Program

Cosmographies is a hybrid film that draws from speculative fiction, observational and poetic documentary, Indigenous futurism and Indigiqueer perspectives. It interweaves stories of resistance and environmental justice against extractivism in the Atacama Desert, Chile, as an allegory for contemporary plans to colonise the Moon and Mars. Set across 2023 and 2051, it weaves parallel stories of Lickan Antay land and water defenders, engaged scientists and fishing communities in Atacama, with the story of Māori astrobiologist Xuě Noon who finds solace in Mars and slipstreams across spacetime with an urgent message.

Directed by Jesse Short Bull (Lakota Nation vs. the United States) and David France (How To Survive a Plague, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, and Welcome to Chechnya), and produced by Bird Runningwater. Leonard Peltier, one of the surviving leaders of the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 50 years following a contentious conviction. A new generation of Native activists is committed to winning his freedom before he dies.

Mariluz Canaquiri says her river is a more than a body of water, it’s a living being. Beneath the surface lies a world of spirits led by the Karuara, the ‘people of the river.’ The film’s stunning hand painted animations take viewers into this magical universe. Behind their playfulness, the Karuara are metaphysical ecologists who maintain the delicate balance of life. But contamination from oil spills threaten the spirits and their river. Mariluz files a lawsuit demanding her river be recognized as a legal person, with rights. In a world that puts a price tag on nature, this film reminds us of our sacred connection to water.

In the Bolivian capital of La Paz, Martín is a teenage shoeshine boy and orphan with few friends or resources. His best client, Mr. Novoa, is a lonely tailor whose only companion is Astor, a beautiful German Shepherd he treats like a son. Out of desperation, Martín steals Astor—but as he and Mr. Novoa spend more time together, an unexpected bond begins to grow between them.

A weathered tribal cop (Lou Diamond Phillips) and his new trainee (Dana Namerode) must find a ruthless fugitive, whose return to their rural Indigenous reservation has exposed its darkest secrets and could ignite a violent gang war. Featuring a predominantly Indigenous cast including Irene Bedard, Lane Factor, and Elisha Pratt.

After being separated from their sacred stone for nearly a century, the Kaw (Kanza) Nation reunites with In ́zhújé waxóbe, a 28 ton quartzite boulder, marking a new era of accountability for the city of Lawrence, Kansas and healing for the Kaw people. This film documents the honorable cooperation between community and governmental stakeholders in Lawrence, Kansas and the Kaw people in rematriating In ́zhújé waxóbe. The film follows the events leading up to and culmination of the Red Rock’s relocation to Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park in Council Grove, Kansas.

After 30 years denying her pain, Angela is confronted by her past when her father appears to her in a dream, asking her to find him. With her sister Juliana, she embarks on a trip across Colombia to the Indigenous lands where their father, a farmer of Afro-descent, became a victim of forced disappearance. The journey from Medellin to Caloto, in the challenging Cauca’s province, confronts the sisters with paradoxes of the land, family emotions, and the Indigenous spirituality that will connect Ángela with her father's activism.

On January 9, 2023, Peruvian police opened fire on Indigenous Quechua and Aymara protesters in Juliaca, killing at least 18 civilians. Uyariy responds to this massacre through the music and song of Andean artists, taking us on a journey through the Puno region and its long history of repression and Indigenous uprising. Weaving in testimonies from victims' families, the film becomes a meditation on memory, identity, and justice.

What do we carry, what do we protect, and what do we pass on? This year's Documentary Shorts Competition spans the Americas in search of answers. Four films explore tradition, survival, memory, and the transformative power of art across Chile, Argentina, Cuba, and the United States.