Spirit Doctors

Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among Indigenous peoples in Canada. Poor dietary habits, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, have led to high incidences of obesity. These factors are believed to play a pivotal role in the onset of diabetes. Add to this the ever-increasing costs of drugs and treatments for a disease that has no cure and, clearly, a health crisis is close at hand. Ojibway filmmaker Brion Whitford lives with the pain of advanced diabetes. In 2001, complications from the disease left him with only 50 percent kidney function and blood sugar levels that were spiralling out of control. Having been raised in the city, Whitford grew up without knowing his culture or heritage. Consequently, he had little faith in traditional Indigenous medicine and healing. But the more his health deteriorated, the deeper his interest grew in connecting with his own culture and traditions. The Gift of Diabetes follows Whitford's struggle to regain his health by learning about The Medicine Wheel, a holistic tool grounded in an Indigenous understanding of the interconnectedness of all dimensions of life: the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. He also explores how the historical trauma of colonization continues to exert a negative influence over Indigenous people's psychological and physical well-being. Only by making peace with this fact and his own troubled past can he move forward to a healthier and better life. Whitford's journey is a moving account of a man coming to grips with his own mortality, while trying to re-establish balance in his life.

Windswept prairies, sloping coulees and stretches of open sky - this is the home of the Kainai Blood Nation, in the heart of southern Alberta. Filmmaker Loretta Sarah Todd takes viewers on a visually lush journey, exploring the significance of land, memory and knowledge in Kainai life. The catalyst for this expressionistic journey is the return of belongings of the Kainai, collected by Europeans during colonial times and kept in distant museums. As the community's elders examine the objects and share stories first-hand, they reveal how the rich threads of Kainai life thrive from one generation to the next. From their traditions and language to their sacred beliefs, this is a powerful continuum of culture that cannot be contained in a glass exhibit case. Stylistically blending sound, colour, light and words, this film explores the collective memory of the Kainai that resonates so deeply in their land and their storytelling traditions. Intertwining past, present and future, Kainayssini Imanistaisiwa: The People Go On is an eloquent testament to Kainai history, governance and existence.

In the language of the Squamish Nation, Cease Wyss was given the name 'T'Uy'Tanat', meaning "Woman who travels by canoe to gather medicines for all people." In director Kamala Todd's lyrical portrait, Wyss reveals the remarkable healing powers of plants growing among the sprawling urban streets of downtown Vancouver. Whether it's the secret curl of a fiddlehead, the gentleness of comfrey, or the blood red streaks of frog leaf, plants carry with them millennia of wisdom, communicated through colour, texture and form. Cease Wyss has been listening to this unspoken language, and is now passing this ancient and intimate sense of connection to her own daughter, Senaqwila.