Films at the Bioneers Conference
Films will be screened in the Goldman Theater in the David Brower Center at 2150 Allston Way each evening, beginning with the pre-conference event on Wednesday, March 25th.
Please Note: Film Screenings are first-come, first-served. Please be sure to arrive early if you’d like to guarantee a seat.
Wednesday, March 25th: Indigenous Films Showcase
We kick off the Bioneers Conference with three films that honor water as a sacred living relative and life-giver.
Haaguaa: Native Like Water
6:35 pm
An Indigenous surf film that celebrates the timeless bond between humanity and the ocean, Haagua follows a group of Indigenous surfers as they revive ancestral traditions, blending cultural resilience with the art of surfing to honor the past and inspire the future. Followed by a presentation by the Native Like Water founder, Marc Chavez (of Nahua, Michoacán and New Mexican-Spanish descent).
Yaá at Wooné: Respect for All Things
7:05 pm
This film explores the crucial role herring have played for thousands of years for many Indigenous coastal peoples, the risks this vital species currently faces from overfishing and other threats, and how to move forward centering Indigenous sovereignty and traditional ecological knowledge. Introduced by the founder and Director of the Herring Protectors, Louise Brady (Tlingit).
The Snake and The Whale
7:40 pm
Over the past fifty years, four federal dams impounding the Lower Snake River in Washington State have been identified as the root cause for the demise of all of Idaho’s anadromous fish. The Snake and the Whale reveals the corrupt deals behind the dams’ construction and the subsequent campaigns to hide their role in this ongoing ecological disaster. Additionally, the dams have profoundly impacted a group of Killer Whales off the coast of Washington, known as the Southern Resident Orca, which rely on Snake River salmon as a primary food supply. These majestic creatures are now at the top of the Endangered Species list. Introduced by Outreach Producer, Raynell Morris (Lummi).
Thursday, March 26th
Yanuni
6:40 pm
112 Minutes
Introduction by Leila Salazar-Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch
This powerful film follows the life and activism of Juma Xipaia, an extraordinary Indigenous leader from the Brazilian Amazon whose activism against illegal mining, land-grabbing, and corporate exploitation caused her to endure multiple assassination attempts but ultimately took her from her remote community in the rainforest to becoming Brazil’s first Secretary of Articulation and Promotion of Indigenous Rights.
Directed by Richard Ladkani, produced in association with Malaika Pictures and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Sequoias of the Seas
8:40 pm
54 Minutes
Introduction by directors Natasha Benjamin and Ana Blanco
Sequoias of the Sea follows Northern California communities as they confront the loss of 95% of their kelp forests—an ecological disaster fueled by climate change. The film dives into the lives of fishermen, local tribes, scientists, and coastal communities who are joining forces to urgently restore this vital underwater ecosystem.
Friday, March 27th
Two Short Films by Elodie Freymann
Unquantifiable (8m) + Waiting for Alstonia (20m)
6:40 pm
Introduction by Elodie Freymann
Unquantifiable is a satirical but deceptively profound observational study of one Homo Sapiens by a renowned primatologist. Waiting for Alstonia, Elodie’s most recent, just released film, tracks some of her groundbreaking work studying chimpanzees’ use of medicinal plants in Uganda’s Budongo Forest.
Farming While Black
7:35 pm
60 Minutes
Introduction by Leah Penniman
This film, which features Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Bioneers conference, examines the historical dispossession of Black farmers in the US and a rising generation reclaiming their rightful ownership to land and reconnecting with their ancestral roots.
Director: Mark Decena; producer: Liz Decena.
Gaslit
8:45 pm
105 Minutes
This brand-new film produced by Greenpeace USA follows Jane Fonda on a road trip through Texas oil fields and Gulf Coast communities, meeting the incredibly diverse people who are fighting back against the oil and gas extraction and plastics production booms poisoning their communities.
Director: Katie Camosy.
Saturday, March 28th: Indigenous Films Showcase
We close the Bioneers conference with an evening honoring the resilience, strength and vision of Indigenous people through films that carry stories of truth, survival, and perseverance.
Tiger
6:35 pm
From a 1980s boom to near-collapse, Tiger chronicles Indigenous artist Dana Tiger’s decades-long journey of resilience as she and her family transform grief and hardship into the revival of their iconic Tiger T-shirt.
Remaining Native
7:05 pm
This coming-of-age documentary is told from the perspective of Kutoven (Ku) Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggling to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great-grandfather’s escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future. Introduced by Dustin Martin (Dine’), Executive Director of Wings of America.
Free Leonard Peltier
8:35 pm
Free Leonard Peltier outlines the decades-long efforts to free the world-renowned Indigenous activist from prison, culminating in the commutation of his sentence at age 80 in January 2025. The film presents essential history about the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and the ongoing, never-ending fight for Indigenous resistance. Introduced by Children of the Setting Sun Outreach Producer, Raynell Morris (Lummi).
