Sisters Rising

Directed by Willow O'Feral and Brad Heck
Co-produced by Jaida Grey Eagle (Oglala Lakota)
Executive Producer: Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis)

US | 2020 | 59 minutes | Color | DVD | English | Order No. W201254 |

Native American survivors of sexual assault fight to restore personal and tribal sovereignty against the backdrop of an ongoing legacy of violent colonization.

License:

Format:

PRICE:

Host a screening

Watch on Docuseek

SYNOPSIS

SISTERS RISING is the story of six Native American women fighting to restore personal and tribal sovereignty in the face of ongoing sexual violence against Indigenous women in the United States.

Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. 1 in 3 Native women report having been raped during her lifetime and 86% of the offenses are committed by non-Native men. These perpetrators exploit gaps in tribal jurisdictional authority and target Native women as ‘safe victims’. The film follows six women who refuse to let this pattern of violence continue in the shadows: a tribal cop in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom, an attorney fighting to overturn restrictions on tribal sovereignty, a teacher of Indigenous women’s self-defense, grassroots advocates working to influence legislative change, and the authour of the first anti-sex trafficking code to be introduced to a reservation’s tribal court. Their stories shine an unflinching light on righting injustice on both an individual and systemic level.

SISTERS RISING is an urgent call to action, a gorgeous portrait of powerful women acting in solidarity, and a demand for tribal sovereignty and self-determination as the necessary step towards ending violence against Native women.

PRESS

”In a portrait of six brave participants who refuse to let a pattern of violence against Native women continue on in the shadows, this film shines an unflinching and ultimately uplifting light onto righting injustice on both an individual and systemic level.”

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

“I believe in Sisters Rising because it centers Native women and their experiences within the discussion of the systemic forces which perpetuate sexual assault. This is a conversation that needs to happen now and I believe Sisters Rising is a powerful contributing voice.”

Sarah Deer Muscogee Creek Lawyer, Advocate and Professor

"Both affecting and educational, bringing attention to an epidemic that is ravaging Native communities."

Video Librarian

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

American Library Association Notable Films for Adults 2022
Honorable Mention Big Sky Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature, American Indian Film Festival
Thaddeus Stevens Award, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival
Best Film Award, Womens Voices Now Film Festival
Best Documentaries of the Year, Video Librarian
Silver Telly Award for Social Impact
Media for a Just Society Award

Vision Maker Film Festival
WYO Film Festival 2021
California American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Willow O'Feral

WILLOW O'FERAL is the award-winning director, producer and cinematographer of two feature documentary films, Break the Silence: Reproductive & Sexual Health Stories and Sisters Rising. Willow is a 2022 DOC NYC “40 Under 40” filmmaker, a Fledgling Fellow at the 2018 DX Investigative Film Festival, and a proud member of New Day Films and the Film Fatales. She co-founded Haptic Pictures which produces beautiful original content around pressing issues of social justice. Break the Silence was awarded the 2018 Choice Champion Award from Planned Parenthood of New England, and the 2019 Best Documentary Feature Award at La Frontera Queer Film Festival. Sisters Rising premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in 2020 where it won the Honorable Mention Big Sky Award, and is broadcast by PBS’ America ReFramed/WORLD CHANNEL. Sisters Rising has earned numerous recognitions including Best Film Award from Women’s Voices Now Film Festival, Best Feature Documentary at the American Indian Film Festival, a Silver Telly Award for Social Impact, and a Media For A Just Society Award 2022. Willow is originally from Northern California and now lives in Vermont. (10/22)

Brad Heck

BRAD HECK is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and educator. Sisters Rising is Brad’s directorial debut. He also co-produced Willow O’Feral’s feature documentary Break the Silence: Reproductive & Sexual Health Stories, and is a co-founder of Haptic Pictures production company. Previously in his career Brad has worked as a cinematographer on commercial and independent projects and feature films. Brad was awarded a regional Emmy for his cinematography work for BRIC Media in NY, and is a recipient of the Thriving Communities Grant from the Community Engagement Lab. Brad is currently teaching film production at Central Connecticut State University, and before that he was the Director of the MFA in Film Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and taught Film & Video Studies at Marlboro College. Brad is originally from Chicago and now lives in Vermont. (10/22)

Subject Areas

Daughter of a Lost Bird

Kendra Mylnechuk Potter, a Native woman adopted into a white family, reconnects with her Native identity and begins to view herself as a living legacy of U.S. assimilationist policy.

Learn more

Paulette

PAULETTE follows the historic campaign of Paulette Jordan, the first Native American candidate – as well as the first woman -- to win the Idaho Primary for Governor.

Learn more

Without a Whisper

WITHOUT A WHISPER - KONNON:KWE is the untold story of the profound influence of Indigenous women on the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the United States.

Learn more

The Children We Sacrifice

Shot in India, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United States, and screened in 18 countries, this evocative, visually powerful documentary is about incestuous sexual abuse of the South Asian girl child. By interweaving survivors' narratives, including the producer's own story, with interviews with South Asian mental health professionals, and with statistical information, as well as poetry and art, THE CHILDREN WE SACRIFICE discloses the many layers of a subject traditionally shrouded in secrecy. Insights into the far-reaching psychological, social and cultural consequences of incest are accompanied by thoughtful assessments of strategies that have helped adult women cope with childhood trauma. The film also analyzes social and cultural resistance in South Asia and the Diaspora to dealing with incest's causes and its effects on its victims. This personal and collective letter from South Asian incest survivors and their advocates is both a validation of their struggle and a compelling charge to protect future generations of children better.

Learn more

Dying to Divorce

By sharing three women’s intimately personal stories, DYING TO DIVORCE takes viewers into the heart of Turkey’s gender-based violence crisis and the recent political events that have severely eroded democratic freedoms.

Learn more

Conscience Point

CONSCIENCE POINT unearths a deep clash of values between the Shinnecock Indian Nation and their elite Hamptons neighbors, who have made sacred land their playground.

Learn more

Apache 8

For 30 years, the all-female Apache 8 unit has protected their reservation from fire and also responded to wildfires around the nation. This group of firefighters, which recently became co-ed, soon earned the reputation of being fierce, loyal and dependable—and tougher than their male colleagues. Facing gender stereotypes and the problems that come with life on the impoverished reservation, the women became known as some of the country’s most elite firefighters. From director Sande Zeig and executive producer Heather Rae, APACHE 8 combines archival footage and present-day interviews and focuses primarily on four women from different generations of Apache 8 crewmembers, who speak tenderly and often humorously of hardship, loss, family, community and pride in being a firefighter. The women are separated from their families, face tribe initiation, and struggle to make a living in a community ravaged by unemployment and substance abuse. But while the women may have initially set out to try and earn a living in their economically challenged community, they quickly discover an inner strength and resilience that speaks to their traditions and beliefs as Native women.

Learn more

Ohero:kon - Under the Husk

OHERO:KON - UNDER THE HUSK follows two Mohawk girls on their journey to become Mohawk women.

Learn more

Unafraid: Voices From the Crime Victims Treatment Center

A deeply personal documentary, UNAFRAID gives voice to four, diverse rape survivors and takes a historic look back at the pioneering treatment center where they now receive counseling. In her directorial debut, Karin Venegas highlights the work of two unsung feminist heroes in the movement for victims’ rights at the height of 1970s feminism and the Women’s Movement. From breaking victims’ silence to the revolutionary invention of the rape kit, this powerful film intimately explores the impact of rape and the capacity of ordinary individuals to effect change. Although frequently referenced in popular culture, few audiences know of the rape kit’s feminist origins. UNAFRAID is the first film to address the grassroots genesis of this important tool, which not only made it easier to convict in the criminal justice system but which helped shape our very cultural acceptance of rape as a serious crime, worthy of prosecution and compassionate treatment. Together, UNAFRAID’s collage of voices aims to lift the stigma that traps victims in silence – and to remind its audience that social change is indeed possible. Essential viewing for Criminal Justice, Law and Women’s Studies Classrooms.

Learn more

Honoring Our Voices

Sharing their stories about recovery and healing, six Native women of different ages and backgrounds talk about the choices they have made to overcome the hardships of family violence and end the cycle of abuse and silence. Through the far-reaching changes in their lives, they reveal the rewards of empowering themselves and their families, as well as the strengths of counseling based in Native healing strategies and traditions. Directed by Judi Jeffrey (Metis) and produced by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta, this thought-provoking documentary is a valuable tool for education, prevention and intervention.

Learn more

Navajo Talking Picture

In NAVAJO TALKING PICTURE film student Arlene Bowman (Navajo) travels to the Reservation to document the traditional ways of her grandmother. The filmmaker persists in spite of her grandmother's forceful objections to this invasion of her privacy. Ultimately, what emerges is a thought-provoking work which abruptly calls into question issues of "insider/outsider" status in a portrait of an assimilated Navajo struggling to use a "white man's" medium to capture the remnants of her cultural past. Excellent for film studies as well as those interested in Native American culture.

Learn more

Breach of Trust

Told from the point of view of women advocating for accountability and change, this compelling documentary by USC Graduate Mishal Mahmud examines the sexual assault scandal at the University of Southern California, detailing crimes committed by former gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall and exposing the active cover-up on the part of the administration.

Learn more

OUR CATALOG

Sisters Rising

SYNOPSIS

PRESS

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Subject Areas

RELATED LINKS

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN

Daughter of a Lost Bird

Paulette

Without a Whisper

The Children We Sacrifice

Dying to Divorce

Conscience Point

Apache 8

Ohero:kon - Under the Husk

Unafraid: Voices From the Crime Victims Treatment Center

Honoring Our Voices

Navajo Talking Picture

Breach of Trust