Films – Vision Maker Media

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Explore our new releases, search by category to see what’s in broadcast, or see what’s on the horizon.

Image from Older Than The Crown.

NEW RELEASES

[Native] Fire As Medicine

Fire for Native cultural revitalization & catastrophic fire prevention.

A QAYAQ TO CARRY US explores the issues of merging traditional knowledge, and modern science to help highlight the human ingenuity that is embodied within traditional practices — and place that knowledge in a dynamic, living context with the young people of Kodiak Island.

Almost An Island

ALMOST AN ISLAND is a cinematic portrait of the Goodwins, an Inupiat family living above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska.

And Now We Rise

A portrait of Samuel Johns, a young Athabaskan hip hop artist, founder of the Forget Me Not Facebook Group.

Apache 8

This is the story of the courageous all-female Apache 8 firefighting unit which has protected their reservation and responded to wildfires around the nation for 30 years.

ATTLA

ATTLA tells the gripping but virtually unknown story of George Attla, an Alaska Native dogsled racer.

Badger Creek

Badger Creek is a half-hour documentary portrait of a Blackfeet (Pikuni) family, the Mombergs, who live on the lower Blackfeet Reservation in Montana near the banks of Badger Creek.

Blood Memory

The untold history of America’s Indian Adoption Era - a time when nearly one-third of children were removed from tribal communities nationwide.

Bring Her Home

Three Indigenous women – an artist, an activist, and a politician – fight to vindicate and honor their missing and murdered relatives who have fallen victims to a growing epidemic across Indian country.

Chasing Voices

John Peabody Harrington's quest to document Native languages and how it strengthens the Native language revival movement today.

Choctaw Code Talkers

In 1918, not considered citizens of the U.S., Choctaw members of the U.S. American Expeditionary Forces were asked to use their native language as a powerful tool against the German Forces in World War I, setting a precedent for code talking as an effective military weapon and establishing them as America's original Code Talkers.

CLANS

Clans explores relationships among the Na-Dene, the largest Indigenous linguistic family in North America, through the origin and migration stories of the Dene in the Canadian Subarctic and the Diné (Navajo) in the American Southwest.

Crying Earth Rise Up

Follows the search for why there are high levels of radiation in drinking water.

Daughter of a Lost Bird

What does blood have to do with identity? Kendra Mylnechuk, an adult Native adoptee, born in 1980 at the cusp of the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act, is on a journey to reconnect with her birth family and discover her Lummi heritage.

DAWNLAND

The first official “truth and reconciliation commission” of Native child adoption in the United States.

Drowned Land

Deep in the Choctaw Nation of rural Oklahoma rages a fight to preserve the Kiamichi River, reckoning with a cycle of land loss for the Indigenous diaspora and the community at large.

Fire Tender

Margo Robbins, a Yurok grandmother and knowledge keeper, seeks to return fire practices to Yurok territory to restore the land and the people.

Firecracker Bullets

A personal documentary, Indigenous comedian Chad Charlie goes to participate in the Standing Rock occupation and has a transformative experience.

Firelighters: Fire is Medicine

Indigenous women leaders are building educational resources to share Indigenous land management practices and create policies to reinstate indigenous burning rights.

For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska

For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska tells the story of an extraordinary Alaskan woman who becomes an unforeseen hero in the fight for civil rights.

Four Nights and A Fire

A narrative dramatic short that revolves around an Ojibwe ceremony performed upon death of a loved one, where the spirit of a recently departed makes a four-day journey to the afterlife and must overcome temptations along the way.

Glenburn 12 WP

A Mohawk woman whose friend is missing goes on a journey to uncover the killer.

Groundworks

GROUNDWORKS profiles four of the California Native co-creators of the “Groundworks” project - a collaborative performance on Alcatraz Island on San Francisco’s first official Indigenous People’s Day in Oct ’18.

Growing Native Alaska: People of the North

Alaska Native cultures have depended on the abundant natural resources. Now these resources are growing scarce, and the people have to find new ways to adapt.

Growing Native Great Lakes: Turtle Island

Meet the Ojibwe and a tribe that was relocated to this region—the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin who care for these lands.

Growing Native Northwest: Coast Salish

Host Chris Eyre (Cheyenne Arapaho) discovers the resilience of the Coast Salish Tribes of the Pacific Northwest.

Growing Native Oklahoma: Red People

Host Moses Brings Plenty (Oglala Lakota) guides this episode of Growing Native on a journey through Oklahoma’s past and present.

Home From School: The Children of Carlisle

Explores the controversial history of Indian boarding schools.

Íiná

Robert Yazzie, a Navajo teen, confronts many challenges in order to make good on his commitment to bring his ailing grandmother to the Navajo Nation Fair

Indigeneity Learning Media

The ‘Indigeneity’ webisode series presents an accurate portrait of the Native American Experience by tackling stereotypes, exploring contemporary issues, and celebrating Indigenous contributions to America. The ‘Indigeneity’ series brings virtual “Native American Studies” lessons to all learners with access to the internet. Hosted by Native American media personalities, the series brings a virtual classroom to the world, combining truth, traditional knowledge, humor, animation, and personality to present important educational themes in Indigenous Studies.

Indigenize The Plate

The connection between food sustainability and cultural sustainability.

Indigi-Genius

Native communities around the globe have been making innovations since the dawn of man. The Indigi-Genius web series dives into innovations surrounding water management, building materials, clothing, communication, cosmetics and more.

Ishi’s Return

A short film about Ishi, billed in 1911 as the “last wild Indian" and who became a national sensation.

Kanenon:we – Original Seeds

KANENON:WE - Original Seeds follows Haudenosaunee women from three different Haudenosaunee Communities as they reclaim their ancient role as seed keepers, regenerating, protecting and rematriating sacred and endangered heirloom seeds for the future generations.

Keep Talking

Four Alaska Native women fighting to save Kodiak Alutiiq, a critically endangered language.

Kinaalda: Navajo Rite of Passage

A Navajo filmmaker turns the camera on herself and her family as she documents the Kinaalda, or coming of age ceremony.

LaDonna Harris: Indian 101

LaDonna Harris: Indian 101 chronicles the life of Comanche activist and national civil rights leader LaDonna Harris and her influences in Native and mainstream American history.

Lake of Betrayal

The history of Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania and its impact on the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Lookout 32

Isolated, a firewatcher discovers a terrifying Native American legend.

Mankiller

MANKILLER examines the legacy of the formidable Wilma Mankiller, who defied all odds to become one of the most influential leaders in the United States.

MANZANAR, DIVERTED

At the foot of the majestic snow-capped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.”

Medicine Woman

Interweaves the lives of Native healers of today with that of the first Native American doctor.

Metal Road

Explores the dynamics of livelihood, family, and the railroads through the lens of a Navajo trackman.

Moroni for President

Moroni for President follows the political newcomer’s grueling, lonely campaign against the “old guard,” and the monumental effort it takes to change the narrative and inspire people to move in new directions.

My Louisiana Love

A young Native American woman as she returns to Southeast Louisiana to reunite with her Houma Indian family.

Navajo Math Circles

Navajo Math Circles follows Navajo students in a lively collaboration with mathematicians. Using a model called math circles, the students stay late after school and assemble over the summer at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona, to study mathematics.

Ohero:kon Under the Husk

“Ohero:kon - Under the Husk” is a 26-min documentary following the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their passage rites to become women in Akwesasne Mohawk Territory located in upstate NY.

Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian

Kate Beane, a young Dakota woman, examines the extraordinary life of her celebrated relative, Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa).

Older Than The Crown

Older Than The Crown documents the landmark trial of Sinixt Ceremonial Hunter Rick Desautel, who in 2010 was charged with illegal hunting on ancestral lands.

On A Knife Edge

A coming-of-age story of George Dull Knife, a Lakota teenager growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Osage Murders

Osage Murders tells the story of how the Osage became known as the wealthiest people in the world during an oil boom on their reservation and the practices used to rob them.

Racing the Rez

Follows Navajo and Hopi cross-country runners from two rival high schools.

Red Power Energy

The American Indian perspective reframing today's complex energy debate.

Rematriation Series: Joanne Shenandoah

"Rematriation Series: Joanne Shenandoah," the newest installment of Rematriation Magazine’s film series on dismantling social injustice through a spiritually grounded lens.

Respected By Her People

As a result of the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic, tribal communities fight against victimization with a call to action and self preservation.

Return to Rainy Mountain

The story of famous poet N. Scott Momaday from his own voice, and in the voice of his daughter.

RETURN: Native American Women Reclaim Foodways for Health & Spirit

The food-sovereignty movement occurring across the country through the stories of women.

Rising Voices

A feature film about the imminent peril to the Lakota language.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World

The story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence.

Searching for Sequoyah

The first documentary feature to chronicle the legendary accomplishments and mysterious life of the famed Cherokee Renaissance man, Sequoyah.

SEEDS

Two sisters, Loretta and Raven, grapple with the loss of their parents after a tragic accident.

Sisters Rising

Six Native women fight to heal a society crippled for far too long by violence against indigenous women in the United States.

Skindigenous Season 1

A 13-part series exploring the art of tattooing as practiced by Indigenous peoples around the world.

Skindigenous Season 2

Second season of a 13-part series exploring the art of tattooing as practiced by Indigenous peoples around the world.

Skindigenous Season 3

SKINDIGENOUS returns for its third season with 13 new episodes profiling some of the most talented Indigenous tattoo artists in the world.

Sousa on the Rez

An unexpected and engaging picture of the little-known Native American marching band scene.

Standing Bear’s Footsteps

An Indian chief who went to court and redefined what it means to be an American.

The Bears on Pine Ridge

The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is under a declared “State of Emergency”, after a devastating rash of youth suicides tragically reaches the highest levels in the country.

The Blackfeet Flood

Two Blackfeet families struggle to come to terms with the 1964 Montana flood.

The Land Returns

“The Land Returns” chronicles a surprising new way that Indigenous nations are regaining their land: individual settlers, local governments, environmental organizations, and even corporations are returning stolen land to Indian nations as part of a growing grassroots movement of restitution and reconciliation.

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