Sugarcane

Synopsis

An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.

Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie deliver a multilayered film that invites audiences to confront profound questions about morality and justice, and to bear witness to the lasting intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system — including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language. Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism — as well as NoiseCat's own personal connection to the story and community — the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative.

Director Biography

Julian Brave NoiseCat. Oakland native Julian Brave Noisecat was a policy analyst, cultural organizer, and political strategist before switching gears to writing and filmmaking. As a journalist, his work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other publications.

Emily Kassie is an Emmy® and Peabody®-nominated investigative journalist and filmmaker. Kassie shoots, directs and reports stories on geopolitical conflict, humanitarian crises, corruption and the people caught in the crossfire. Her work for The New York Times, PBS Frontline, Netflix, and others ranges from drug and weapons trafficking in the Saharan desert, to immigrant detention in the United States.