Our City Our Voices : Follow the Eagle and Slo-Pitch

The Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years in and around what is now the city of Vancouver. (The word Musqueam is an anglicized term describing 'where the Muxqui [river grass] grows.') Director Kevin Lee Burton's new film Writing the Land meticulously combines film language with Hunkamenum words to recreate Musqueam elder Larry Grant's experience of rediscovering his language and cultural traditions. Fluid roaming camera movement captures the ever-changing nature of a modern city - the glass and steel towers cut against the sky, grass, trees and a sudden flash of birds in flight. In this mutable, multifaceted environment, the enduring power of language to shape perception and create memory is etched onto the wind and water. In Larry Grant's own words, 'I am from Musqueam...We have been here forever.'.

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.

After years of struggle and shame, five Indigenous Canadians are bravely telling their stories. Crazywater is an emotional and revealing exploration of substance abuse among Indigenous people in Canada, directed by Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen. Rarely have their own perspectives on the sensitive topic of alcoholism been presented in such an honest and forthright manner. Dennis introduces Alex, Stephen, Paula and Desirae, who courageously share their experiences. Alex's struggles with alcoholism were an attempt to forget the abuse he suffered at a residential school. Drinking and drug use were Stephen's way of burying the childhood trauma he couldn't bear. For Paula and Desirae-two mothers with a dark history of addiction-family becomes the key to breaking the cycle of abuse. Like his subjects, the director himself is a recovering alcoholic. Dennis describes his decades-long battle with alcoholism, which began when he took his first drink-when he was only a boy. The survivors maintain a deep and devoted commitment to their traditional cultures as a means to achieving long-term sobriety. Through their voices, this insightful documentary offers an inspirational beacon of hope for those whose lives have been affected by addiction.