Nov

Native Cinema Showcase returns online with a message of resilience

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian brings its annual Native Cinema Showcase to online audiences from November 12–18.

NCS 2021 Trailer

If you are unable to view the trailer here, please visit the Native Cinema Showcase page at NMAI.

This year’s showcase focuses on Native people boldly asserting themselves through language, healing, building community, and maintaining a continued relationship with the land. Activism lies at the heart of all these stories. The showcase provides a unique forum for engagement with Native filmmakers from Indigenous communities throughout the Western Hemisphere and Arctic. It includes a total of 47 films (seven features and 40 shorts) representing 39 Native nations in 13 countries: the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Sweden, Greenland, and the Solomon Islands. In addition to the films, the showcase includes pre-recorded panel discussions with Native filmmakers and writers about all aspects of Indigenous storytelling from their own experiences.

All 40 shorts and three of the feature films, What Happened to the Bees? (¿Qué les pasó a las abejas?), Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective, and Rez Metal, will be available for online streaming worldwide. Audiences in the United States also have access to Waikiki, Beans, The Song of the Butterflies (El Canto de las Mariposas), and Run Woman Run.

View the full schedule, which includes information about geographic restrictions.

From left, screenshots from “Beans,” “Run Woman Run,” Waikiki,” and “The Song of the Butterflies (El Canto de las Mariposas)”

Feature Films
Visit the Native Cinema Showcase website for details on when each film is available to stream.

Waikiki (USA, 2020, 77 minutes)
Beans (Canada, 2020, 92 minutes)
The Song of the Butterflies (El Canto de las Mariposas) (Peru/Colombia, 2020, 65 minutes)
Run Woman Run (Canada, 2021, 100 minutes)
What Happened to the Bees? (¿Qué les pasó a las abejas?) (Mexico, 2019, 67 minutes)
Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective (USA, 2020, 76 minutes)
Rez Metal (USA/Denmark, 2021, 76 minutes)

Special support for Native Cinema Showcase is provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Additional funding is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature, the Walt Disney Company, the Consulate General of Canada in New York, the Council for Canadian American Relations, and Canada Now.

For more information, visit americanindian.si.edu.