Sisters Rising
Documentary (84 min) | willow o'feral & brad Heck
- SYNOPSIS
Sisters Rising is the story of six Native women fighting to heal a society crippled for far too long by violence against Indigenous women in the United States. Dawn was in the Army, now she’s a tribal cop in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom that threatens to pull the last threads of her Native culture apart. Patty teaches indigenous women’s self-defense workshops. Sarah is an attorney and scholar fighting to overturn restrictions on tribal sovereignty and increase legislative protections for Native women. Loreline and Lisa are grassroots advocates working outside of the system to support survivors of violence and influence legislative change. Chalsey is writing the first anti-sex trafficking code to be introduced to a reservation’s tribal court.
Release: April 20, 2021
Distributor: America ReFramed on WORLD Channel
Go Behind-the-Scenes
During the Vision Maker’s First Online Indigenous Film Festival, VMM Executive Director Francene Blythe-Lewis met with filmmakers Willow O’Feral, Brad Heck, Tantoo Cardinal, Jaida Grey Eagle and Sergeant Dawn White to discuss the making of Sisters Rising.
Brad Heck
Producer/Director
BRAD HECK is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and educator. Sisters Rising is Brad’s directorial debut.He also recently co-produced Willow O’Feral’s feature documentary Break the Silence: Reproductive & Sexual Health Stories, and is a co-founder of Haptic Pictures production company. Previously in his career he worked as a cinematographer on commercial and independent projects, including documentaries featuring diverse visionaries such as Barack Obama, Howard Zinn and Miranda July.
Willow O'Feral
Producer/Director
WILLOW O'FERAL is the award-winning director, producer and cinematographer of two feature documentary films Break the Silence: Reproductive & Sexual Health Stories and Sisters Rising. Break the Silence was awarded the 2018 Choice Champion Award from Planned Parenthood of New England, and the 2019 Best Documentary Feature Award at La Frontera Queer Film Festival.
Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Metis)
Executive Producer
TANTOO CARDINAL is a Cree/Metis actor, writer, and activist, and arguably the most widely-recognized Indigenous actress of her time. She has broken barriers for Native representation, combining her prodigious talent and presence with a fierce commitment to honouring Indigenous people. Tantoo is best known for her roles in Falls Around Her, Legends of the Fall, Dances With Wolves, Where The Rivers Flow North, and Smoke Signals.
Jaida Grey eagle (Oglala lakota)
Co-Producer
JAIDA GREY EAGLE is a Oglala Lakota artist, born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was born into a storytelling family and her work sprawls over various mediums including photography, film, beading, and writing. Jaida is a 2018 recipient of the First People’s Fund Artists in Business Fellowship, and she was awarded a Fellowship from the Native American Journalism Association in both 2017 and 2019.
