The nominees are officially out for the Academy Awards, and two Canadian filmmakers are celebrating their Oscar nod for Best Documentary Feature.
Sugarcane, a critically acclaimed debut by Secwépemc filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat and Toronto journalist and filmmaker Emily Kassie, was announced on Thursday morning as one of the five documentaries to compete for the award at the 97th annual event.
Kassie shared the news on her Instagram, adding that she had “no words” to describe the moment.
Sugarcane is a National Geographic Documentary Film that follows an investigation into evidence of unmarked graves at a residential school near Sugar Cane reserve in Williams Lake, BC.
“After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation, and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities,” reads the description on the official Nat Geo page for Sugarcane.
“Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.”
Emily Kassie/Sugarcane Film LLC
Noisecat is a member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and a descendant of the Lil’Wat Nation of Mount Currie. His father, Ed Archie NoiseCat, was born at St. Joseph’s Mission, the residential school being investigated throughout the film.
Sugarcane has picked up several major awards, including Best Documentary at the National Board of Review Awards and Best Political Documentary and Best True Crime Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards.
Sugarcane was also selected as one of Barack Obama’s Favourite Movies of 2024 and was screened at the White House in December.
“I know the story told in Sugarcane wasn’t easy to tell, but we do ourselves no favours by pretending it didn’t happen,” said President Joe Biden in a letter to the filmmakers.
Other Canadian nominees announced for the 97th Academy Awards include Gentilly, Quebec’s Denis Villeneuve, whose Dune: Part Two is in the running for Best Picture.
Patrice Vermette of Montreal and Shane Vieau of Dartmouth both received nominations for Best Production Design on Dune: Part Two.
Toronto’s Linda Muir got a nod for Best Costume Design on Nosferatu. Traci Loader of Newmarket, a part of the makeup and hairstyling team for the same film, will also be vying for an Academy Award on March 2 in Los Angeles.