Documentary on legacy of B.C. residential schools wins directing award at Sundance Film Festival

A documentary chronicling the devastating legacy of residential schools in B.C. is among breakout films at this year's Sundance Film Festival. 

Directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie received the jury prize for directing in the U.S. documentary category for Sugarcane about the investigation into the abuse at a residential school, the children that went missing there, and its impacts on the nearby Sugarcane reserve.

Awards for the festival's 40th edition — which runs Jan. 18-28 — were announced Friday at the Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah. 

"The reception here at the film festival has ... been just incredibly positive," NoiseCat told CBC News from Park City, via Zoom. 

NoiseCat, a member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq̓éscen̓, appears in the film alongside his father, Ed Archie NoiseCat, who was born at St. Joseph's Mission Residential School near the Sugarcane reserve in Williams Lake, B.C.

NoiseCat attended Sugarcane's screening along with people who live on the reserve, which is located around 320 kilometres north of Vancouver.

"It was not assumed that I would be a participant in the documentary," he said. "I was initially going to be a collaborator behind the camera."

But he said as he learned more about his family's origin story, and how they were tied to the residential school, he felt he wouldn't be giving his all if he didn't appear in the film.

More than 150,000 children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada from the 1830s until 1997. The institutions were created by the Canadian federal government to assimilate Indigenous people, in part by forcibly separating children from their parents.

The residential school near the Sugarcane reserve operated from 1886 to 1981 and was run by Roman Catholic missionaries.

The structure of St. Joseph's Mission Residential School has since been torn down, but the painful memories for survivors and their families remain, says NoiseCat.

"My family has a very deep and painful connection to the residential schools," he said. "I was hesitant to work on that subject in a new medium."

The involvement of fellow director Emily Kassie, however, helped move the needle on bringing the documentary to life.

Kassie said she contacted NoiseCat following the May 2021 revelations of potential unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

The journalist had already began an investigation when she came across a news article about the Williams Lake First Nation's investigation into the missing children at the school.

"[I] felt like this was the story that needed to be told," Kassie said. 

The two filmmakers had previously worked together while reporting for the Huffington Post.

"Out of 139 schools across Canada ... she happened to come across the one school that my family attended," said NoiseCat.

Funny moments, painful moments

Despite the heavy subject matter, Kassie says Sugarcane also has its share of uplifting moments and comedy. 

"There are funny moments and there are painful moments," she said.

NoiseCat agrees.

"It's a road trip film," he said. "You could say it's also a buddy stoner film ... it's not just a litany of abuse and genocide."

Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars also attended the Sundance screening. 

In an interview with CBC's The Early Edition, Sellars said, "it was tough to hold it together while watching the film."

"We could see the impact the film made on the audience and it was really emotional to see all that," he said.

The Early Edition8:50Sugarcane premieres at Sundance

We'll hear from Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake First Nation.

Sellars says he is confident the film will spark conversations about the legacy of intergenerational trauma left behind by residential schools in the Unites States. 

"There were twice as many Indian schools in the U.S. than here. Hopefully, [Sugarcane] kickstarts a movement of healing and education throughout North America."