Watandar is a gentle but piercing study of Australia’s indigenous, colonial, immigrant and imperialist history. When former Afghan refugee Muzafar Ali discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own new Afghan-Australian identity. Then, the Taliban take over Afghanistan and his old country comes calling.

Simon Baker stars as Travis Hurley, a jaded detective who arrives in a small Australian outback city to research a twenty-year-old unsolved homicide of a neighborhood Aboriginal lady. As he forms bonds with the surviving family’s fractured household, Travis unravels a collection of arduous truths, highlighting the complexities of loss and injustice felt by First Nations Australians.

Remaining Native is a coming-of-age documentary told from the perspective of Kutoven (Ku) Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggling to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great-grandfather’s escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future. Ku Stevens is the solo runner at his high school with no coach. Living on the Yerington Paiute reservation in Northwest Nevada he needs more to be seen by his dream school, the University of Oregon. As Ku trains, unreconciled emotions unearth the memory of his great-grandfather, Frank Quinn. At 8 years old, Frank ran 50 miles across the desert to escape an Indian boarding school. Frank’s story becomes interwoven with Ku’s journey to run a collegiate qualifying time.

This 98-minute program features 7 short films from Indigenous filmmakers including Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong, Tiger by Loren Waters, En Memoria by Roberto Fatal, and more. Experience a celebration of life and identity through Indigenous film. The curated selection reflects a variety of Native stories and showcases inventive, original storytelling from indigenous artists. Sundance Institute has a long history of supporting and launching talented Indigenous directors including Erica Tremblay, Taika Waititi, Blackhorse Lowe, Sterlin Harjo, Sky Hopinka, Caroline Monnet, Fox Maxy, and Shaandiin Tome.

Pow! is cartoon short about a young Native kid trying to charge their video game console at a powwow. It’s one of the first times a powwow has ever been animated!

Joey Clift is a Los Angeles-based comedian, TV writer, director, Emmy-nominated producer, and enrolled member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. Joey attended college to become a local TV weather person because as a kid he didn’t see any Native American comedians on television, and that made him believe he wasn’t allowed to work in comedy. Since then, he has learned that this is not true – and his comedy style reflects that. Joey’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, CNN, Pitchfork, NPR, Dead Meat, and Comedy Central.

The incredible and untold story of how Irish people interacted with the Native Americans, with contributions from some of Ireland’s leading historians along with many important Native American commentators. The Irish people were both friends and foes, who having lost their land settled in the land of Native Americans. This is a highly contemporary film showing the journey to America not just from the Irish perspective, but through the eyes of the people they displaced. Both the Irish and Native Americans have faced colonization by English-speaking countries, leading to shared experiences of oppression, cultural erasure, and dispossession.

Produced by Ronin Films, an independent factual television company working in Belfast, Ireland.

Through a series of vignettes – some tragic, some funny, all a little bizarre – this animated feature documentary explores the complex bond between two half-brothers, one Indigenous, one white, spanning bustling 1980s Toronto to the present day isolated First Nations community of Shamattawa. As they reminisce, their yarns are often punctuated, interrupted, or else hijacked by the charismatic members of their family who indulge in their own reveries. Endless Cookie is at heart an impressionistic and often surreal depiction of family, but it is also a documentary of the creative process.

Language: English and Cree, with English subtitles

Melissa Trombley, a self-taught Blackfeet artist and filmmaker from Browning, Montana, is a student at Blackfeet Community College. After moving back home, she began the ongoing journey of reconnecting with her culture, something that has been both emotionally powerful and spiritually grounding. That process inspired her documentary, “Reconnecting with Our Ways,” which highlights some Blackfeet practices like hide tanning, archery, buffalo processing, and explores the importance of cultural revitalization.

Using a mix of contemporary interviews, archival footage and AI recreations, Short Bull and France bring alive the energy of when the American Indian Movement (AIM) was rising up to protest centuries of injustice and oppression, and the US government was pushing back hard. The film chronicles occupations, arrests, demands, assassinations—and in the midst of it all, the story of Peltier, a one-time auto mechanic who joined the AIM movement to protect and advocate for his people and quickly found himself in a war. Short Bull and France situate Peltier’s story in the broad sweep of history, from his forced time in an Indian boarding school to the legal harassment he endured as a young man to the intense siege he found himself in when the FBI descended on the Pine Ridge compound where he and others were staying. Free Leonard Peltier vividly captures the climate of fear and apprehension that pervaded Pine Ridge at the time—and once Peltier is accused of murdering two FBI agents, it tracks the legal machinations and dirty pool tactics that saw him arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned, all on the basis of evidence long since shown to be inconclusive at best and falsified at worst.

The Spence brothers, Adam and Ryan, are waiting for their sick father, William, to die so they can purchase the family restaurant using their father’s inheritance. Upon William’s death, the brothers discover that William gave away his inheritance to the Indigenous people of Bird, a rural hamlet in Northern Canada. The only way the brothers can hope to get his wealth back is to convince the Chief of the band, Ed Whitford, to disclaim the estate. The brothers embark on a journey to the remote hamlet with little expectations of the adventures they would encounter that would set events beyond their control in motion.

Bdote: A Birthing Island offers a walking tour revealing the deep connection Dakota people have to Bdote, the place where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet. Through Dakota oral histories and Ramona Kitto Stately’s great-great-grandmother Pazahiyayewin’s personal journey, this story highlights Bdote’s cultural and sacred importance, celebrating Dakota people’s resilience across generations.

George Littlechild is a celebrated and beloved nêhiyaw (Cree) artist. At 65 years of age, Littlechild shares his wisdom, perspectives on social issues and Indigenous history, and insights into his personal history and artistic career. After a childhood of trauma and upheaval, Littlechild has achieved a remarkable sense of calm and joy, which shines in this biographical study. A proud Two Spirit person, Littlechild has channeled his desire for healing into the bold and colorful works of art that characterize his unique artistic vision. Newly filmed 16 mm conversations blend with archival interview excerpts, capturing Littlechild at various moments throughout his life and career. Wit and humor infuse the film, and Littlechild’s presence is enhanced by a powerful focus on landscape and an expressive score.

Woven Connections (2023)
Fingerweaving may not be quite as popular as basketry or pottery when it comes to traditional Cherokee arts, but Lily Drywater is doing her part to promote and pass on this art form.

Keladi (2020)
Artist Keli Gonzales shares how she uses her paintings to help preserve the Cherokee language and traditional values.

Lorene Drywater’s Buffalo Grass Dolls (2016)
Lorene Drywater was honored as a Smithsonian National Treasure and was featured in the 1995 National Geographic Magazine for her Buffalo Grass Dolls.

Artist Roy Boney, Jr. (2015)
Award-winning filmmaker, artist, and writer Roy Boney Jr. revitalizes the Cherokee language and creates art inspired by Cherokee values and imagery.

The Monacan Indian Nation received federal recognition in 2018, but the Monacan people have lived in Virginia for thousands of years. In the 1920s, they were the target of eugenics movements that attempted to erase their identity. Today, they number around 2500 members. Together with tribal governments in eastern Virginia, they are working to reclaim land and identity that have always been theirs.

Next, we meet Darrell Redleaf, a talented makeup artist and hairdresser to Hollywood’s A-list stars like Demi Moore, Helen Hunt, and Jodie Foster. Coming from the reservation with a dream, Darrell has established himself as a go-to artist in the industry.

Our journey continues as we visit the matriarchs of Tongva, the original people of Los Angeles, in Topanga Canyon. This gathering of artists, authors, filmmakers, and storytellers form an Artist Collective representing the modern indigenous people of LA.

In a small place in the Highlands of Chiapas, a Tsotsil girl who is about to give birth for the first time invokes the memories of the women who preceded her in order to face the moment. Amidst the fears and uncertainties of giving life, she discovers motherhood from the cosmovision of her world.

“Ch’ul be’ delves into the Tsotsil sacred path, exploring ancient collective commitments that sustain the cycle of life in the community. In San Andres Larrainzar, everyone is responsible for their collective well-being, but few are chosen to follow the path of serving the gods. ”Ch’ul be” is the path of Martha and Diego, and of Román and his son Tino. It is a journey from the everyday to the divine, from the individual to the collective, to ensure that knowledge is not lost and the cycle is not broken.

Directed by Andrew Troy and co-written by Troy and acclaimed screenwriter Guinevere Turner (American Psycho, The L Word, The Notorious Bettie Page), Midnight in the Orange Grove follows Josephine “Josie” Paulus, a 17-year-old art student, portrayed by rising newcomer Isa Yamileth, whose world unravels after news of her mother’s medical diagnosis. As Josie’s artwork begins to mirror fragmented and suppressed memories, she enters an intensive therapy process that unveils a painful truth about her childhood and a mysterious woman from her past. Set under the moonlit skies of Southern California’s orange groves, Josie’s story becomes one of truth, identity, and forgiveness. Midnight in the Orange Grove is already drawing attention for its haunting visuals, powerful performances, and culturally resonant storytelling.