Skip to main content

Sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane

Dir. Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
107 min

An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life – Sugarcane, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie – is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning.

Set amidst a ground-breaking investigation into abuse and death at an Indian residential school, the film empowers participants to break cycles of intergenerational trauma by bearing witness to painful, long-ignored truths – and the love that endures within their families despite the revelation of genocide.

Content advisory: themes of abuse

Film Details

Release Year: 2024
Runtime: 107 min
Country/Region: Canada, USA
Language: English, Secwepemctsín
Print Source: National Geographic Documentary Films
Tags: Best of Fest, BIPOC Lens, Documentary, Guest Attending, Human Rights, Indigenous Voices, Women Directors

Cast/Crew

Director: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Executive Producer: Bill Way, Elliott Whitton, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Tegan Acton, Emma Pompetti, Grace Lay, Sumalee Montano, Sabrina Merage Naim, Douglas Choi, Adam & Melony Lewis, JanaLee Cherneski, Ian Desai, David & Linda Cornfield, Maida Lynn, Robina Riccitiello
Producer: Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn
Cinematographer: Christopher Lamarca, Emily Kassie
Editor: Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke
Composer: Mali Obomsawin
Principal Cast: Charlene Belleau, Rick Gilbert, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Ed Archie NoiseCat, Willie Sellars