Sugar Cane Viewing and Film Discussion

A MINISTRY OF

ST. COLUMBA'S INVERNESS

COUNCIL FOR ECOLOGICAL DISCIPLESHIP

P R E S E N T S

A free screening and discussion of

SUGARCANE

Saturday January 10 4-6:30pm, Frick Hall

As the Council for Ecological Discipleship searches for a deeper understanding of indigenous ecological wisdom in our commitment to reframing our relationship to caring for creation in this time of climate crisis, we face also the impact on Indigenous communities of the history of the Government’s and Catholic and Protestant churches’ Indian Residential Schools in the US and Canada. This Faith Community Screening Tour of “Sugarcane”, sponsored by The Episcopal Divinity School with Land Justice Futures offers free in-person screenings to support healing, conversations about truth and reconciliation, focussed on shared understanding, courage and repair.

After the screening there will be a guided conversation and an audience survey.

Free and open to the Public.

A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life - SUGARCANE, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie - is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. Set amidst a ground-breaking investigation into abuse and death at an Indian residential school, the film empowers participants to break cycles of intergenerational trauma by bearing witness to painful, long-ignored truths – and the love that endures within their families.

In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves near an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada sparked a national outcry about the forced separation, assimilation, and abuse many children experienced at this network of segregated boarding schools designed to slowly destroy the culture and social fabric of Indigenous communities. When Kassie- a journalist and filmmaker- asked her old friend and colleague, NoiseCat, to direct a film documenting the Williams Lake First Nation investigation of St Joseph’s Mission, she never imagined just how close this story was to his own family. As the investigation continued, Emily and Julian traveled back to the rivers, forests and mountains of his homelands to hear the myriad stories of survivors. During production, Julian’s own story became an integral part of this beautiful multi-stranded portrait of a community. By offering space, time, and profound empathy the directors unearthed what was hidden. Kassie and NoiseCat encountered both the extraordinary pain these individuals had to suppress as a tool for survival and the unique beauty of a group of people finding the strength to persevere.

This film is Rated R. This is a difficult film to watch. Severe content, viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Abuse and violence: The film contains discussions and firsthand accounts of severe child abuse, including physical and sexual violence.
Infanticide: It uncovers evidence and survivor accounts of babies born to sexually abused girls who were killed and incinerated on the mission grounds.
Intergenerational trauma: The film directly addresses the lasting impact of abuse and residential schools on survivors and their families, including themes of alcoholism and suicide.
Racism and colonialism: It centers on the systemic racism and colonial violence inherent in the residential school system.
Murder: The documentary includes discussions of murder related to the abuses at the school.
Trauma: The content may be particularly distressing for those with personal connections to residential schools or similar institutions

Julian Brave Noisecat - Director

Julian Brave NoiseCat is a writer, filmmaker and student of Salish art and history. His first documentary, SUGARCANE, directed alongside Emily Kassie, follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at the Indian residential school NoiseCat’s family was sent to near Williams Lake, British Columbia. A proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq'escen and descendant of the Lil'Wat Nation of Mount Currie, his first book, We Survived the Night, will be published in the fall of 2025.

NoiseCat’s journalism has appeared in dozens of publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker and has been recognized with many awards including the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize. In 2021, NoiseCat was named to the TIME100 Next list of emerging leaders.

Before turning full-time to writing and filmmaking, NoiseCat was a political strategist, policy analyst, and cultural organizer. In 2019, he helped lead a grassroots effort to bring an Indigenous canoe journey to San Francisco Bay to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Alcatraz Occupation. In 2020, he was the first to publicly suggest that Deb Haaland should be appointed Interior Secretary. Working with leaders from Indian Country as well as the progressive and environmental movements, NoiseCat helped turn the idea into a sophisticated inside-outside campaign. When Haaland was sworn in, she became the first Native American cabinet secretary in United States history.

Emily Kassie - Director, Producer, Cinematographer

Emily Kassie is an Emmy® and Peabody®-nominated investigative journalist and filmmaker. Kassie shoots, directs and reports stories on geopolitical conflict, humanitarian crises, corruption and the people caught in the crossfire. Her work for The New York Times, PBS Frontline, Netflix, and others ranges from drug and weapons trafficking in the Saharan desert, to immigrant detention in the United States. In 2021, she smuggled into Taliban territory with PBS Newshour correspondent Jane Ferguson to report on their imminent siege of Kabul and targeted killing of female leaders.

Her work has been honored with multiple Edward R. Murrow, World Press Photo and National Press Photographers awards. Her multimedia feature on the economic exploitation of the Syrian and West African refugee crises won the Overseas Press Club Award and made her the youngest person to win a National Magazine award. She previously oversaw visual journalism at Highline, Huffington Post’s investigative magazine, and at The Marshall Project.

Kassie was named to Forbes 30 under 30 in 2020 and is a 2023 New America fellow. Her first documentary, I Married My Family’s Killer, following couples in post-genocide Rwanda, won a Student Academy Award in 2015.