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‘must-see’ doc breaks new ground in canadian residential schools story
sugarcane weaves together the history of st. joseph’s mission residential school in williams lake with the story of noisecat’s own family.
aug 20 2024
3 minute read
director emily kassie films investigators charlene belleau and whitney spearing searching for evidence of abuse at st.joseph's mission for the documentary sugarcane, at viff centre beginning aug. 23. julian brave noisecat/sugarcane film llc
julian brave noisecatcleared for
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julian brave noisecat/sugarcane
sugarcane
when:
aug 23-27, 30, and sept. 1
where:
viff centre, 1181 seymour st., vancouver
tickets & info: viff.org
a new made-in-b.c. documentary that the new york times is calling a “must-see film about a terribly difficult subject” isn’t getting as wide a reception at home as it is in the u.s.
“in canada, it seems like the cultural gatekeepers are tired of the residential school story and history,” said julian brave noisecat, co-director of the doc, sugarcane.
“as much as our film can be a proxy for any of these sentiments, we’ve seen more engagement and excitement about our film in the u.s. it’s weird, but it goes back to why the discovery of potential unmarked graves in canada was covered in the u.s. — it was an opportunity for the u.s. to go, ‘wow, look at what canada did, isn’t that awful?’ when both countries participated in this genocide at the same time.”
sugarcane weaves together the history of st. joseph’s mission residential school in williams lake with the story of noisecat’s own family. the film is the debut feature from noisecat and co-director emily kassie, both journalists who met nearly a decade ago while working for the huffington post. noisecat, a member of the canim lake band tsq̓éscen̓ first nation in b.c., has spent much of his life in the u.s.; kassie was born and raised in toronto.
chief willie sellars of the williams lake first nation announces to the public the results of a year-long search for unmarked graves of indigenous children at st. joseph’s mission indian residential school to the public. justin zweifach/sugarcane film llc
justin zweifach
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the doc took shape through serendipity. in may of 2021, when stories about canada’s residential school system began appearing, kassie — who has reported on war and atrocities from afghanistan and rwanda — reached out to noisecat to see if he wanted “to work on something together” on the emerging story. while waiting for his decision, she searched for a community that was going to start a search of the grounds of a residential school. she found williams lake and st. joseph’s.
“out of 139 indian residential schools, it was the school that my family was sent to and where my dad was born,” said noisecat, who only learned of some of the conditions around his father’s birth during the making of the film.
those circumstances are shocking enough. but even more heartbreaking are the allegations of systematic infanticide.
at the film’s midpoint, a st. joseph’s mission survivor recalls an incident involving nuns at the school and a newborn.
“that was his testimony,” said kassie. “he’s the only living witness, so we don’t have testimony from anyone else. he is reclusive and lives very far off grid. he has suffered quite a lot from the trauma of what he has seen.”
she adds, “we held back on particular details.”
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although it does have its harrowing moments, sugarcane — which premiered earlier this year at the sundance film festival, where it received a jury prize in directing — has passages of healing and celebration too, including an early powwow scene.
to prepare, noisecat and kassie watched every powwow on film they could find. a favourite is from the 1989 comedy-drama powwow highway.
“there’s an amazing scene where the camera pans from one of the drummers to people talking to the dancers, and it traverses the entire world of the powwow in one single shot,” said kassie.
“that really blew my mind. we didn’t do our whole powwow in one shot, but we wanted to show not just the dancing but the conversation surrounding it, all the little dramas playing out, all these more private and social moments.”
ultimately, sugarcane is about the resilience of the human spirit and of the first nations people.
the story is far from over.
“i think asking indigenous peoples to reconcile with canada and the catholic church is quite pre-emptive,” noisecat said. “for any country to move forward, it needs to have an understanding of who it is.”
“part of that is opening records that have not yet been opened,” kassie said. “at the very least, indigenous communities are owed the truth. absolutely.”
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julian brave noisecat will be in attendance at viff centre for a q&a after the 7 p.m. aug. 23 screening.
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