EXCLUSIVE: In the new trailer for National Geographic Documentary Films’ Sugarcane, Indigenous Canadian leader and residential schools survivor Charlene Belleau says, “Did they think we’d be stupid, all of our lives, the rest of our lives? That nobody would ever find out these things?” Watch the clip above.
The “they” she refers to is the Catholic Church and all those who have attempted to cover up the systemic sexual abuse, disappearances, and alleged murders that occurred over many decades at boarding schools in Canada and the United States, where Indigenous children were sent to dispossess them of their language and culture.
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The “we” Belleau refers to are survivors of that brutal system who for years have campaigned for accountability for members of clergy who allegedly committed abuse. As seen in Sugarcane, a delegation of First Nations leaders and survivors of the residential school system traveled to the Vatican, where they elicited an expression of sorrow from Pope Francis, but no formal church investigation.
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie directed Sugarcane, winner of the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as winner of Best Documentary at San Francisco International Film Festival, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, and Sarasota Film Festival, among other prizes.
Sugarcane will be released theatrically by Variance Films in the U.S. and by Films We Like in Canada on Aug. 9. It will begin streaming later this year on Hulu and Disney+.
“In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada,” notes a synopsis of the documentary. That school was the St. Joseph’s Mission, located on land of the Williams Lake First Nation in British Columbia. “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 beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.”
One of the survivors of the St. Joseph’s Mission school was Ed Archie NoiseCat, father of director Julian Brave NoiseCat. His remarkable story becomes one of the linchpins of Sugarcane. According to testimony of witnesses, as an infant, Ed Archie was placed in garbage to be incinerated at St. Joseph’s. A worker heard his cries and rescued him. Other babies – all the product of sexual abuse of priests and Catholic brothers who impregnated Indigenous girls – were incinerated, according to emerging evidence.
“Our film tries to center a story about community and family, about the ties that bring us together and that endure despite the awful history of these schools and of this genocide,” Brave NoiseCat told Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast earlier this year. “So yes, it is a really awful history. I think that it’s a challenging film because of that, and it needed to be because this was a genocide. And at the same time, I think Emily and our cinematographers and our whole team, our editors really tried to draw out and to make a point of is that despite that history, a very beautiful Indigenous way of life and connection to each other and to our land persists against that near annihilation.”
In the Doc Talk interview, Kassie said, “I think one of the powers of film is to connect us to our humanity and something within ourselves. And when a film can take you there and take you deep into people’s lives and psyches and you can get lost in it, I think is when it can have the most impact. So, we hope that people feel that as well as the journalistic and historic importance of the film.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an appearance in one scene in the film, making vague statements about the need for “Canada to do better” in its reckoning with the legacy of residential schools. While one can debate how far America’s neighbor to the north has gone in terms of pursuing truth and reconciliation over the horrific history of residential schools, there is no question is has gone further than the U.S. There were many, many more residential schools across the United States than in Canada – run by the Catholic Church or other Christian denominations – yet there has been little to no conversation about the horrors and generational trauma inflicted by the systematized cultural erasure and abuse.
“We hope that the film helps drive a conversation at a national and international level and also at a familial and community level,” Brave NoiseCat told Deadline. “The United States is not very good at reckoning with its very troubling past, and that is certainly true with respect to the history of Native American boarding schools. There is an inquiry being led by Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, who’s the first ever Native American cabinet secretary. She was present at our world premiere [at Sundance], which was such an honor to have her there. And we hope that this film helps drive that conversation here in the United States and help support that inquiry. At the same time, I think that the personal aspect of this film for myself and for our participants is really about having the kinds of conversations that we haven’t had in our own families and communities about this history.”
This is the theatrical release plan for Sugarcane:
● New York – Film Forum – exclusive engagement begins Aug. 9
● Toronto – TIFF Lightbox – exclusive engagement begins Aug. 9
● Los Angeles – Laemmle Royal – exclusive engagement begins Aug. 16
The film will expand to more U.S. and Canadian cities beginning August. 16.
Sugarcane is a Kassie Films and Hedgehog Films production, in association with Impact Partners and Fit Via Vi. It is produced by Kassie and Oscar-nominee Kellen Quinn (Time). The director of photography is Christopher LaMarca, and the cinematographer is by Emily Kassie.
The film was edited by Nathan Punwar and Maya Daisy Hawke, with music by Mali Obomsawin. Carolyn Bernstein is executive producer for National Geographic Documentary Films. EPs also include Bill Way, Elliott Whitton, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Tegan Acton, Emma Pompetti, Grace Lay, Sumalee Montano, Sabrina Merage Naim, Douglas Choi, Adam and Melony Lewis, Meadow Fund, JanaLee Cherneski and Ian Desai, David and Linda Cornfield, Maida Lynn, Robina Riccitiello, Nina and David Fialkow. The co-executive producers are Kelsey Koenig, Lauren Haber, Meryl Metni and Jennifer Pelling.
Watch the Sugarcane trailer above.