Alison Burns

My Friend the Green Horse (2024)

Often feeling alone in her waking life, the young Alanis Obomsawin found friendship with the Green Horse, a benevolent being she visited regularly in her dreams. Together with other animal spirits, the Green Horse guided Alanis to realize the immensity of ...

Maybe Elephants (2024)

Three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, find themselves in Nairobi. What could possibly go wrong? ...

Upstairs With David Amram (2022)

Bill Reid Remembers (2022)

Renowned Haida artist Bill Reid shares his thoughts on artistry, activism and his deep affection for his homeland in this heartwarming tribute from Alanis Obomsawin to her friend's life, legacy and roots. ...

Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair (2021)

Murray Sinclair's acceptance speech for an award in honor of his role as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, intercut with the testimonies of survivors of the Indian residential school system. ...

Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger (2019)

The story of a young boy forced to spend all five years of his short life in hospital while the federal and provincial governments argued over which was responsible for his care, as well as the long struggle of Indigenous activists to force the Canadian go ...

Walking Is Medicine (2017)

The Nishiyuu walkers made the trek from Whapmagoostui in Quebec to Ottawa, a 1,600-kilometre journey whose roots date back millennia. At the heart of legendary director Alanis Obomsawin's latest short documentary, her 51st film in 50 years of filmmaking, i ...

Me and My Moulton (2014)

A seven-year-old girl longs for a bicycle so that she can be more like the other kids in her Norwegian town, but her embarrassingly unconventional, modernist architect parents see things differently. Academy Award-winning animator Torill Kove weaves memory ...

Trick or Treaty? (2014)

Legendary Canadian documentarian Alanis Obomsawin digs into the tangled history of Treaty 9 — the infamous 1905 agreement wherein First Nations communities relinquished sovereignty over their traditional territories — to reveal the deceptions and disto ...

Hi-Ho Mistahey! (2013)

Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Shannen's Dream, a national campaign to provide equitable access to education for First Nations children, in safe and suitable schools. She brings together the voices of those who have successfully brought the Dream all ...

When All the Leaves Are Gone (2010)

As the only First Nations student in an all-white 1940s school, eight-year old Wato is keenly aware of the hostility towards her. She deeply misses the loving environment of the reserve she once called home, and her isolation is sharpened by her father's s ...

Professor Norman Cornett: 'Since when do we divorce the right answer from an honest answer?' (2009)

This feature documentary by Alanis Obomsawin is a thoughtful tribute to Norman Cornett, a McGill University professor celebrated by scores of students appreciative of his unconventional yet powerful teaching methods who was controversially dismissed from h ...

Gene Boy Came Home (2007)

A portrait of Eugene "Gene Boy" Benedict from Odanak Indian Reserve near Montreal, Quebec. At 17, adrift and beginning to lose his way, he accepted a dare and enlisted in the US Marines – and was sent to the frontlines of the Vietnam War. This film is th ...

Our Nationhood (2003)

In this feature-length documentary, Indigenous filmmaker and artist Alanis Obomsawin chronicles the determination and tenacity of the Listuguj Mi'kmaq people to use and manage the natural resources of their traditional lands. The film provides a contempora ...

Is the Crown at war with us? (2003)

In the summer of 2000, federal fishery officers appeared to wage war on the Mi'gmaq fishermen of Burnt Church, New Brunswick. Why would officials of the Canadian government attack citizens for exercising rights that had been affirmed by the highest court i ...

Welcome to Canada (1989)

Newfoundlanders share their food, culture, and homes with a group of Tamil refugees found off the coast. ...