The Children Have to Hear Another Story

Abenaki filmmaker, artist, and activist Alanis Obomsawin was born into a period of Canadian history when options for social and political agency were systemically foreclosed for Indigenous peoples. Despite this, she persevered and was able to consistently insert her voice and intervene in major public media platforms to advance Indigenous concerns and tell Indigenous stories. Her integrity and commitment have made Obomsawin one of the most revered and beloved artists within Indigenous communities and celebrated in Canada and around the world.   

Over the course of five decades, she has created a model of Indigenous cinema that privileges the voices of her subjects, challenging the values and assumptions of the world system created by colonial interests and ways of seeing, including the representation of First Nations. The Children Have to Hear Another Story brings together and celebrates the breadth of Obomsawin’s lifework with a rigorous selection of her films, prints, music, and archival documents demonstrating her remarkable achievements and passionate pursuit of pedagogy and activism that have mobilized and contributed to the inexorable resurgence of Indigenous voices and ideas, and leading transformational change in Canada and internationally.  

The Children Have to Hear Another Story: Alanis Obomsawin is organized by Richard William Hill and Hila Peleg and made possible through a partnership between Haus der Kulturen der Welt, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, and Vancouver Art Gallery in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, and by the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Embassy of Canada, Berlin, and CBC/Radio Canada.

This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada. Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada. Additional project support has been provided by ISO (Indigenous Screen Office).