Sugarcane
Film
Dartmouth Film Society 75th

Sugarcane

Score composed by Mali Obomsawin '18
October 24, 2024

This event occurred as part of the 24/25 Hop Film season. This is an archived view.

An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning in this stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people.

Dartmouth Film Society 75th

 

Sugarcane | Official Trailer | National Geographic Documentary Films

 

Winning the award at Sundance for Best Directing in a US documentary, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie offer an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. 

In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. 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. With a gorgeously haunting score by Mali Obomsawin '18, Sugarcane illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.

The directors say of their experience: "Throughout, we were drawn to the contradictions we saw in the lives of our subjects: of faith, of culture, of the beauty and weight of home and family, when those things have been so fundamentally broken, and of the pursuit of truth, which can both liberate and kill. But we also connected to the parts of this experience that transcended: of the humanity that called our subjects to a greater, lasting purpose at the moment it mattered most; of the connection between departed ancestors and loved ones and the people they left behind; and of the forces that, for some reason, brought us together to tell this story."

D: Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, US, 2024, 1h47m

Programmed in collaboration with the Department of Native American & Indigenous Studies, with support from the Edward M Jr 1946 and Molly Scheu Fund

Mali Obomsawin '18 is a bassist, singer and composer from Odanak First Nation, and one of GRAMMY.com's top 10 emerging jazz artists to watch this year. Her debut album Sweet Tooth garnered international acclaim and was named in 'best of the year' lists from The Guardian, NPR and JazzTimes upon its release. Evocative and thunderous, Sweet Tooth delivers a gripping and dynamic performance, seamlessly melding chorale-like spirituals, folk melodies and post-Albert Ayler free jazz. As a student at Dartmouth, Mali majored in Government and participated in the Coast Jazz band while pursuing her professional music career.

Dartmouth Film Society 75th

Dartmouth Film Society 75th

DFS 75th
Dartmouth Film Society 75th

Founded in 1949, the Dartmouth Film Society is the oldest college film society in the country. This fall marks the 75th Anniversary!

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A Clockwork Orange
Hop Film Now

The Dartmouth Film Society, the oldest college film society in the country, celebrates its 75th anniversary this fall. Throughout the year, we'll be charting the impact of Dartmouth alums on the...

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Black Family Visual Arts Center
22 Lebanon Street
Hanover, NH

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