EXCLUSIVE: Sugar canethe Oscar-nominated documentary about the horrific legacy of Indian residential schools in North America, will debut on National Geographic on Monday, December 9, followed the next day by a streaming launch on Disney+ and Hulu.

The film directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat And Emily Kassie has won more than a dozen festival awards, including Sundance, where he won the directing award for an American documentary. On Monday, it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Gotham Awards, and last week the film earned eight nominations for the award. Critics Choice Documentary Awards. He was appointed to both DOC NYC and the IDA selections of the best feature-length documentaries of the year.

The soundtrack of Sugar caneby Indigenous composer Mali Obomsawin (Odanak First Nation), will be released by Hollywood Records on December 10, making it available wherever music is sold and streamed. The film centers on an investigation into the discovery of possible mass graves at the St. Joseph Indian Residential School in British Columbia, a Catholic Church-run facility where generations of Indigenous children suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse . The film reveals evidence that priests impregnated some girls at school and, after the girls gave birth, cremated their babies.

The United States maintained an even larger system of Indian boarding schools than Canada, most run by Christian denominations, where child abuse also flourished. The intent of schools in the United States and Canada was to strip Native children of their language and culture and force them to adopt the norms of white society. Friday, President Biden visited the Gila Indian Reservation in Arizona to examine the damage caused by the boarding school system, which operated from 1819 until at least 1969.

“I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we have done,” Biden said. “The federal Indian boarding school policy, the pain it caused, will always be a significant mark of shame, a stain on American history.”

Filmmakers Kassie and NoiseCat attended Biden’s speech on the Gila Indian Reservation. “The President’s official apology to survivors and their families is a true testament to the importance of what happened to the children of Native American residential schools and residential schools in the United States and Canada,” they said in a statement . “This is a fundamental story for North America, so it’s a real honor for Sugar cane be part of the conversation right now, move it forward and act as a catalyst for dialogue.

Sugar cane was released in theaters domestically in the United States and Canada this summer. Additionally, the filmmakers toured to show the film in First Nations and tribal communities across North America. “These “Rez Tour” screenings provide Indigenous communities with an accessible, intimate and safe way to watch the film before its streaming release,” according to a press release from National Geographic Documentary Films. “Each screening is organized in coordination with First Nations and tribal community leaders and highlights local or regional resources and health supports for Indigenous people and families who were affected by residential schools in Canada and Indian boarding schools in the United States. THE Sugar cane The “Rez Tour” began just weeks after the Interior Department released its latest investigative report on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which found that nearly 1,000 children died in more than 400 schools funded by the US federal government, three times more. as operated in Canada.

Oscar-nominated actress Lily Gladstone of Siksikaitsitapi and Nimiipuu heritage recently joined Sugar cane as executive producer, alongside fellow EPs Bill Way, Elliott Whitton, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Tegan Acton, Emma Pompetti, Grace Lay, Sumalee Montano, Sabrina Merage Naim, Douglas Choi, Adam and Melony Lewis, Meadow Fund, JanaLee Cherneski and Ian Desai, David and Linda Cornfield, Maida Lynn and Robina Riccitiello. The film’s co-executive producers are Kelsey Koenig, Lauren Haber, Meryl Metni and Jennifer Pelling. Carolyn Bernstein is executive producer for National Geographic Documentary Films.

The director of photography of Sugar cane is Christopher LaMarca and the director of photography is Emily Kassie. The film is edited by Nathan Punwar and Maya Daisy Hawke, with music by Mali Obomsawin.

The most recent National Geographic Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature went to Bobi Wine: The People’s Presidentdirected by Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp. He has received nominations in this category in recent years for Fire of Lovedirected by Sara Dosa, The Cavedirected by Feras Fayyad, and he won the Oscar in 2019 (as well as six Emmys) for Free singleplayerJimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi’s documentary about climber Alex Honnold, who scaled the dangerous rock face of El Capitan without ropes.