Six Indigenous Shorts from the Sundance Institute

Birds in the Earth

Dir. Marja Helander (Sámi). 2018, 11 mins. Examining the deeper questions of the ownership of the Sami land through the ballet performances of two young dancers. 

Fainting Spells 

Dir. Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga Band of Luiseño). 2018, 10 mins. Told through recollections of youth, learning, lore, and departure, this is an imagined myth for the Indian pipe plant used by the Ho-Chunk to revive those who have fainted. 

Jáaji Approx.

Dir. Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga Band of Luiseño). 2015, 8 mins. Against landscapes that the artist and his father traversed, audio of the father in the Ho-Chunk language is transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet, which tapers off, narrowing the distance between recorder and recordings, new and traditional, memory and song. 

My Father’s Tools 

Dir. Heather Condo (Mi’gmaq). 2016, 7 mins. Stephen continues producing traditional baskets to honor his father and thus finds peace in his studio as he connects with the man who taught him the craft. 

Throat Singing in Kangirsuk

Dir. Eva Kaukai (Inuit) and Manon Chamberland (Inuit). 2018, 4 mins. Eva and Manon practice the art of throat singing in the small village of Kangirsuk, in their native Arctic land. Interspliced with footage of the four seasons of Kangirsuk by Johnny Nassak.

Shiinaab Part II

Dir. Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians). 2018, 8 mins. A look at Ojibwe ideas surrounding the death process as a young man strives to honor his late father.

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