Remaining Native + Clear Sky (films)

BIFF (Buffalo International Film Festival Premier) 

Ku Stevens (17) is the solo runner at his high school with no coach. Living on the Yerington Paiute reservation in Northwest Nevada, he is driven by his ambition to run for his dream school, the University of Oregon.

As Ku trains, unreconciled emotions unearth the memory of his great-grandfather, Frank Quinn. At 8 years old, Frank ran 50 miles across the desert to escape an Indian boarding school. Frank’s story becomes interwoven with Ku’s journey to run a collegiate qualifying time.

This coming-of-age documentary is told from Ku's perspective as he struggles to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great grandfather's escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future.

Will Ku outrun his history or will he learn to run in parallel with it to achieve his dreams?

Presented in partnership with the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Belonging for the College of Arts and Sciences at University at Buffalo – The State University of New York.

TICKETS and MORE:  https://www.buffalofilm.org/events/remaining-native/ 

Clear Sky October 16, 4 PM North Park Theatre
Director Michael Del Monte in attendance.

Given up for adoption the day he was born, Shawn’s life spirals into addiction as he struggles with a broken connection to his Anishinaabe culture and a deep resentment toward the mother who abandoned him.  Through intense psychedelic therapy and the relentless grind of distance running, CLEAR SKY follows Shawn’s fight to save his life, culminating in a cross-country road trip to confront the person he resents most: his mother.  Filmed over three years, this intimate story bridges ancient traditions and modern science.  Hailed by Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) as 'a cinematic masterpiece,' CLEAR SKY is an unflinching portrait of one man’s journey to heal and find his place in the world.

Yurly | Country October 16, 11:30 AM North Park Theatre 

A vivid ode to land and an intimate, inspiring portrait of an Indigenous Elder’s final year as he fights to reclaim his homeland, scarred by the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere.  Banjima Elder Maitland Parker calls his yurlu (homeland) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia “poison country”; this haunting truth is etched into his body as he lives with terminal mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer resulting from asbestos exposure. Six decades prior, the Wittenoom mines left behind more than three million tonnes of waste rock laced with deadly asbestos fibres, turning 46,840 hectares of Banjima Country – an area eight times the size of Manhattan – into a toxic exclusion zone. Today, Aboriginal communities in Western Australia have the world’s highest mortality rate from mesothelioma. Yurlu | Country follows Maitland as he confronts government inaction and corporate greed in the hope of allowing his people to reconnect with and heal their ancestral lands. This powerful documentary bears witness to Australia’s very own – albeit largely unknown – Chernobyl-style disaster. Braiding imagery of beautiful yet contaminated terrain with poignant interviews and damning archival footage, the film stands as a testament to First Nations resilience amid ongoing dispossession, and is a rousing call to action to redress the cultural, environmental and physical wounds caused by colonisation and industry.

 

Shorts:
Climate Stories + Earth Works: “Kanenon:we - Original Seeds”
Next Gen: Peace Flags + 35,567 Yup'ik Stories
Racial Justice in View: My Name Is Not Amy
Resilience + Resistance: the Bone Comb