastic People

Are we becoming Plastic People? Our ground-breaking feature documentary investigates our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health. Almost every bit of plastic ever made ends up ground down into "microplastics". These microscopic particles drift in the air, float in the water and sit in the soil. And now, leading scientists are finding them in our bodies: organs, blood, brain tissue and even the placentas of new mothers. What is the impact of these invisible invaders on our health? Ziya Tong, author and science journalist, makes it personal by visiting leading scientists and undergoing experiments in her home, on her food, and on her body.

Skydancer

For more than 120 years, Mohawk ironworkers have raised America’s modern cityscapes. They are called 'sky walkers' because they walk fearlessly atop steel beams just a foot wide, high above the city. In this nuanced portrait of modern Native Americans' double lives, Jerry McDonald Thundercloud and his colleague Sky shuttle between the hard-drinking Brooklyn lodging houses they call home during the week and their rural reservation, a grueling drive six hours north, where a family weekend awaits. While the men are away working, their wives often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of an economically deprived area.

The Giants

A portrait of environmental folk hero & gay icon Bob Brown, who took green politics to the center of power. His story is interwoven with the life cycle of the ancient trees he's fighting for.

Death of a Skyline

A group of citizens lobbied to save the landmark Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator, one of the defining features of Mayerthorpe’s landscape, from being torn down in 2003 - as thousands of others had been. This film documents those efforts while exploring the broader history and significance of the grain elevator.

How to Change the World

In 1971, a group of friends sail into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world's imagination. Using never before seen archive that brings their extraordinary world to life, How To Change The World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement.

Our Vanishing Americana: A South Carolina Portrait

Photographer Mike Lassiter journeys across South Carolina capturing the stories of historic, often family-run businesses that line main streets from the coast to the upstate.

National Trust: Living in Our Historic Homes

Explore the lives of the lucky few who call Britain's most magnificent mansions home. Meet the custodians of Castle Ward, Croft Castle, and Castell Penrhyn as they navigate daily life amidst priceless antiques and stunning landscapes.

Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?

The little-known story of the accelerating destruction of our forests for fuel - the policy loopholes, huge subsidies, and blatant green washing of the burgeoning biomass electric power industry.

Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale

For over 85 years, steamship Ste. Claire transported generations of Detroiters to Boblo Island, an amusement park nestled in the waters between the US and Canada. When the vessel comes under threat of ruin, a doctor, psychic and amusement park fanatic unite to save their beloved steamship from the scrapyard. Interweaving local lore and mythology, "Boblo Boats" explores the whitewashed history of amusement parks and one crew's crusade to bring back the memories.