Join the Indigenous Film Collective for a free screening of the documentary, If An Owl Calls Your Name (2025), commemorating National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Editor-producer Finley MacNeil will join for a post-screening discussion and Q&A.
Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue
This event is open to all members of the U of T community and the general public.
“We know through sacred ceremony the reconciliation is already done.”
In If An Owl Calls Your Name, Patricia June Vickers, her brother Roy Henry Vickers, along with other Indigenous Elders, healers, and activists from Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en territories reflect upon their lives as forcefully assimilated Canadians. The effects of intergenerational trauma echo through the voices of residential school survivors and their children as they heal from substance abuse, violence, and a profound disconnect from their culture. Through connection to land, ancestral wisdom, and ceremonial healing they transform darkness into forgiveness and inner reconciliation. A prayer beyond religion; these stories call one into a universal yearning for belonging and the sacredness of life.
Please note: This film may depict sensitive and potentially distressing content. The film explores the traumatic experiences of Indigenous peoples experiences with racism; descriptions of child abuse, residential school trauma, and genocide. These portrayals may be triggering for some viewers.