The Grizzlies

Native Film Talk

Directed by Miranda De Pencier

This 2018 film is based on the actual Grizzlies from 2005. A community that had the highest suicide rate in North America, glommed onto the game of Lacrosse. Introduced to them by a non-Native outsider Russ Sheppard. He uses the game to distract the students from their reality but also to teach them about becoming a community and not just teammates. This movie is THE Native sports movie because there are nothing but Indigenous kids acting in roles where Indigenous kids should be acting.

This is a film documents a community's struggles with youth suicide as a result of Residential School, colonialism, substance abuse, and domestic violence. While this movie paints a bleak outlook it also details how a community found hope through their youth and reconnecting them with their culture. I love this film and thank you for listening!