indigenous-centered
Native-American or Indigenous protagonist, ideally passing a yet-to-be-named indigenous version of the Bechdel test. Ideally for & by Native American peoples - not simply story of First Nations people *reacting* to whites/colonist settlers (stories may include elements of genoicide/oppression, but that is not necessarily the ONLY/main focus of the movie). This list would NOT include films like Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, etc.
List activity
35 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
75 titles
- DirectorDan TrachtenbergStarsAmber MidthunderDakota BeaversDane DiLiegroNaru, a skilled warrior of the Comanche Nation, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsGerardo TaracenaRaoul Max TrujilloDalia HernándezAs the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
- CreatorSterlin HarjoTaika WaititiStarsD'Pharaoh Woon-A-TaiDevery JacobsPaulina AlexisComedy series about four Native American teenagers growing up on a reservation in eastern Oklahoma.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsAdam BeachEvan AdamsIrene BedardArnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
- DirectorSherman AlexieStarsEvan AdamsMichelle St. JohnGene TagabanSeymour Polatkin is a successful, gay Native American poet from Spokane who confronts his past when he returns to his childhood home on the reservation to attend the funeral of a dear friend.
- DirectorAlex SmithAndrew J. SmithStarsChaske SpencerDavid MorseGary FarmerVirgil First Raise wakes with a shiner and a hangover in a roadside ditch on the stark but beautiful plains of Montana. As he rises to face the day he sees a vision of his father lying dead at his feet. Impossible-- his father froze to death in a snowdrift years earlier. Virgil returns home to find that his wife, Agnes, has left him. Worse, she's taken his electric razor and his beloved rifle. Virgil sets out to find her-- beginning a hi-line odyssey of inebriated encounters, sexual skirmishes, and improbable cloak-and-dagger intrigues with the mysterious 'Airplane Man'. Virgil's quest also brings him face-to-face with childhood memories and visions of his beloved, lost brother Mose-- some glorious, some tragic. Only when Virgil seeks the counsel of an old, blind man named Yellow Calf, does he grasp the truth of his origins and begin to thaw the ice in his veins.
- DirectorKate MontgomeryStarsTimothy VahleSam VlahosMariana ToscaDuring the holidays at a ski resort in Utah run by a Native American tribe, the overworked manager and a widowed woman from the big city overcome mistaken identities and intrusive guests in their pursuit of romance.
- StarsAlaqua CoxChaske SpencerTantoo CardinalMaya Lopez must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward.
- DirectorKaaren F. OchoaStarsDennis AmbrizJhane MyersRon WeisbergAward-winning screenplay: In 1805, a 16-year-old kidnapped Shoshoni girl returns to her people with the help of white explorers. But the harsh reality she encounters forces her on a spiritual journey toward her true purpose and destiny.
- DirectorJulianna BrannumStarsLaDonna HarrisBiographical documentary shining a spotlight on the leadership role Comanche LaDonna Harris has had in Native and American and international civil rights since the 1960s.
- DirectorUta BriesewitzStarsEvan Rachel WoodThandiwe NewtonJeffrey WrightThe telling of Akecheta and the Ghost Nation's journey to consciousness; Maeve's life hangs in the balance.
- CreatorGraham RolandStarsZahn McClarnonKiowa GordonJessica MattenFollows Leaphorn and Chee, two Navajo police officers in the 1970s Southwest that are forced to challenge their own spiritual beliefs when they search for clues in a double murder case.
- StarsWes StudiAdam BeachAlex RiceA veteran cop returns to his childhood Navajo reservation, where his urban investigation methods sometimes clash with his partner's traditional ones.
- DirectorNathan FrankowskiStarsQ'orianka KilcherGil BirminghamBrigid BrannaghTe Ata set her sights on Broadway and what she thought was her life's dream. Audition after audition she was rejected and began to wonder if she was cut out for the bright lights.
- DirectorMichel PouletteStarsRoseanne SupernaultIpeelie OotoovaUapshkuss ThernishA Canadian aboriginal woman journeys to the Arctic in search of a missing member of her tribe, and falls in love with a man from a rival clan.
- DirectorStephen S. CampanelliStarsAjuawak KapashesitWayne BakerSladen PeltierFollows the life of Native Canadian Saul Indian Horse as he survives residential school and life amongst the racism of the 1970s. A talented hockey player, Saul must find his own path as he battles stereotypes and alcoholism.
- DirectorChloé ZhaoStarsJohn ReddyJashaun St. JohnIrene BedardWith an older brother in jail and living with their single mother on Pine Ridge Reservation, Johnny and his sister Jashuan's lives develop new challenges when their absentee cowboy father suddenly dies. The loss prompts Johnny to strike out for Los Angeles, but would mean leaving behind his beloved sister.
- DirectorRyszard BugajskiStarsRon LeaGraham GreeneMichael HoganA white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsHarrison LoweJames DalgaiAdam BeachThe story revolves around the legend of the skin walkers or "S Dubs", a folk legend from Utah about the spirits of murdered Indians returning to seek revenge upon those who disrespect the land.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsEric SchweigGraham GreeneGary FarmerAn inspirational tale about the relationship between two Sioux brothers living on the Pine Ridge reservation.
- DirectorTed GeogheganStarsKaniehtiio HornEzra BuzzingtonEamon FarrenLate in the War of 1812, a young Mohawk woman and her two lovers battle a squad of American soldiers hell-bent on revenge.
- DirectorSteve BarronStarsAugust SchellenbergEddie SpearsGary FarmerThe legends of the Native American nations come to life in this epic new miniseries, as two generations--a century-old storyteller and his grandson, a troubled 17-year-old boy--embark on a cross-country journey toward self-discovery.
- DirectorArnaud DesplechinStarsBenicio Del ToroMathieu AmalricGina McKeeA troubled Native American veteran forms an extraordinary friendship with his maverick French psychoanalyst as they try to find a cure to his suffering.
- DirectorBruce PittmanStarsMichelle St. JohnKim Bruisedhead FoxMarianne JonesA young Native Canadian (First Nations person) fights to keep her culture and identity when she is abducted to a residential school.
- DirectorNelson Pereira dos SantosStarsArduíno ColassantiAna Maria MagalhãesEduardo Imbassahy FilhoIn 1594 in Brazil, the Tupinambás Indians are friends of the French and their enemies are the Tupiniquins, friends of the Portuguese. A Frenchman (Arduíno Colassanti) is captured by the Tupinambás and, in spite of his trial to convince them that he is French, they believe he is Portuguese. The Frenchman becomes their slave, and maritally lives with Seboipepe (Ana Maria Magalhães). *Contains Spoilers* Later, he uses powder in the cannons that the Portuguese left behind to defeat the Tupiniquins in a battle. In order to celebrate the victory, the Indians decide to eat him.
- DirectorRicky SchroderStarsEddie SpearsRussell MeansJulia JonesBlack Cloud, is an inspirational story about a young Navajo, Native American boxer, who overcomes personal challenges as he comes to terms with his heritage, while fighting his way for a spot on the US Olympic boxing team.
- DirectorJeffrey ShoreStarsGraham GreeneLitefootIrene BedardThe legendary Ojibwa Chief is sent by the great spirit to lead his people.
- DirectorKent MackenzieStarsYvonne WilliamsHomer NishTom ReynoldsFollows a family of Native Americans living in the City of Angels.
- DirectorKorinna SehringerStarsChaske SpencerQ'orianka KilcherTyler ChristopherShouting Secrets is a hopeful and heartwarming, universal story taking place in a present day Native American family. It's a story that is at once about the constancy and the fragility of love, as well as the importance of family.
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsCharles AbourezkDave Bald EagleLawrence BayneMary Crow Dog, daughter of a desperately poor Indian family in South Dakota, is swept up in the protests of the 1960s and becomes sensitized to the injustices that society inflicts on her people. She aids the Lakota in their struggle for their rights: a struggle that culminates in an armed standoff with US government forces at the site of an 1890 massacre.
- DirectorLarry ElikannStarsJesse BorregoDavid ClennonTantoo CardinalThis western began in 1812 when the settlers tried to take away more and more territories from the indians. Tecumseh, who is the leader of the Shawnee indians, tries to do something. He plans a big indian state, and tries to win the English settlers over to this plan...
- StarsEvan AdamsCarmen ThompsonKim CameronThis 8 part series tells us about indigenous peoples of the Americas before the Spanish explorer Columbus arrived. Each episode shows us via re-enactments about a particular subject. We learn about their art, architecture, archaeology, Science and Technology etc.
- StarsRyan Rajendra BlackJennifer PodemskiDarrell DennisSpin off television series based on the characters from "Dance Me Outside"
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsRyan Rajendra BlackAdam BeachJennifer PodemskiA story of life on a First Nations reserve in Ontario: Silas and Frank are trying to get into college to train to be mechanics but they find themselves having to deal with girls, family - and murder.
- StarsTre SmithLiza HaldaneRon CookLife on an aboriginal reserve as seen through the eyes of young teens.
- DirectorAndrew Okpeaha MacLeanStarsJosiah PatkotakFrank Qutuq IrelanJohn MillerIn Barrow, Alaska, teenagers Qalli and Aivaaq find their bond tested when a seal-hunting trip goes wrong, resulting in the death of their friend.
- DirectorChristopher CainStarsRichard TysonRodney A. GrantBarbara CarreraThis movie depicts the life of a small Indian tribe, in a time shortly before the white men became a threat. In the focus of the story is the young Skywalker, who woos cute Morning Sun, but can't seem to convince her father of his qualities. When the outcast Kayowa attack the camp, he hopes for an opportunity to impress him.
- DirectorTim KellyCharlie SoapStarsKimberly GuerreroMo Brings PlentySteve ReevisThe work that led Wilma Mankiller to become the first modern female Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsWotko LongBronnson Tre HarjoJamie LoyMekko is an native American man who is released from prison. He served time for killing a cousin. Homeless, he learns that he must become a warrior to fight the "witch" preying on his people because they have lost their spirit.
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsMichael GreyeyesVictor AaronNathaniel ArcandThe legendary Native American chieftain refuses to go with his people peacefully to the reservation and starts a rebellion.
- DirectorNanci RossovStarsTembi LockeJay TavareChuma GaultThree Lakota Sioux men enroll in a historically black college, and their reluctance to assimilate causes friction between their black peers. Some come to embrace their similar history, while others remain bitter.
- DirectorSydney FreelandStarsKauchani BrattJessica MattenDevin Sampson CraigChuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico that must band together after losing their star player, if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive.
- DirectorShaandiin TomeRayka ZehtabchiStarsAhtyirahm AllenAlme AllenPimm Tripp-AllenA girl and her community prepare for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming of age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
- StarsRobbie RobertsonJoy HarjoYan GarciaAt the intersection of modern scholarship and Native knowledge is a new vision of the Americas and the people who built it.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsAnthony QuinnClaude AkinsTony BillComedy based on the plight of modern aboriginal Americans living on reservations.
- StarsGordon TootoosisTantoo CardinalLorne CardinalThe story of Big Bear, the real life Cree chief who campaigned for his people and their land against the Canadian government in the 1870s and 1880s.
- DirectorTim SouthamStarsEric SchweigDakota HouseGabrielle MillerStoney Point Natives assemble at Ipperwash Provincial Park for what began as a peaceful protest.
- DirectorJorge SanjinésStarsMarcelino YanahuayaBenedicta MendozaVicente Verneros SalinasThe reaction of an indigenous community against a group of foreigners who under the guise of development assistance are forcibly sterilizing the peasant women.
- DirectorAlejandro Loayza GrisiStarsJosé CalcinaLuisa QuispeCandelaria QuispeIn the Bolivian highlands, an elderly Quechua couple has been living the same daily life for years. During an uncommonly long drought, Virginio and Sisa face a dilemma: resist or be defeated by the environment and time itself.
- DirectorOscar Sánchez SaldañaStarsNataly AuresGlicerio ReynosoCarlos SolanoFour villagers organize a festival in honor of the town's patron saint to end the pain caused by the disappearance of several of their relatives. The villagers believe that if the Patron saint is pleased, the town will be able to end their years of mourning. The four villagers overcome many problems to organize a brilliant celebration, which will conclude with the symbolic burial of all the missing relatives. However, when one of the four has a terrible accident, they take this as a bad omen and a sign that the patron saint may not want to calm their sorrows at all.
- DirectorLuis FigueroaEulogio NishiyamaCésar VillanuevaStarsJudith FigueroaVictor ChambiLizardo PérezKukuli, a young llama herder, leaves her grandparents in the countryside of Cusco to attend the Feast of Mamacha Carmen in the town of Paucartambo.
- DirectorToshifumi MatsushitaStarsChristian HuayguaLuis MamaníFaniy MosquesKunturi is a 13-year old boy living a traditional life with his family near Uyuni, a salt lake. They cut bricks of salt by hand, which they use to exchange for other products of the the Andes. One spring, his father takes him on his first caravan. That travel will teach him who he is as a young boy and a Quechua. By the end, he discovers what his grandfather means by "the gift of Pachamama".
- DirectorMauricio Franco TossoStarsAmiel CayoAgustina Aurelia Cougar CcalloRaquel Florentina Saihua HuainasiHigh up in the Andes mountains, in a landscape both hostile and profoundly beautiful, a beleaguered family tries to scrape by.
- DirectorWerner HerzogDenis ReichleStarsWerner HerzogDenis ReichleThe film focuses on a group of Miskito in Nicaragua who used child soldiers in their resistance against the Sandinistas.
- DirectorMarco BechisStarsClaudio SantamariaAlicélia Batista CabreiraChiara CaselliWhen a tribe of indigenous Guarani Indians attempts to re-inhabit their ancestral land, which lies on the border of a wealthy landowner's fields, tensions escalate.
- StarsMarina FoïsLuc PicardMarina OrsiniAu début de la colonie en Nouvelle-France, la jeune Amérindienne Shehaweh est enlevée par des guerriers Ouendats. Des Blancs viennent à son secours et la confient à Marguerite Bourgeoys qui la baptise et entreprend son éducation. Devenue jeune femme, elle est déportée en France par le marquis de Tracy et présentée à la cour de Louis XIV. Après avoir désobéi à sa protectrice, elle est enfermée à la Pitié-Salpêtrière. Quelques années plus tard, elle revient en Nouvelle-France en tant que fille du roy et se voit forcée de se marier. Après deux ans de mariage, elle quitte son mari et tente de convaincre Frontenac de lui permettre de retourner parmi les siens.
- DirectorArami UllonStarsMateo Sobode ChiquenoJose IquebiFollows Mateo Sobode Chiqueno and his recorded stories, songs and testimonies of his Ayoreo people on an old tape recorder.
- DirectorAlanis ObomsawinStarsJack BurningHerbie BarnesAlanis ObomsawinA film account about the military 1990 siege of a Native American reserve near Oka, Quebec, Canada and its causes.
- DirectorJohn FerryStarsAdam Fortunate EagleThe life and times of the great Lakota chief Sitting Bull, told mostly from his own words and that of his contemporaries. An intimate in-depth portrait of one of America's great historical figures.
- DirectorJuan Mora CatlettStarsRodrigo PueblaRafael CortesJosé ChávezA very hard drought devastates an ancient Mexican empire. Warriors and priests fight for power while people are dying. A group of priests return to Aztlan, the mythological place where Mexican culture was born, to pray to the goddess Coatlicue and stop the drought.
- StarsSarain FoxGitz CrazyboyIphy MurphyVice travels to Indigenous communities across the Americas to meet people protecting their homelands and rising up against colonization.
- DirectorJed RiffePamela RobertsStarsRayna GreenLinda HuntIn the early 1900s, Ishi, the last of the Yahi Indian tribe, is discovered nearly 20 years after the Yahi tribe was thought to be wiped out. The curators of a museum agree to look after him, hoping to learn more about him, his tribe, and their beliefs, and to teach him to survive in the modern world.
- DirectorHeather RaeStarsRobert RedfordKris KristoffersonSam ShepardA chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances and politics.
- DirectorAndee De La RosaShonie De La RosaStarsBeau BenallyJames JunesDwayne LakeTaking place on the Navajo Nation, Cloyd Begay (Beau Benally), has been a victim of alcohol abuse and domestic violence throughout his childhood in result having him resorting to alcohol to repress his memories. As he is willing to take responsible for his life and as husband and father, his drinking buddies Jimmy (Gerald Vandever) and Marty (James Junes) cultivate in having Cloyd continue their carefree lifestyle of drinking and partying, preventing him to change. All the while, his wife Lorraine (Kim White) and son Michael (KJ White) begin to lose hope in him and seriously consider leaving him. As the ensuing events unfold, it leads him making the choice that will change his life forever.
- DirectorBlackhorse LoweStarsLivandrea KnokiSheldon SilentwalkerErnest Tsosie IIITwo young Navajos hitch hike home through the Navajo reservation, falling in love along the way.
- DirectorBlackhorse LoweStarsMorningstar AngelineJason AsenapPierre BarreraChing Yazzie and friends get through life's unexpected encounters, the ups and downs of falling in and out of love or not at all.
- DirectorBlackhorse LoweStarsBrigadier BrownNoelle BrownCarmelita B. LoweMary Jane must choose to either stay at home on the reservation or leave to go to boarding school.
- DirectorAnne MakepeaceStarsJason BairdJessie BairdMae Alice BairdWE STILL LIVE HERE: As Nutayunean tells the amazing story of the return of the Wampanoag language, the first time a language with no Native speakers has been revived in this country. Four centuries ago, Wampanoag people helped the first English settlers in America- the Pilgrims - to survive. Although Americans celebrate 'the Indians' every year at Thanksgiving, few know that their descendants are still on their homelands in Southeastern Massachusetts. Spurred on by an indomitable linguist named Jessie Little Doe, the Wampanoag are bringing their language and their culture back.
- CreatorChris SheridanStarsAlan TudykSara TomkoCorey ReynoldsA crash-landed alien takes on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor and slowly begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his secret mission on Earth.
- StarsAlfred MolinaRossif SutherlandElle-Máijá TailfeathersFollowing Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he investigates cases beneath the idyllic surface of the Quebec village, Three Pines, finding long-buried secrets and facing a few ghosts of his own.
- DirectorNyla InnuksukStarsTroy JamesKristian BruunShaun BensonIn Nunavut, four girls who like horror and alien movies, love their phones and even their poor elders who believe in shapeshifters because "they didn't have the internet" realize local disappearances are linked to a shapeshifting alien.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsLothaire BluteauAden YoungSandrine HoltIn the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary nicknamed Black Robe by the natives and his small party of companions try reaching the Huron tribe in Canada all while facing mistrust, Iroquois warring parties and harsh winter conditions.
- DirectorDmitrii DavydovStarsValentina Romanova-ChyskyyrayNikolai IvanovAnatoly StruchkovPeople avoid and fear her but make their way to her door, because only she can resolve problems problems of all kinds. She is a healer, a hermit, a holy fool and a drinker. She knows the saving grace she administers is destroying her.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HardyWill PoulterA frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.