The Great Falls Public Library welcomes nationally renowned Native author/filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat to Great Falls on Saturday, June 6 for a free author talk and screening of his Academy Award-nominated documentary.
The American and Canadian writer, filmmaker, and activist will discuss his bestselling, debut memoir We Survived The Night at 1 pm in the Cordingley Room at the Great Falls Public Library. Cassiopeia Books will be on hand to sell copies of his book after the talk, as well.
He then will give a free screening of his debut documentary Sugarcane (Rated R) at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center starting at 6 pm, followed by a question and answer session. Doors open at 5:30 pm. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is located at 4201 Giant Springs Road.
We Survived The Night, according to his official website, “paints a profound and unforgettable portrait of contemporary Indigenous life, alongside an intimate and deeply powerful reckoning between a father and a son. A soulful, formally daring, and indelible work from an important new voice.” You can check out his book at the GFPL online or in the non-fiction section call letters/number 970.004 NOISECA.
Sugarcane starts in 2021, when evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. 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. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere. The film is Rated R for “adult language.”
NoiseCat is a writer, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, champion powwow dancer, and student of Salish art and history. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Yorker. NoiseCat has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize and many National Native Media Awards. He was a finalist for the Livingston Award and multiple Canadian National Magazine Awards and was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2021.
Sugarcane, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Directed alongside Emily Kassie, Sugarcane premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where NoiseCat and Kassie won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary. NoiseCat is a proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and descendant of the Lil’wat Nation of Mount Currie. For more information on NoiseCat, please visit www.prhspeakers.com
The Great Falls Public Library thanks the Montana Arts Council and the Great Falls Public Library Foundation for sponsoring this event. Additional support from coal tax placed into Montana’s Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund.
