Native Films
by billybllue | created - 25 Sep 2014 | updated - 13 Oct 2014 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Where the Spirit Lives (1989)
96 min | Drama
A young Native Canadian (First Nations person) fights to keep her culture and identity when she is abducted to a residential school.
Director: Bruce Pittman | Stars: Michelle St. John, Kim Bruisedhead Fox, Marianne Jones, Gus Chief Moon
Votes: 293
2. Hank Williams First Nation (2005)
Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
Life in a remote Indian Reservation is stirred up when one of its Elders begins to question the death of Hank Williams.
Director: Aaron James | Stars: Gordon Tootoosis, Jimmy Herman, Stacy Da Silva, Colin Van Loon
Votes: 126
3. Crooked Arrows (2012)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Sport
A story centered on a Native American lacrosse team making its way through a prep school league tournament.
Director: Steve Rash | Stars: Gil Birmingham, Brandon Routh, Crystal Allen, Chelsea Ricketts
Votes: 2,093 | Gross: $1.83M
4. Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013)
R | 88 min | Crime, Drama
Red Crow Mi'kmaq reservation, 1976: By government decree, every Indian child under the age of 16 must attend residential school. In the kingdom of the Crow, that means imprisonment at St. Dymphna's. That means being at the mercy of "Popper", the sadistic Indian agent who runs the school.
Director: Jeff Barnaby | Stars: Devery Jacobs, Glen Gould, Brandon Oakes, Roseanne Supernault
Votes: 1,467 | Gross: $0.00M
5. Johnny Greyeyes (2000)
75 min | Drama
As her younger brother schemes to commit robbery, a jailed American Indian finds love with another woman.
Director: Jorge Manzano | Stars: Gail Maurice, Columpa Bobb, Jonathan Fisher, Gloria May Eshkibok
Votes: 83
6. The Fringe Dwellers (1986)
PG | 98 min | Drama
Story of an aboriginal family who tries to move out of the fringe into the main white community.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Kristina Nehm, Justine Saunders, Bob Maza, Kylie Belling
Votes: 443 | Gross: $0.15M
7. The Snow Walker (2003)
PG | 103 min | Adventure, Drama
A pilot and his passenger struggle for survival after crashing in the Arctic tundra.
Director: Charles Martin Smith | Stars: Barry Pepper, Annabella Piugattuk, James Cromwell, Kiersten Warren
Votes: 11,369
8. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
R | 172 min | Drama
The telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
Director: Zacharias Kunuk | Stars: Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Lucy Tulugarjuk
Votes: 6,860 | Gross: $3.79M
9. Empire of Dirt (2013)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama
Three generations of First Nations women struggle to deal with the demons of their past.
Director: Peter Stebbings | Stars: Cara Gee, Shay Eyre, Barbara Gordon, Jean Yoon
Votes: 264
10. Maïna (2013)
102 min | Drama
A Canadian aboriginal woman journeys to the Arctic in search of a missing member of her tribe, and falls in love with a man from a rival clan.
Director: Michel Poulette | Stars: Roseanne Supernault, Ipeelie Ootoova, Uapshkuss Thernish, Eric Schweig
Votes: 502
11. Turquoise Rose (2007)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
Raised in the suburbs of Phoenix, a Navajo college student must choose between a vacation in Rome or moving to the reservation to care for her ailing grandmother.
Director: Travis Holt Hamilton | Stars: Deshava Apachee, Donavon G. Barney, Ethel Begay, Kathleen Benner
Votes: 95
12. Shouting Secrets (2011)
88 min | Drama
Shouting Secrets is a hopeful and heartwarming, universal story taking place in a present day Native American family. It's a story that is at once about the constancy and the fragility of love, as well as the importance of family.
Director: Korinna Sehringer | Stars: Chaske Spencer, Q'orianka Kilcher, Tyler Christopher, Gil Birmingham
Votes: 221
13. The Cherokee Word for Water (2013)
PG | 92 min | Drama
The work that led Wilma Mankiller to become the first modern female Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Directors: Tim Kelly, Charlie Soap | Stars: Kimberly Guerrero, Mo Brings Plenty, Steve Reevis, Darryl Tonemah
Votes: 69
14. A Good Day to Die (2010)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
AIM leader Dennis Banks looks back at his early life and the rise of the American Indian Movement.
Directors: David Mueller, Lynn Salt | Stars: Larry Anderson, Dennis Banks, Tashina Banks, Clyde Bellecourt
Votes: 164
15. The Activist (2014)
Not Rated | 90 min | Thriller
A political thriller during the Wounded Knee insurrection in 1973. Two activist are arrested and maintain in custody in a sheriff's office. They will meet a Nixon advisor, a lawyer, a ... See full summary »
Director: Cyril Morin | Stars: Chadwick Brown, Tonantzin Carmelo, Michael Spears, Ron Roggé
Votes: 121
16. Dance Me Outside (1994)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Drama
A story of life on a First Nations reserve in Ontario: Silas and Frank are trying to get into college to train to be mechanics but they find themselves having to deal with girls, family - and murder.
Director: Bruce McDonald | Stars: Ryan Rajendra Black, Adam Beach, Jennifer Podemski, Michael Greyeyes
Votes: 1,332 | Gross: $0.30M
17. Uvanga (2013)
86 min | Drama
Anna is nervous when she and her son, Tomas, arrive in the small, close-knit community of Igloolik, in the Canadian Arctic.
Directors: Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu | Stars: Lukasi Forrest, Marianne Farley, Travis Kunnuk, Robert Naylor
Votes: 68
18. Kajutaijuq (2015)
15 min | Short, Action, Drama
Isolated in the harsh wilderness of the Arctic, a hunter follows the teachings of survival passed on to him by his grandfather. In an environment government by the spirits of the land, a ... See full summary »
Director: Scott Brachmayer | Star: Johnny Issaluk
Votes: 7
19. Our Home & Native Land: Canada's First Nations Heroines - Healers (2009 TV Movie)
45 min | Documentary, Family
Aboriginal Canadian women with diverse approaches to the healing process confront the current health crisis plaguing Canada's First Nations communities. For each, life's calling has been a ... See full summary »
Director: Connie Edwards | Stars: Karen Hill, Debbie Houle, Elva Jamieson, Lillian Parenteau
20. Running Deer (2013)
25 min | Short, Drama, Family
A high school cross country star growing up in a Native American community faces a barrage of personal struggles the day before the most important race of his life.
Director: Brent Ryan Green | Stars: Booboo Stewart, Q'orianka Kilcher, Jon Proudstar, Keith Longhorn Jr.
Votes: 35
21. The Blanketing (2013)
8 min | Short, Drama, Thriller
A confrontation between a tribe of First Nations people and two road builders will change an entire nation forever.
Director: Trevor Mack | Stars: Sean Wei Mah, Devery Jacobs, Don Wise, William Belleau
Votes: 23
22. Smoke Signals (1998)
PG-13 | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
Arnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
Director: Chris Eyre | Stars: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer
Votes: 12,605 | Gross: $6.72M
23. Frozen River (2008)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama
A mom looks for another source of income, when her husband leaves with the money meant for the new mobile home. A nearby Indian territory stretches across the border to Canada with a drivable frozen river between. Smuggling?
Director: Courtney Hunt | Stars: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe
Votes: 26,460 | Gross: $2.51M
24. Edge of America (2004 TV Movie)
105 min | Drama
Based on a true story, a black educator takes a job teaching high-school English at the Three Nations Reservation, and is coaxed into coaching the girls basketball team.
Director: Chris Eyre | Stars: James McDaniel, Irene Bedard, Delanna Studi, Misty Upham
Votes: 462
25. Whale Rider (2002)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Family
A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 44,035 | Gross: $20.78M
26. Black Cloud (2004)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama
Black Cloud, is an inspirational story about a young Navajo, Native American boxer, who overcomes personal challenges as he comes to terms with his heritage, while fighting his way for a spot on the US Olympic boxing team.
Director: Ricky Schroder | Stars: Eddie Spears, Russell Means, Julia Jones, Tim McGraw
Votes: 548
27. Four Sheets to the Wind (2007)
R | 81 min | Drama, Romance
After his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
Director: Sterlin Harjo | Stars: Wes Allen, Jeri Arredondo, Laura Bailey, Nando Betancur
Votes: 641
28. Elijah (2007 TV Movie)
Drama
Director: Paul Unwin | Stars: Billy Merasty, Tina Louise Bomberry, Gregory 'Dominic' Odjig, Michael Peterson
Votes: 93
29. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 133 min | Drama, History, Western
A historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
Director: Yves Simoneau | Stars: Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Anna Paquin
Votes: 7,437
30. In the Light of Reverence (2001)
73 min | Documentary
Tells the story of three indigenous communities and the lands they struggle to protect: the Lakota of the Great Plains, the Hopi of the Four Corners area, and the Winnemem Wintu of northern California.
Director: Christopher McLeod
Votes: 27
31. The Business of Fancydancing (2002)
103 min | Drama, Music
Seymour Polatkin is a successful, gay Native American poet from Spokane who confronts his past when he returns to his childhood home on the reservation to attend the funeral of a dear friend.
Director: Sherman Alexie | Stars: Evan Adams, Michelle St. John, Gene Tagaban, Swil Kanim
Votes: 550 | Gross: $0.17M
32. Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 100 min | Drama
Mary Crow Dog, daughter of a desperately poor Indian family in South Dakota, is swept up in the protests of the 1960s and becomes sensitized to the injustices that society inflicts on her ... See full summary »
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Charles Abourezk, Dave Bald Eagle, Lawrence Bayne, Edgar Bear Runner
Votes: 331
33. Incident at Oglala (1992)
PG | 89 min | Documentary, History
This film describes the events surrounding a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge reservation in S. Dakota where two FBI agents were killed.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Robert Redford, Norman Zigrossi, Robert Sikma, Darelle 'Dino' Butler
Votes: 1,288 | Gross: $0.54M
34. Powwow Highway (1988)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Drama
Two Northern Cheyenne men take a road trip from Montana to New Mexico to bail out the sister of one of them who has been framed and arrested in Santa Fe. On the way, they begin to reconnect to their spiritual heritage.
Director: Jonathan Wacks | Stars: Gary Farmer, A Martinez, Joanelle Romero, Amanda Wyss
Votes: 1,901 | Gross: $0.28M
35. Naturally Native (1998)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama
Three Native American sisters (Red-Horse, Bedard, Guerrero) decide to try to sell a line of cosmetics they call Naturally Native, based on old tribal remedies, only to have to fight an ... See full summary »
Directors: Jennifer Wynne Farmer, Valerie Red-Horse | Stars: Valerie Red-Horse, Yvonne Russo, Irene Bedard, Kimberly Guerrero
Votes: 167 | Gross: $0.01M
36. White Shamans and Plastic Medicine Men (1996)
28 min | Documentary, Short
This award-winning documentary deals with the popularization and commercialization of Native American spiritual traditions by Non-Indians. Important questions are asked of those seeking to ... See full summary »
Directors: Terry Macy, Daniel Hart | Stars: Charlie Hill, Darrell Kipp, Bearhead Swaney
Votes: 31
37. Medicine River (1993 TV Movie)
PG | 94 min | Comedy
When photographer Will returns home for his mother's funeral he gets more than he bargained for from a strange cast of characters on the reservation.
Director: Stuart Margolin | Stars: Graham Greene, Tom Jackson, Sheila Tousey, Janet-Laine Green
Votes: 133
38. Follow Me Home (1996)
Unrated | 100 min | Drama
Three muralists (one Chicano, one Black, one American Indian) and the socially-maladjusted cousin of the Chicano muralist set off on a road trip with the intent of painting their images on ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Bratt | Stars: Alfre Woodard, Jesse Borrego, Salma Hayek, Calvin Levels
Votes: 232
39. Skinwalkers (2002 TV Movie)
100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The story revolves around the legend of the skin walkers or "S Dubs", a folk legend from Utah about the spirits of murdered Indians returning to seek revenge upon those who disrespect the land.
Director: Chris Eyre | Stars: Harrison Lowe, James Dalgai, Adam Beach, Saginaw Grant
Votes: 1,055
40. Shadow of the Hawk (1976)
PG | 92 min | Adventure, Horror
The Westernized grandson of a shaman returns to the wilderness to learn more about his Native American heritage. When he encounters powerful evil spirits, he enlists the aid of his lover and a local chief to stop the spirits.
Directors: George McCowan, Daryl Duke | Stars: Jan-Michael Vincent, Marilyn Hassett, Chief Dan George, Pia Shandel
Votes: 643
41. Once Were Warriors (1994)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
A family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga
Votes: 36,836 | Gross: $2.20M
42. We Were Children (2012)
88 min | Drama
For over 130 years till 1996, more than 100,000 of Canada's First Nations children were legally required to attend government-funded schools run by various Christian faiths. There were 80 ... See full summary »
Director: Tim Wolochatiuk | Stars: Lyna Hart, Glen Anaquod, Alicia Hamelin, Jade Hamelin
Votes: 716
43. Hi-Ho Mistahey! (2013)
99 min | Documentary
Similar to her 2012 documentary, The People of the Kattawapiskak River, which detailed the housing crisis of the Awattapiskak First Nations people, Alanis Obomsawin's Hi-Ho Mistahey. ... See full summary »
Director: Alanis Obomsawin | Star: Alanis Obomsawin
Votes: 22
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