EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 6 p.m. Monday, April 14, 2025

EVENT: The University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy will host a free, special screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary, “Sugarcane,” followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie.

The documentary follows an investigation into the abuse and missing children at Canada’s St. Joseph’s Mission near Williams Lake, British Columbia, a Catholic-run Indigenous boarding school that operated until 1981. It illuminates a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding strength to persevere.

The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the U.S. Documentary Directing Award.

Kassie is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and investigative journalist. NoiseCat is a writer, Oscar-nominated filmmaker and student of Salish art and history. He became the first North American Indigenous filmmaker to earn an Academy Award nomination.

The film received the distinguished honor of a rare White House screening, attended by then-Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

“‘Sugarcane’ shines light on this shameful chapter of history, helping ensure it’s never forgotten or repeated,” said former President Joe Biden in a letter to the filmmakers after the screening.

NoiseCat gave the Ford School’s 2022 commencement address and was one of three inaugural Center for Racial Justice fellows in the 2022-23 academic year. During his time at the Ford School, NoiseCat worked on “Sugarcane,” as well as his first book, “We Survived the Night,” which aims to reclaim narratives about Indigenous communities in the U.S. and Canada. It’s set for release later this year.

PLACE: Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor

REGISTRATION

SPONSORS: Department of American Culture, Native American Studies, Native American Student Association