Alanis Obomsawin Movies

First Nations documentary

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

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...

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

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

The farming practices of residents of the Líl̓wat Nation near Mount Currie, B.C., are presented in a series of snapshots that illustrate...

Documentary on the importance of Indigenous resistance to the Canadian government.

Obomsawin narrates as children learn of the traditions and life of Gabriel, a Cree boy from Fort George, James Bay. The Northern Cree "Walking Out...

Elders Mariane and Athanas Jacob – of the Atikamekw community of Manawan – demonstrate a moose-call horn constructed from bark. The...

A founding member of Cape Dorset’s famed printmaking co-op, Kenojuak Ashevak introduced Inuit art to the world.

Walker is a young Aboriginal foster child whose only playmate is his dog. Jamie is a lonely young white boy who is afraid of dogs, and has some...

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

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

Six months following the events of her documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River, Alanis Obomsawin returns to the Cree community of...

Through a series of still images, the bright, inquisitive and beautiful faces of the children from the Atikamekw community of Manawan are seen at...

Documentary on the Kattawapiskak Elementary School.

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

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

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...

Accompanied by a song in the Lil̓wat7úl language, we follow a woman as she makes gwùshum, a Líl̓wat dessert and a very...