Native Spirit Film Festival present writing activation and short films programmed by Zain Gibson, and a screening of the feature film MUNDURUKUYÜ – The Forest Of The Fish Women.
Doors 1.30pm
Tickets £10-15
Screening of short experimental films with introduction + writing responses activation followed by feature film. The event will be contributing programming of up to 40 minutes of experimental short films by Indigenous filmmakers whose work explores themes of ancestry and identity while looking to the future of how these filmmakers address maintaining traditions, practices and belief systems in the future. Alongside the screening of these shorts will be an introduction (possible video introduction), writing activation in response to the short films and a screening of feature film.
THE SONG OF THE MOON: ATUPINAMBÁ STORY
Dir. Sebastian Gerlic, 2025, Tupinambá, Brazil, 04’00
In the depths of a moonless night, a Tupinambá village (Brazilian indigenous people) lies dormant under an unsettling silence. Time seems suspended between dense shadows and the artificial glow of screens that hypnotize the younger generation. Children sleep cradled by cell phones while the ancestral fire at the communal hearth barely flickers. When a curious young girl approaches the elders gathered around the dying embers, the village shaman breaks the void by shaking his sacred maracá. His rhythmic beat resonates like the earth's heartbeat, awakening forgotten memories as he chants to JACY (the Moon) and TUPÃ (God), calling not only the people but also the moon and nature itself to celebrate life.
AKABABURU: EXPRESSION OF ASTONISHMENT
Dir. Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí, 2025, Emberá, Colombia, 13’33
Kari, an indigenous girl who is afraid to laugh, meets Kera, who shares with her the myth of Kiraparamia, a woman punished by the gods for laughing at her husband. Kera reinterprets this and tells her that laughing set her free. Inspired, Kari uses laughter to confront those who bother her.
CORN HUSK DOLL
Dir. Yuma Dean Hester (Bawaadan Collective), 2025, Canada, 13’59
Corn Husk Doll tells the story of a young, beautiful girl who neglects her community responsibilities. Despite warnings from the animals, she becomes distracted by her own reflection and slowly begins to turn into a corn husk doll with no face. This story reminds us to be humble, and to fulfill our responsibilities to our families, clan, and community.
NIMIK
Dir. Laurence Vollant-Vachon (Wapikoni Mobile), 2026, Canada, 3’28
Laurence, an artist-poet, tackles the theme of identity in this video-poem. Nimiku is a pictorial setting of three texts from her collection of the same name.
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED
Dir. Arina Kleist, 2025, Inuk, Greenland, 04’30
A reflection on ancestral spirits and our broken bond with Nature, told through compelling imagery and an Inuit perspective.
MUNDURUKUYÜ – THE FOREST OF THE FISH WOMEN
Dir. Aldira Akay, Beka Munduruku, Rilcélia Akay, 2025, Brazil, 72’00
Three women of the Daje Kapap Eypi audiovisual collective take up the camera as a weapon in defence of their ancestry to ensure the preservation and transmission of their Munduruku mythology, which speaks of the origins of the world, when humans transformed into forests, plants and animals.
