Movies

Kimmapiyiipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy

Canada, 2021, 125 min. / Documentary

Director/Screenwriter: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot / Sámi)

Producer: Lori Lozinski, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot / Sámi), David Christensen

Language: English, Blackfoot, subt. Finnish

An intimate portrait of survival, love and sense of community through which the community of the Blackfoot director tries to tackle a serious opioid crisis. The offered solutions do not work, so the community looks for more traditional methods. It resorts to empathy when medical professionals, first responders and members of the community struggle to overcome and heal from addictions. Tailfeathers challenges the colonial thinking that blames indigenous peoples for the crises, showing that the problem is a direct, destructive result of the colonialism of the settlers themselves.

Movie trailer