The UK’s first and longest-running festival of Indigenous Cinema returns to the Horse Hospital with a matinee programme of short films by First Nations filmmakers Jess Lowe Chaverri, Konwanahktotha Alvera Sargent, Terry James Jones, KJ Edwards, January Marie Rogers, Sarah Houle, Theo Jean Cuthand Robert Joe, Abraham Cote, and Amanda Strong.
Still from ‘Circles’ Dir: Sarah Houle 4’52
Doors: 1.45pm
Native Spirit Festival (NSF 2025) - the UK’s first and longest-running festival of Indigenous Cinema is back with 10 days of screenings and discussions from October 9 to December 4. We are delighted that NSF is once again returning to the Horse Hospital with 18 films by First Nations filmmakers for two Sunday Shorts programmes: matinee and dusk.
The full festival programme is available at https://nativespiritfoundation.org/
Films:
The Opening Address (Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen)
Presented by The Akwesasne Freedom School, a sovereign Mohawk immersion institution dedicated to preserving the language and culture that colonization sought to erase. Through the wisdom of elders, they ensure the Mohawk language and identity thrive for future generations. The Opening Address (Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen) is the central prayer of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). It expresses gratitude for life and the natural world, opening and closing all social and religious gatherings. Recited daily at sunrise, it is an ancient message of peace and appreciation for Mother Earth. It teaches that all people are family, and diversity is a gift. By offering thanks to the Natural World, one becomes spiritually connected to it. The Opening Address fosters mutual respect, conservation, and the understanding that what we do to the Web of Life, we do to ourselves.
Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), United States 2024 Dir: Jess Lowe Chaverri, Konwanahktotha Alvera Sargent 10’17
OSNÖ’
Set on an American Indian reservation in the late 1950’s, a young Seneca boy steals his grandfather’s butcher knife. Based on the director’s award winning short documentary Soup For My Brother, which won best documentary at Liverpool International Film Festival in 2016.
Seneca, United States 2024 Dir: Terry James Jones 12’17
ISTÉN:’A
Still from ‘ISTÉN:’A’ Dir: KJ Edwards 5’12
A recounting of a visit from my mother in spirit, this film looks to dreamspace as a meeting place, where we can connect with our loved ones, who we are always tethered to.
Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Canada 2023 Dir: KJ Edwards 5’12
Wind Rabbit
Written on a three-day train ride from Niagara Ontario to Miami Florida in 2024. As a train rider enthusiast, and Haudenosaunee person, January remains in conflict with herself knowing the laying of train tracks displaced Indigenous people from their traditional lands, and often times were never compensated for this grave colonial disruption.
Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Canada 2025 Dir: January Marie Rogers 7’11
Lineage
How our siblings hold our stories similar but not the same, and when they leave, they take the other half of our stories with them.
Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Canada 2025 Dir: January Marie Rogers 4’52
Still from ‘Circles’ Dir: Sarah Houle
Circles
An exploration of my matriarchal relationships and the intersecting, overlapping stories that shape us. Circles is grounded in the Cree teaching of closing circles after opening them and using this concept as a practical and spiritual practice for balance and peace; reflecting on universal questions of where we come from and where we will go after this life.
Métis, Nêhiyaw (Cree, Paddle Prairie), Canada 2024 Dir: Sarah Houle 4’52
Berry Breast
Explores the deep connection between land, identity, and the feminine spirit, imagining a world where women draw their strength from the earth itself. A narrative that speaks to healing, self-acceptance, and the unbreakable bond between nature and the human soul.
Métis, Canada 2024 Dir: Danielle Vandale 04’25
Dreams Of Sunlight Through Trees
A middle aged trans man transitions at the age of 44 and observes his changes over a year and nine months, with a looming ongoing news cycle of anti-trans legislation.
Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree), Canada 2024 Dir: Theo Jean Cuthand 15’58
Fistful Of Vodka
A stranger arrives in a rural Yukon town, driven by a mysterious vendetta against the local bootlegger, sparking violent conflict.
Northern Tutchone, Canada 2025 Dir: Robert Joe 15’24
Still from ‘Midnight At The Lonely River’ Dir: Abraham Cote 17’00
Midnight At The Lonely River
When the lights go out at a seedy little motel bar, at the crossroads of a seedy little town, nefarious happenings are taking place and three predators are enacting their evil deeds. Enter Vicky, a drifter who quickly realizes what’s happening right under everyone’s nose. After midnight, In the shadows of this dim establishment, evil begets evil, and the predator becomes the prey.
Anishinaabe, Quebec 2024 Dir: Abraham Cote 17’00
Inkwo For When The Starving Return
Still from ‘Inkwo For When The Starving Return’ Dir: Amanda Strong 18’27
Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from an unburied swarm of terrifying creatures.
Métis, Michif (Dene language in film) Canada 2024 Dir: Amanda Strong 18’27