Black Out

A surrealistic allergory on the loss of language and identity in the city from an indigenous perspective.

In 1976, a Mi'gMaq teenager plots revenge against the sadistic Indian agent who imprisoned her in a residential school where rape and abuse are common.

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics dives deeply into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride and Envy) and the Seven Sacred Teachings (Love, Respect, Wisdom, Courage, Truth, Honesty and Humility), as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby. Brought to life by Terril Calder’s darkly beautiful stop-motion animation, her inner turmoil of abuse is laid bare with unflinching honesty. Convinced she’s soiled and destined for Hell, Baby Girl receives teachings that fill her with strength and pride, and affirm a path towards healing. Calder’s tour-de-force unearths a hauntingly familiar yet hopeful world that illuminates the bias of colonial systems.

Set in a dystopic metropolitan hellscape: a spiritually exhausted and destitute Mi'gMaq man has resolved to assimilate into the ruling culture. He visits a surgical clinic - the display window littered with skin and limb samples - and undergoes a gruesome procedure to rid him of his red skin.

The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi'kmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.

A Mi'gmaq man struggling with life off the reservation descends into drug-addled madness when his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend, turning his rage and despair against the only visible enemy: the swarm of cockroaches that have invaded his trailer.

Etlinisigu’niet (Bleed Down) is part of Souvenir, a four-film series addressing Indigenous identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB’s archives.