Alanis Obomsawin Movies

This documentary short by Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman arrested after the Oka Crisis' 78-day...

“It’s not how it used to be.” The words of Cézar Néwashish resonate throughout this short documentary that explores...

Documentary on the Kattawapiskak Elementary School.

Utilizing engineering ingenuity that is centuries old, Atikamekw elders Agatha and Cézar Néwashish build a small-scale version of a...

As the only First Nations student in an all-white 1940s school, eight-year old Wato is keenly aware of the hostility towards her. She deeply misses...

The people of the L'íl'wat First Nation record their personal narratives about their culture, history, education, and the impact of residential...

This film is an album of Native womanhood, portraying a proud matriarchal society that for centuries has been pressured to adopt different standards...

Wild rice is an important source of food and revenue for many Anishinaabe people, who sometimes travel hundreds of kilometres to harvest the grain in...

First Nations documentary

A young woman arrives to Montreal to find love. A fortune teller tells her that a wealthy man meant for her is right around the corner so she goes...

Alanis Obomsawin talks about how she got her start at the NFB and the overarching importance of sound/story in her work.

On a beautiful summer’s day in Nunavik, a family enjoys the pleasures of berry picking and fishing as the sound of two Elders throat-singing...

The Nishiyuu walkers made the trek from Whapmagoostui in Quebec to Ottawa, a 1,600-kilometre journey whose roots date back millennia. At the heart of...

Elder Marie Leo recounts her experiences going through puberty. Growing up on the Líl̓wat Nation near Mount Currie, B.C., Marie details...

An intimate portrait of Marie Leo, a Sto:lo woman who was adopted into a Líl̓wat family as a baby. Marie’s gentle narrative of her...

François Néwashish was the only one in his family from the Atikamekw community of Manawan not to go to residential school. He...

A young Native girl, rejected by her classmates, is comforted and counselled by the animals of the forest.

Having dedicated nearly four decades to chronicling the lives of Canada's First Nations, Alanis Obomsawin returns to the village where she was raised...

The new film from celebrated documentarian Alanis Obomsawin (Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance) chronicles the events following the filing of a...

A portrait of Eugene "Gene Boy" Benedict from Odanak Indian Reserve near Montreal, Quebec. At 17, adrift and beginning to lose his way, he accepted a...