The Missing Child
(2008, 6 min.) CANADA. Tshiuetin Vollant (Innu). Produced by Wapikoni Mobile. In Innu with English subtitles.
When his best friend suddenly disappears, a young boy makes it his mission to find and bring him home.

How People Got Fire
(2008, 16 min.) CANADA. Daniel Janke.
Twelve-year old Tish is captivated by her grandmother's story in this animated work that brings metaphor and magic to life.

Mayan Reign
(2008, 5 min.) US. José Olmos.
A fictional story about the Mayan rain god, Chac, interprets indigenous culture with vivid visual images and original music.

Rolling Down Like Pele
(2004, 4 min.) US. Laura Margulies.
A mixed-media animation visualizing hula and Hawaiian musical traditions.

The Turtle and the Shark
(2008, 4 min.) US. Ryan Woodward.
In Samoa to this day, when the villagers sing the Song of Foquea from the cliffs, a turtle and a shark come to the surface of the sea.

The Beginning They Told
(2003, 11 min.) US. Joseph Erb (Cherokee). Produced for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. In Cherokee with English subtitles.
In the beginning times, the animals living in the sky vault work together to bring about the creation of the earth from a tiny piece of mud.

The Dreaming: The Trapdoor Spiderwoman (2009), and The Butterfly (2006). (6 min. each) AUSTRALIA. Produced by Aboriginal Nations Australia.
A series based on Australian Aboriginal storytelling and oral traditions, maintained as a body of knowledge for over 40,000 years.

Raven Tales: Bald Eagle
(2007, 25 min.) CANADA. Executive producer: Chris Kientz (Cherokee).
From a series grounded in ancient myths about the roles played in creation by Eagle, Raven and Frog. When the Great Spirit, accompanied by the trio, journeys to see the world, Eagle learns he needs to have a sense of humor.

The Missing Child
(2008, 6 min.) CANADA. Tshiuetin Vollant (Innu). Produced by Wapikoni Mobile. In Innu with English subtitles.
When his best friend suddenly disappears, a young boy makes it his mission to find and bring him home.

How People Got Fire
(2008, 16 min.) CANADA. Daniel Janke.
Twelve-year old Tish is captivated by her grandmother's story in this animated work that brings metaphor and magic to life.

Mayan Reign
(2008, 5 min.) US. José Olmos.
A fictional story about the Mayan rain god, Chac, interprets indigenous culture with vivid visual images and original music.

Rolling Down Like Pele
(2004, 4 min.) US. Laura Margulies.
A mixed-media animation visualizing hula and Hawaiian musical traditions.

The Turtle and the Shark
(2008, 4 min.) US. Ryan Woodward.
In Samoa to this day, when the villagers sing the Song of Foquea from the cliffs, a turtle and a shark come to the surface of the sea.

The Beginning They Told
(2003, 11 min.) US. Joseph Erb (Cherokee). Produced for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. In Cherokee with English subtitles.
In the beginning times, the animals living in the sky vault work together to bring about the creation of the earth from a tiny piece of mud.

The Dreaming: The Trapdoor Spiderwoman (2009), and The Butterfly (2006). (6 min. each) AUSTRALIA. Produced by Aboriginal Nations Australia.
A series based on Australian Aboriginal storytelling and oral traditions, maintained as a body of knowledge for over 40,000 years.

In February the nation focuses on the immense and historic struggle of people to gain equal civil rights, At the Movies looks at how Alaskan Native leaders and community members refused to let unequal laws stand without challenges, as statehood in 1959 brought federal laws to bear on subsistence hunting practices and Jim Crow laws were confronted until defeated.

For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska
(2009, 57 min.) US. Producer/Director/Co-Writer: Jeffry Lloyd Silverman. Writers: Diane E. Benson (Tlingit), Stevan M. Smith.
For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska traces the inspiring story of the state's civil rights movement. Blending documentary and drama, it tells the story of Alaskan Native community members and leaders who refused to let unequal laws stand without challenge and pays homage to one of the movement's most remarkable figures, Tlingit activist Elizabeth Peratrovich, whose eloquent defense of justice helped change history.

Discussion follows the screening.

Presented in cooperation with Alaska House, New York.

NEW: Join us at 5:30 pm on the first Thursday of each month for an in person introduction to the screenings.

All programs subject to change.

Owners of the Water: Conflict & Collaboration Over Rivers
(2008, 30 min.) US. Laura R. Graham, David Hernández Palmar (Wayuu), Caimi Waiassé (Xavante). In Xavante and Spanish with English subtitles.
A collaboration between indigenous filmmakers (a central Brazilian Xavante and a Wayuu from Venezuela) and an anthropologist explores a campaign headed by the Xavante to protect the Rio das Mortes River Basin from the uncontrolled soy cultivation that brings deforestation and pollution to the watershed. The Xavantes' May 25, 2006 blockade of a national highway in Mato Grosso raises awareness of their concerns and builds support for their efforts.

Yukon Circles
(2006, 30 min.) US. Karin Williams (Cook Islands). Produced for the Yukon River Inter–Tribal Watershed Council.
The 2300–mile Yukon River flowing through Canada and Alaska is threatened by pollution from military installations, mining, manufacturing, and settlement, and the tribes and First Nations develop a historic agreement to work together to protect it.

All programs subject to change.

Tales of Wesakechak: Wesakechak and the First Spring Flood
(2002, 13 min.) CANADA. Gregory Coyes (Métis Cree) and George Johnson. Stories from the Seventh Fire series – Spring.
For the Anishnabe peoples in the time before people lived on Turtle Island (North America), the Creator put the trickster Wesakechak on earth to take care of all the creatures. When he is tricked by the jealous spirit Machias, his friends come to his aid.

First Steps
(2003, 24 min.) CANADA. Neil Diamond (Cree) and Philip Lewis. Dab Iyiyuu/Absolutely Cree series. In English and Cree with English subtitles.
A Cree community in northern Ontario observes the traditional celebration of the "first steps" of its very young children. The documentary contains and enactment of a traditional Cree tale about a father's treachery and a mother's love, and the heroism of their son.

NEW: Join us at 5:30 pm on the first Thursday of each month for an in person introduction to the screenings.

All programs subject to change.

Horse You See
(2007, 8 min.) US. Melissa Henry (Navajo). In Navajo with English subtitles.
Ross, a Navajo horse, explains the very essence of being himself.

Holy Dog
(1999, 9 min.) CANADA. Judith Norris (Cree).
Canada Poetry, traditional song, and the Cree language pay tribute to the Horse Nation, as a woman and her horse journey literally and metaphorically around a medicine wheel.

Silent Thunder
(2006, 27 min.) US. Angelique Midthunder.
This documentary tells the story of Stanford Addison (Arapaho), a gifted and inspiring elder who, from his wheelchair, has become a master "horse whisperer."

4–Wheel War Pony
(2008, 8 min.) US. Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo).
Young Apache skateboarders link past to present.

The Legend of Quillwork Girl and Her Seven Star Brothers
(2003, 14 min.) US. Steve Barron. Courtesy of Hallmark Entertainment.
This Cheyenne legend about a skillful girl and her brothers explains how the Big Dipper originated. A selection from Hallmark's award–winning television feature Dreamkeeper.

Tainá-Kan, The Big Star
(2005, 16 min.) BRAZIL. Adriana Figueiredo. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
A digital animation of a traditional tale of the Karaja Indians of Brazil tells a story that accounts for the origin of agriculture as a gift of Tainá–Kan, or the big star Venus, who comes to earth in the form of a man.

Maq and the Spirit of the Woods
(2006, 8 min.) CANADA. Phyllis Grant (Mi'kmaq).
A young Mi'kmaq boy who can't do anything right carves a little person out of the pipestone that an elder has given him. When he goes into the forest to show his carving to his grandfather, he is joined by Mi'kmwesu, the Spirit of the Woods. As they travel together, Mi'kmwesu's gentle presence teaches Maq to appreciate his own special gifts.

First Fire
(2004, 11 min.) US. Nathan Young (Pawnee/Delaware/Kiowa). Produced by the Fort Gibson Public Schools, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. In Cherokee with English subtitles.
A claymation by Cherokee high school students tells the story of how the least likely of all the animals succeeded in bringing fire to the world.

In observance of Immigrant Heritage Week and Earth Day

From its domestication in the Mexico, to its widespread cultivation, corn literally has been both "life" for many indigenous people of the Americas, and a primary Native American food that changed the world. The trek of corn through the New World, the threat of agribusiness to small–scale farmers in Mexico and to the indigenous strains of corn they grow, the use of corn in ceremonies that nurture language and culture, and the good spirits that come from good eating are all evoked here.

Guardianes del Maíz/Guardians of the Corn
(2005, 36 min.) MEXICO. Guillermo Monteforte. Produced by Ojo de Agua Comunicación, Oaxaca, for the Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juárez of Oaxaca. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Emphasizing the need to protect the legacy of indigenous varieties of corn, this documentary investigates the damage to agriculture and health linked to the introduction of genetically modified corn in the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca.

Na Florentina
(2005, 7 min.) MEXICO. José Manuel Valencia (Zapotec). In Spanish with English subtitles.
Florentina Gallegos Luis, a grandmother in Juchitán, Oaxaca, prepares totopos (baked corn tortillas) for sale in the town square. The process is painstaking and laborious—and undervalued.

The Gift
(1998, 49 min.) CANADA/US. Gary Farmer (Cayuga). Produced by National Film Board of Canada.
From Maya communities of Chiapas, Mexico to Haudenosaunee lands in New York and Canada, this documentary explores the spiritual, economic, and political dimensions of Native people's relationship with corn.

La Cumbia del Mole
(2006, 4 min.) MEXICO. Lila Downs (Mixtec) and Johnny Moreno. In Spanish.
A song performed by Lila Downs celebrates the traditional cooking of Oaxacan women and the art of making mole and music.

Corn is Who We Are: Pueblo Indian Food
(1994, 19 min.) US. Rick Tejada-Flores. Produced by Alturas Films. Produced for National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
A visit to several Pueblo communities in New Mexico, where corn is an everyday food and an important part of Native culture.