Smudge

Jan 1, 2005

0h 12m

★ 0.0

Overview

This short documentary follows three Indigenous women as they practice ancestral forms of worship: drumming, singing, and using sweetgrass. These ancient spiritual traditions may at first seem at odds with urban life, but to Indigenous people in Canada who are used to praying in natural settings, the whole world is sacred space.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

ONF | NFB

Smudge Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Cindy

Andrea F. Friedman

Jack Watson

John Maclaren

Nurse Sinclair

June B. Wilde

Principal (as Luisa Cianni)

Maria Luisa Cianni

Jan

Demetri Goritsas

This documentary follows four female First Nations artists—Doreen Jensen, Rena Point Bolton, Jane Ash Poitras and Joane Cardinal-Schubert are First Nations artists who seek to find a continuum from traditional to contemporary forms of expression. These exceptional artists reveal their philosophies as artists, their techniques and creative styles, and the exaltation they feel when they create. A moving testimony to the role that Indigenous women artists have played in maintaining the voice of their culture.

5.7

Broken Rainbow

May 5, 1985

Documentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.

0.0

The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area?

Nov 15, 1983

Documents the cultural and ecological impacts of coal stripmining, uranium mining, and oil shale development in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona – homeland of the Hopi and Navajo.

0.0

Natsik Hunting

Jan 1, 1975

Mosha Michael made an assured directorial debut with this seven-minute short, a relaxed, narration-free depiction of an Inuk seal hunt. Having participated in a 1974 Super 8 workshop in Frobisher Bay, Michael shot and edited the film himself. His voice can be heard on the appealing guitar-based soundtrack…. Natsik Hunting is believed to be Canada’s first Inuk-directed film. – NFB

8.2

Baraka

Sep 15, 1992

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

0.0

Our Dear Sisters

Jan 1, 1975

Alanis Obomsawin, a North American Indian who earns her living by singing and making films, is the mother of an adopted child. She talks about her life, her people, and her responsibilities as a single parent. Her observations shake some of our cultural assumptions.

7.0

Nuuca

Jul 2, 2018

In this evocative meditation, a disturbing link is made between the resource extraction industries’ exploitation of the land and violence inflicted on Indigenous women and girls. Or, as one young woman testifies, “Just as the land is being used, these women are being used.”

10.0

An immersion into the Divine Feminine

Aug 15, 2017

By drawing a parallel between the Indian Durga Puja festival and other forms of celebrating the divine feminine, Santa Shakti reveals the Sacred Power beyond languages and religions.

0.0

The Crying Fields

Jul 15, 2019

A deep dive into the history of the Canadian Government and the Department of National Defence leasing First Nations reserves as practice bombing ranges during World War I and World War II. This documentary follows the Enoch Cree Nation's process of developing it's land claim against the Canadian Government following the discovery of active landmines in the heart of the nation's cultural lands and golf course in 2014, almost 70 years later.

0.0

Angels Gather Here

Jul 16, 2017

Angels Gather Here’ follows Jacki Trapman’s journey back to her hometown of Brewarrina to celebrate her parents, Bill and Barbara’s 60th Wedding Anniversary.  Going home is never easy for Jacki. Amidst the family celebrations she reflects on her life; her story symbolising the strength, dignity and resilience of many Aboriginal people in the face of adversity.

0.0

My Grandmother’s Tipi

Mar 21, 2025

“Nuuhkuum uumichiwaapim” (« My Grandmother’s Tipi ») is an exploration of the sensorial and textural experience of a grandmother’s tipi. It is based on memories of being in a tipi, observing in the bliss of cooking and the time in-between.

1.5

Electronic Awakening

Jan 1, 2011

A documentary following the conscious evolution of electronic music culture and the spiritual movement that has awakened within.

0.0

Taking Alcatraz

Nov 1, 2015

A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island as told by principal organizer, Adam Fortunate Eagle. The story unfolds through Fortunate Eagle's remembrances, archival newsreel footage and photographs.

No Image Available

0.0

Os Xetá da Serra do Dourado

Jan 1, 1959

No overview available.

0.0

Lumière des hommes

Jan 1, 1954

Following the example of an entomologist watching the behavior of insects Edmond Bernhard scrutinizes the doings and the words of a priest - assisted by his choirboys - in the process of saying his mass.

9.0

Pinnacles

Aug 29, 2022

Resulting from an ancient volcanic eruption, revered as sacred by the Chalun and Matsun Native American Tribes as the home of the Firebird/Thunderbird (California Condor) a supernatural being of power and strength. Pinnacles represents transcendent moments, spiritual guidance and forging new timelines within interpersonal landscapes.

0.0

Women in the Shadows

Jan 1, 1991

Filmed on location in Saskatchewan from the Qu'Appelle Valley to Hudson Bay, the documentary traces the filmmaker's quest for her Native foremothers in spite of the reluctance to speak about Native roots on the part of her relatives. The film articulates Métis women's experience with racism in both current and historical context, and examines the forces that pushed them into the shadows.

6.4

Radiant City

May 30, 2007

Since the end of World War II, one of kind of urban residential development has dominate how cities in North America have grown, the suburbs. In these artificial neighborhoods, there is a sense of careless sprawl in an car dominated culture that ineffectually tries to create the more organically grown older communities. Interspersed with the comments of various experts about the nature of suburbia

7.9

Beijing 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony

Aug 8, 2008

The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 p.m. China Standard Time (UTC+8) on August 8, 2008, as 8 is considered to be a lucky number in Chinese culture. Featuring more than 15,000 performers, the ceremony lasted over four hours and cost over $100 million USD to produce.

8.0

Piripkura

Mar 1, 2018

The last two surviving members of the Piripkura people, a nomadic tribe in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, struggle to maintain their indigenous way of life amidst the region's massive deforestation. Living deep in the rainforest, Pakyî and Tamandua live off the land relying on a machete, an ax, and a torch lit in 1998.

Smudge

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Smudge Trailers