Elle–Máijá Tailfeathers’ film witnesses radical and profound change in her community. Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy is an intimate portrait of survival, love and the collective work of healing in the Kainai First Nation in Southern Alberta, a Blackfoot community facing the impacts of substance use and a drug-poisoning epidemic.

Community members active in addiction and recovery, first responders and medical professionals implement harm reduction to save lives. This work is contextualized within the historical and contemporary impacts of settler colonialism; Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy draws a connecting line between the effects of colonial violence on Blackfoot land and people and the ongoing substance-use crisis.

Held in love and hope for the future, Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy asks the audience to be a part of this remarkable change with the community. 

Director: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot & Sami)
Writer: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot & Sami)
Producers: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, David Christensen, Lori Lozinski
Language: English
Canada | 2021 | 124 mins

PREVIEW SHORT FILM: 

He Ara Ano (There is another way)
Director: Holly Beckham (Ngapuhi, Ngati Rangi)

New Zealand | 2021 | 16 mins | English | Maori

A STORY OF DRUG ADDICTION, MAORI WAHINE,
AND THE POWER OF RECOVERY.

​“There is a demon on its way. It is a demon that will arrive stealthily and deviously; you will not even see it coming. So when you see the effect in the eyes of your mokopuna, do not punish them, instead clothe them with a korowai of love.”

These words, phophesised in 1883, could easily have been written about Jesse’s and Rochelle’s story. Close sisters, they share their moving and at times painful journey, opening up about lost childhoods, marital abuse, destructive behaviour and finally the road to recovery. Their story is all too familiar to Dame Naida Glavish DNZM, who uncovers long-forgotten truths Aotearoa has buried - revealing how a disconnection with wairua (spirituality) creates fertile ground for addiction to take hold of young wāhine such as Jesse and Rochelle.

NOTE: This film is available in the BIRRARANGGA Film Festival 3-pass and 5-pass ticket packages.