Runner up - Sugarcane
Oscar Tidbit: Sugarcane is nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the 2025 Oscars, competing against Black Box Diaries, No Other Land, Porcelain War, and Soundtrack to a Coup d’État.
It always feels unsettling to watch a movie about your own country, especially one that confronts its darkest truths and shameful past. For generations, Canada refused to acknowledge the full extent of its residential school system—institutions designed to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children by severing them from their culture, language, and families. These Catholic and government-run boarding schools, which operated for more than a century, were created under the guise of education but functioned as tools of systemic erasure. They subjected children to psychological, physical, and sexual abuse while instilling in them a deep sense of shame about their identity. The last residential school did not close its doors until 1996, meaning this is not distant history—it is a lived experience for many Indigenous people today.
Sugarcane brings to light the personal stories of survivors and their descendants, voices that are essential to understanding this painful chapter of history—one that Canada, for too long, sought to suppress. The film pieces together the intergenerational trauma inflicted by residential schools, exploring the devastating consequences that ripple through families and communities. Directors Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat do a remarkable job illustrating how this trauma manifests—through PTSD, substance abuse, suicide, and cycles of violence. One of the most emotionally resonant aspects of the documentary is NoiseCat’s own reckoning with his estranged father, a relationship shaped by the scars of the residential school system.
The film also exposes the thin, performative gestures of reconciliation by the Canadian government and the Catholic Church. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged Canada’s role in this genocide, meaningful action—such as full financial reparations and the return of stolen artifacts—remains elusive. Similarly, Pope Francis’s visit to Canada and his expression of sorrow fell short of offering the full apology and accountability survivors have long demanded.
Yet, amid the sorrow and the weight of historical injustice, Sugarcane does something vital: it highlights the enduring strength of Indigenous cultures and the resilience of their people. Despite everything, Indigenous communities continue to reclaim their languages, traditions, and histories, proving that their identities were never truly erased. The film is not just a retelling of pain—it is a testament to survival, resistance, and healing.
