In this evocative meditation, a disturbing link is made between the resource extraction industries’ exploitation of the land and violence inflicted on Indigenous women and girls. Or, as one young woman testifies, “Just as the land is being used, these women are being used.”
Direction
Latimer weaves testimony and landscape into something inescapable.
Cinematography
North Dakota's scarred earth becomes a body in itself.
Writing
That one line — 'just as the land is being used' — destroys.
Director
Michelle Latimer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title 'Nuuca' derives from Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara meaning 'strong' or 'powerful' — the film reclaims this for women surviving extraction violence.
Made during the height of Dakota Access Pipeline resistance; the 'man camps' referenced directly link to documented spikes in violence against Indigenous women in Bakken oil fields.
US
CA
