Discover new stories on CBC Gem for Indigenous History Month in June
CBC | Posted: June 1, 2023 4:23 PM | Last Updated: June 1, 2023
Check out the new titles now available to stream this month.
Celebrate Indigenous History Month with a selection of new titles to stream for free on CBC Gem on our Indigenous Stories collection.
From a stunning portrait of Canadian singer Tanya Tagaq to a fun anti rom-com starring Run the Burbs actor Dakota Ray Herbert, this collection features diverse stories told by Indigenous voices.
Pour Toi Flora (Dear Flora)
Inspired by true events, this French-language six-part drama series tells the moving story of an Algonquin brother and sister, who, in the 1960s, were taken away from their parents and sent to an Indian residential school. Although fictionalized, the story is inspired by the true-life experiences of several hundred families in Quebec who are only now able to come to terms with their painful past.
Dear Flora is directed and written by Indigenous filmmaker Sonia Bonspille Boileau and is the winner of the Mipcom 2022 Diversity Award for best-scripted representation of race and ethnicity.
Ever Deadly
This documentary weaves concert footage of Tanya Tagaq, one of the most innovative musicians of our time, with stunning sequences filmed on location in Nunavut, bridging landscapes, stories and songs with pain, anger and triumph.
Captured by award-winning co-director Chelsea McMullan, Ever Deadly is an engaging snapshot of Tagaq's career and captures the essence of why she's such a compelling live performer.
Run Woman Run
In this feel-good anti rom-com we meet Beck (played by Dene actor Dakota Ray Herbert from CBC's Run the Burbs), a single mom who has lost her passion for life and for her Mohawk language. She lives for donuts in a bathrobe, where her only exercise is the walk from her car to the mailbox. Beck gives up when her health fails and she wakes up in the hospital from a diabetic coma, disappointing her family.
To win them back, Beck conjures the spirit of a legendary marathon runner who inspires her to run and to be grateful. She honours the Earth and her family with every run, leading her toward a better future.
The Awakeners
Acclaimed Métis folk and country singer and songwriter Laura Vinson goes on a personal journey to connect with Indigenous artists with disabilities in this six-part documentary series. Now suffering from a hearing loss, Vinson brings together the perspectives of both Indigenous peoples and people with disabilities that share a common experience, having often been misunderstood and marginalized.
Coming soon
Spirit of Nation: The Places We Belong
In this documentary short film, director Brandon Wilson takes us to the sacred lands of the Fort McKay First Nation people in Northern Alberta. He chronicles the struggle Cree people feel as they live in a modern colonized world but yearn to be back on the land of their ancestors.
Kokum, With Love
In this personal short documentary, Indigenous filmmaker Kim Stadfeld searches for truth about her grandmother Flora Bear who died of tuberculosis leaving behind a husband and four young children. Stadfeld's mother Eva, the oldest sibling and only daughter was forced to leave elementary school to help take care of her younger brothers.
Decades of research reveal the beautiful story of two strong Indigenous women as the director herself becomes a grandmother.
Winnipeg's North End: A Food Desert
Marsha Knight, an Ojibway-Metis artist, tells the story of Winnipeg's North End, an area with a high population of Indigenous and ethnically diverse peoples but poor access to local grocery stores.
People living there share their struggle to provide basic and culturally-based food for the families while facing the barriers of transportation and rising food costs.
DƏNE YI'INJETL – The Scattering of Man
In the 1960s, the Tsay Keh Dene people found themselves displaced from their land when BC Hydro built the largest hydroelectric project in the province, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. Homes were swept away by the rising waters along with the animals they relied on for food, but the Tsay Keh Dene still live there decades later to tend to the land and clean up the mess.
Voices Across the Water
Alaskan Tlingit carver Wayne Price and Yukon francophone Halin de Repentigny are among the last canoe builders. This beautiful feature-length documentary chronicles their journey as they craft two boats from standing in the forest to floating in the water.