Sisters Rising
Directed by Willow O'Feral and Brad Heck
Co-produced by Jaida Grey Eagle (Oglala Lakota)
Executive Producer: Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis)
Native American survivors of sexual assault fight to restore personal and tribal sovereignty against the backdrop of an ongoing legacy of violent colonization.
US | 2020 | 59 minutes | Color | DVD | English | Order No. W201254 |
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.”
“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.”
"Both affecting and educational, bringing attention to an epidemic that is ravaging Native communities."
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)
RELATED LINKS
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Filmmaker Website
Learn more about the film and the filmmakers
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Facebook
Follow the film on Facebook
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Instagram
Stay up to date with film on Instagram
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Haptic Pictures
Site for the production company behind Sisters Rising
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Indian Law Resource Center
Information about ending violence against Native American women
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Amnesty International: Maze of Injustice
Article regarding sexual violence against Indigenous women
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Center for Health Progress: Justice for Native American Women
Article recognizing the high rate of sexual violence against women of color, specifically Native Americans.
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National Congress of American Indians
More information about violence against women
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Ovarian Psycos
Riding at night through streets deemed dangerous in Eastside Los Angeles, the Ovarian Psycos use their bicycles to confront the violence in their lives. At the helm of the crew is founder Xela de la X, a single mother and poet M.C. dedicated to recruiting an unapologetic, misfit crew of women of color. The film intimately chronicles Xela as she struggles to strike a balance between her activism and nine year old daughter Yoli; street artist Andi who is estranged from her family and journeys to become a leader within the crew; and bright eyed recruit Evie, who despite poverty, and the concerns of her protective Salvadoran mother, discovers a newfound confidence.
The film Ovarian Psycos rides along with the Ova’s, exploring the impact of the group’s activism, born of feminist ideals, Indigenous understanding and an urban/hood mentality, on neighborhood women and communities as they confront injustice, racism, and violence, and take back their streets one ride at a time.
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Four Wives – One Man
From Nahid Persson, the filmmaker of the award-winning Prostitution Behind the Veil, comes an intimate portrait of a polygamist family in a rural Iranian village. Persson reveals the intricacies of the relationships between the four wives, their husband, their astoundingly free-spoken mother-in-law and their numerous children. Sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking, this film follows the daily lives of the wives whose situation has turned them into both bitter rivals and co-conspirators against their abusive husband.
Persson’s camera unobtrusively and beautifully captures the range of the family’s interactions – from peaceful, pastoral scenes of a family picnic, to the temporary chaos caused by a broken faucet in the kitchen, to a furtive, whispered conversation between two wives about the latest beating. The women’s work – making bread, weaving carpets, milking and herding the sheep – provide the background to their frank conversations. Avoiding sensationalism and sentimentality, this film provides unique insights into the practice of polygamy and its effect on the women involved.
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