‘Sugarcane’ Review: A Documentary That Tackles Cultural Erasure, And Community-Centered Reconciliation – Sundance Film Festival

deadline.com:

Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie deliver a multilayered film that invites audiences to confront questions about morality and justice, and to bear witness to the lasting intergenerational trauma of the Williams Lake First Nations (Secwepemc or Shuswap Nation) people from the residential school system which included forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of First Nation culture and language.

Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism — as well as NoiseCat’s own personal connection to the story and community — the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative.

Demonstrating unparalleled humanity, and compassion for the affected First Nation communities in North America, their powerful documentary operates from a place of pure and total empathy.

At the same time, NoiseCat and Kassie recognize the resilience of the survivors and their descendants, and their determination to seek answers to long-buried secrets.