Sisters Rising is a powerful feature documentary about six Native American women reclaiming personal & tribal sovereignty.
Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. 1 in 3 Native women report having been raped during her lifetime and 86% of the offenses are committed by non-Native men. These perpetrators exploit gaps in tribal jurisdictional authority and target Native women as ‘safe victims’. SISTERS RISING follows six women who refuse to let this pattern of violence continue in the shadows: a tribal cop in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom, an attorney fighting to overturn restrictions on tribal sovereignty, an Indigenous women’s self-defense instructor, grassroots advocates working to influence legislative change, and the author of the first anti-sex trafficking code to be introduced to a reservation’s tribal court. Their stories shine an unflinching light on righting injustice on both an individual and systemic level.
"The abhorrent violence that is a constant in the lives of Indigenous peoples impacts Indigenous women first,” says Co-producer Jaida Grey Eagle (Ogala Lakota), “We are on the frontlines of an ongoing legacy of violent colonization, and it is vitally important that the world see and hear us.”
Sisters Rising is now available for purchase for schools and institutions through our fiscal sponsors, Women Make Movies!
"IN A PORTRAIT OF SIX BRAVE PARTICIPANTS WHO REFUSE TO LET A PATTERN OF VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE WOMEN CONTINUE ON IN THE SHADOWS, THIS FILM SHINES AN UNFLINCHING AND ULTIMATELY UPLIFTING LIGHT ONTO RIGHTING INJUSTICE ON BOTH AN INDIVIDUAL AND SYSTEMIC LEVEL."
BIG SKY JURY STATEMENT ABOUT SISTERS RISING
DIRECTORS O'FERAL AND HECK NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT THESE WOMEN ARE NOT JUST STATISTICS BUT PEOPLE WHO DESERVE DIGNITY AND RESPECT. THEY WEAVE THEIR SIX SUBJECTS' EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE INTO AN EFFECTIVE NARRATIVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL EYE FOR STYLE.
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
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PAST SCREENINGS
Spokane Int'l Film Festival (SpIFF)
February 4, 2022 - February 14, 2022
WYO Film Festival
Oct 1-3 2021
Myrna Loy Theater - Helena, Montana
Sept 29, 2021
Out of Africa Int'l Film Festival
September 15-17, 2021
Windham World Affairs Council
July 8, 2021
Women's Museum of California
June 17, 2021
Dove House/Rose Theatre
May 24-31, 2021
Hennepin County Library, Minnesota
May 29, 2021
BROADCAST PREMIERE America ReFramed on PBS
April 20, 2021 - Ongoing
SAFE Austin
April 22, 2021
Kansas University - FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival
April 8, 2021
Birrarangga Film Festival -AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
March 13, 2021
Herat International Womens Film Festival - AFGHANISTAN PREMIERE
November 16, 2020
Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival
VIRTUAL FESTIVAL - Dec 27 to Jan 1
LA SKINS Fest
November 17-22, 2020
Smithsonian NMAI Native Cinema Showcase virtual
November 18-27, 2020
Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival
November 20-22, 2020
North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival
November 8-15, 2020
American Indian Film Festival
November 4-14, 2020
UNL Human Trafficking & Migration Initiative
October 20-23, 2020
Boston Women's Film Festival
October 8-18th, 2020
Vision Maker Media Indigenous Online Film Festival
August 31, 2020 - October 5, 2020
Native Spirit Film Festival
October, 2020
Minority Health Film Festival
September 10-24, 2020
Elizabethtown Film Festival
September 18 - September 20
Women's Film Festival
CANCELED - September, 2020
Family of Woman Film Festival
September, 2020
Nevada City Film Festival
August 28 - September 4, 2020
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival
August 27 - September 3, 2020
The Americas Film Festival of New York (TAFFNY)
VIRTUAL FILM FESTIVAL, Presented by the Smithsonian NMAI — June 28, 2020
Arctic University of Norway
VIRTUAL SCREENING — June 15, 2020
Vermont Network Against Sexual & Domestic Violence
VIRTUAL SCREENING — May 19, 2020
MN 350: Building a Climate Movement in Minnesota
VIRTUAL SCREENING — May 9, 2020
Women Make Movies, Films Interrupted
VIRTUAL FESTIVAL — April 17-19, 2020
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Feb 20th, 2020
California's American Indian & Indigenous Film Festiva
Feb 20th, 2020
Big Sky Film Festival
WORLD PREMIERE — Feb 16th, 2020
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“THIS IS A CONVERSATION THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW AND I BELIEVE SISTERS RISING IS A POWERFUL CONTRIBUTING VOICE.”
SARAH DEER, MUSCOGEE CREEK LAWYER, ADVOCATE AND PROFESSOR
FILMMAKERS
WILLOW O'FERAL
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
WILLOW O'FERAL is the award-winning director, producer and cinematographer of two ....
TANTOO CARDINAL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
TANTOO CARDINAL is a Cree/Metis actor, writer, and activist, and arguably the most widely ...
BRAD HECK
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
BRAD HECK is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and educator. Sisters Rising is Brad’s ...
JENN RUFF
EDITOR
JENN RUFF is a filmmaker, editor, artist, and educator. She has worked on numerous award-winning ...
JAIDA GREY EAGLE
CO-PRODUCER
JAIDA GREY EAGLE is a Oglala Lakota artist, born in Pine Ridge,
South Dakota and raised in ...
RAZELLE BENALLY
ASSISTANT EDITOR
RAZELLE BENALLY is a Oglala Lakota/Diné filmmaker currently attending the Tisch School ...
ALLISON LEIALOHA MILHAM
COMPOSER
ALLISON LEIALOHA MILHAM is a musician, visual artist, and educator of Native Hawaiian descent who has been writing and recording music for over 15 ...
"SISTERS RISING IS NOT ONLY A VISUALLY STUNNING AND A POWERFUL PORTRAIT OF THE POWER AND RESILIENCY OF NATIVE WOMEN IN AMERICA, IT SKILLFULLY CONNECTS THE HIGH RATES OF VIOLENCE AND MURDER EXPERIENCED BY NATIVE WOMEN TO THE LEGACY OF COLONIZATION AND OUR CULTURE OF EXTRACTION AND DOMINATION. IF YOU WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACTS OF WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE ON NATIVE WOMEN, THIS IS GREAT PLACE TO START."
ANNE SMITH, VERMONT NETWORK AGAINST DOMESTIC & SEXUAL VIOLENCE
SUPPORT
Please consider donating to the following front-line organizations:
Contact your state senator and ask them to reauthorize the House's version of VAWA.
Given the current state of the industry, with festivals and theaters closing due to COVID-19, we need your support now more than ever to get our film to audiences across the US. Please consider supporting us with a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsors, Women Make Movies.
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