Dreamspeakers

At first glance, this looks like an amateur documentary shot by an inept cameraman called Dave. Hilarious to watch, the Waimate Conspiracy addresses issues of social justice relating to the Maori land claims and the place of Maori in contemporary New Zealand. The rights of native peoples in a post-colonial environment is a highly emotionally charged subject but Lewis has masterfully bottled that tension and released it in this good humoured and insightful comedy.

A graceful and highly personal interpretation of the poem "Gesture Down to Guatemala" by the late Balckfeet/Gros Ventre writer James Welch. A first person rumination on place, longing and identity.

The film looks at a petrochemical town facing a toxic legacy head-on. Sarnia once enjoyed the highest standard of living in Canada, but now the bill has come due, in compromised environmental and community health. How do you stay in the home you love – and the land you belong to – when the price may be not only your own life, but the future of your children?

Yvonne M'Sadoques leans forward in her rocking chair. She's recounting a vivid memory from her youth in Odanak – the Abanaki community that has been her home for over a century. M'Sadoques is in conversation with Alanis Obomsawin, another of Odanak's proud daughters – and one of Canada's leading documentary filmmakers.

The story is as old as Inuit themselves. It begins when a great hunter is killed. As he was the only villager to show kindness to the hunter's orphaned son, Kiviuq is spared the terrible vengeance of the boy's grandmother. Set adrift by the tempest that kills his fellow hunters, Kiviuq embarks on a series of adventures that span millennia, and rival those of Homer's brave Odysseus.

Herschel Island, once branded "the Sodom of the Arctic" is where a young Inuvialuit boy, Nugilak, came of age. Through his touching yet tragic life-story, expressed in his writings and echoed by his grandchildren's poignant return to the Island – we are offered a unique view into an often troubling past and a potentially hopeful future.

The stories of dispossessed Indigenous people affected by external forces such as Colonization, internal violence, intergenerational residential school trauma, white foster homes and addictions are told in a rich visual and sound scape. Traditional and contemporary Indigenous songs are used in a haunting instrumentation to travel with the "spirit" in its healing journey back to its ancestral homelands.

A self-portrait: gasping for air, caught between two cultural identities.

The equal sequel. Man from Venus meets mars Womb-Man. She's an answer without a questions and he a question without an answer. A sustainable foreground emerges only when they forge paths. A motion portrait where opposites distract and the peripheral rule is born.

Borrowed from the diaries of the 19th century painters of "Indians", George Catlin and Paul Kane's dismissive writings on the "romantic savage" are turned upside down and inside out. Miss Chief Eagle Testickle (outrageous alter ego of Cree artist Kent Monkman) forces innocent naked white men to become her figure models, seduces them with whiskey, and when she's done with them, dresses them up as more "authentic" examples of the "European male".

An Aboriginal spirit, clothed in a jingle dress, dances across drawers filled with Aboriginal remains. Her dance is a plea for all Aboriginal remains to be freed from museums and given back to their rightful families so they can finally rest and travel to the great hunting grounds.

A short experimental film based on old home movies that the artist's grandfather shot in the 50's. It is as much a portrait of a struggle and a declaration of identity, as it is a questioning into the history of documentation and anthropology.

Computer generated explosions and other special affects are combined with archival and original footage creating a piece that investigates the affect of simulated combat action.

In this third installment of the dude series, the dudes put aside their differences to help a man being mugged with a weapon of unimaginable power and strength.

Aydaygooay has power nobody knows. The caribou have been mistreated and he must try to bring them back. This Sayisi Dene legend was related to Director Mary Code by her father, John Clipping in 1975. With animation and live action, the story of Aydaygooay takes place in the central barrens and tundra-forest of Northern Canada. This short film celebrates a fragile cultural legacy, songs and language thousands of years old. A profound philosophical division between hunter and herder is manifested in Aydaygooay.

Ashley, a young Aboriginal crusader of all causes is stopped in her activist tracks after an awkward conversation with her boyfriend's well-meaning mother. In a determined attempt to reassure her "cultural authenticity" Ashley builds a tipi in her suburban bedroom using internet instructions.

Prescott Bush, grandfather of now President Bush, was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. While there, he dug up the grave of Geronimo and stole his skull. This is the story of one native's quest to reclaim the stolen artifact and right this great injustice.

Maq, a young Mi'gmaq boy learns a valuable lesson through the help of inconspicuous mentors. He carves a little person out of a piece of pipestone given to him by an Elder of his community. On his way to show his grandfather the carving, Maq meets Mi'gmwesu. Only when he joins his Grandfather does he understand who Mi'gmwesu really is.

The ancient tale of the era of the animal people.

As the seasons change, a young boy goes to dangerous lengths to transform himself. If he is successful, he will be able to move the very clouds in the sky. If he fails, the results could be fatal.

The film tells the story of a First Nations community in Alberta that has been plagued by gang warfare in recent years. In the area there are few options for young people who often opt for joining gangs as a way to feel they belong. We follow two young cadets - one is a former gang member who has become a leader in the cadets.

A lone killer whale helps an entire community find their way home. In this fictionalized account, the orphaned orca becomes the center of spiritual and political controversy. While the government plans to transport Luna hundreds of miles overland in an attempt to reunite him with his pod, the tiny Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations Band fights to protect the young killer whale that they believe embodies the spirit of their late chief.

Shawn Bernard music video.

When Shawn Bernard started a rap group, he never dreamed that it would turn into a gang. But before long, the rap group was overshadowed by the increasingly notorious Aboriginal gang. Shawn became a renowned drug dealer, living a high risk lifestyle that would ultimately lead to tragedy. In Walking Alone, Shawn raps about the various struggles of his life, the choices he's made and their consequences, while poignantly recounting the loss of his sister. Filmmaker Gerald Auger has made an impressive debut-one wrought with emotion and hope.

Presentation followed with Rap by Shawn Bernard.

Hooked Up finds single mother Michelle plunging into the world of online dating. As a newcomer relating her experiences through a video diary, she navigates the often humorous ins and outs of building an alluring profile to deciphering internet chat slang to getting her webcam to work. Along the way, Michelle learns that Indians or (NDNs) are, indeed, hooking up and reaching out-and that, sometimes, friends are found in the least likely of places!

Two-Spirited is the empowering story of Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette's shattering encounter with prejudice and his journey to overcome it. Geeyo has competed as a Jingle Dress dancer – a category normally reserved for women. During a powwow, an elder discovered that Geeyo was, in fact, a man and took away his championship. Deeply humiliated, he stopped dancing. Six years later, he makes a triumphant return to the powwow arena, realizing that the only way to change people's minds is to walk proudly, while being true to one's spirit.

Presentation followed with Jingle dancing by Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette.

This stirring short film examines Rocky Morin's very personal relationship to the drum, from his first encounter with a powwow drum and how that experience ultimately changed his life, to its role as a spiritual mentor and guide. For this proud drum keeper, the drum is a way of life. His Guidance is a powerful reminder of the need to maintain a strong connection to one's roots.

Presentation followed with Drumming by Thundering Spirit Drum Group.

Aboriginal youth are moving out of the reservations and exploring their "Aboriginality" – honouring their roots while adapting their music and art to contemporary trends such as hip hop and break dance. A positive movement that was born on the 'rez' is now spreading through urban centers across North America. Aboriginality is a story about one member of the 'seventh generation' – a generation that many believe will bring positive change to the world.

One of the most revered women in American history, Sacajawea has been romanticized and often misinterpreted by non-natives. Revolving around interviews with her tribal peoples as well as recognized historians, this documentary examines the many controversies regarding her life, how her role in the Lewis & Clark journey impacted her tribes, and how they are surviving today.

A comedic tale of Eric Smallhouse, a Native American who believes it is his destiny to lead his people back to the old ways. Failing miserably at everything he tries and learning the hard way that things weren't any easier back before the white man brought electricity.

Percy Paul's mind launched him on a meteoric rise from a broken childhood into the highest corridors of academia. But frequently his mind betrays him, plunging him from the peaks of genius into a darkness that threatens to overwhelm his exceptional promise...

Qallunaat is Inuit for White People and this docu-comedy brings documentary form to an unexpected place. Those who were holding a mirror up to Inuit culture finally have it turned back on themselves .The result is not always pretty. From the Inuit point of view, visitors from the south are nothing less than "accidents waiting to happen".

In a remote corner of the Navajo nation, circa 1950, a visit by Christian missionaries has catastrophic consequences for a family.

Three remarkable individuals transform childhood trauma into sparks of creativity. After his mother takes the brunt of the Nazi machine gun fire meant for both of them, Peter Gary narrowly escapes his own extermination on Christmas Eve, 1941. Wayne Ngan and his mother fled to Canada at the age of 13 , escaping the Japanese invasion of China. A victim of Canada's fostering policies for Aboriginal children, George Littlechild recounts his painful memories of brutal physical and mental abuse by white foster families.

The Power of a Horse is the moving account of filmmaker Cory Generoux dealing with the scars that racism left on his life - both as its recipient and perpetrator. This potent, short film reveals a simple and beautiful lesson that changed his life.