Director Alanis Obomsawin attending 4/22
The rights of First Nations children take center stage in this landmark documentary, the 50th by legendary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice follows the historic discrimination complaint filed against the Government of Canada in 2007 by the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations. Led by Cindy Blackstock, the head of the Caring Society, they argued that child and family welfare services provided to First Nations children on reserves were underfunded and inferior to those offered to other Canadian children. Over the course of the next three years, Blackstock and her allies tenaciously fought for what they knew was right in the face of overt—and covert—challenges.
Obomsawin’s deft documentary lens gives us a rare and detailed glimpse into the Canadian legal system as a remarkable story of courage, conviction and justice unfolds.
Press
"With Canada's 150th approaching, there is much talk of reconciliation with aboriginal people: Obomsawin has painstakingly exposed the official attitudes that might get in the way." - Globe and Mail
Director’s Biography
Alanis Obomsawin: Master filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has been making documentaries through the National Film Board of Canada since the 1960s. One of the most significant voices in documentary filmmaking, Obomsawin is committed to sharing Indigenous perspectives in her expansive body of work, which now stands at 50 features and shorts.
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