Dir. Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
2024, Canada, 107 min
English and Secwepemctsín with English subtitles
In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the heartbreak and beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to survive.
Content warning: This film includes challenging and/or triggering subject matter, including discussions around child abuse, racism and colonial violence.
“A heartbreaking and horrifying documentary digs into the history of B.C.’s notorious and now shuttered St. Joseph’s Mission residential school, one of many such institutions that traumatized generations and shamed all of Canada.” – Toronto Star
“It’s impossible to overstate the trauma that is explored throughout Sugarcane, a harrowing documentary on the sins of St. Joseph’s Mission in British Columbia and the Canadian Indian residential school system as a whole.” – The Film Stage
“Sugarcane is something more meaningful than a mere history lesson. It’s a portrait of what remains when injustice occurs.”- IndieWire
