Gil Cardinal searches for his natural family and an understanding of the circumstances that led to his becoming a foster child. An important figure in the history of Canadian Indigenous filmmaking, Gil Cardinal was born to a Métis mother but raised by a non-Indigenous foster family, and with this auto-biographical documentary he charts his efforts to find his biological mother and to understand why he was removed from her. Considered a milestone in documentary cinema, it addressed the country’s internal colonialism in a profoundly personal manner, winning a Special Jury Prize at Banff and multiple international awards.
Direction
Cardinal turns camera on himself with devastating clarity.
Editing
Juxtaposes official records against lived reality.
Writing
Personal narration that never flinches from systemic critique.
Director
Gil Cardinal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of Canada's 'Challenge for Change' program, which paradoxically funded Indigenous voices to document state violence.
Cardinal's biological mother had no idea he was making this film until he appeared with cameras running.
CA
