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Toronto, Ontario: Makwa Creative Inc. has announced that Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising, a documentary about the culture-shifting youth-led land-back occupation, will have its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Sept. 2025. Focused on the life of Louis Cameron who led the charge, Ni-Naadamaadiz is written/directed by award-winning Métis filmmaker Shane Belcourt. Co-writer and producer on this doc is acclaimed journalist and author Tanya Talaga, whose four-part docuseries “The Knowing” debuted at TIFF last year.
“Growing up in a household steeped in Indigenous resistance and political leadership, Louis Cameron’s courage and clarity felt deeply familiar,” says Belcourt. “His voice echoes a legacy that still speaks urgently to this moment. We had to tell this story… because at its heart, it’s about love. [Meaning] the fierce, unwavering love our leaders carry for our people.”
For backstory, in 1974 a courageous group of Anishinabeg Youth gathered to stage one of the first (armed) land-back occupations since the 1885 North-West Rebellion. Led by Louis Cameron, an Indian Residential School Survivor and a founder of the Ojibway Warriors Society, the occupation included members of the American Indian Movement and lasted for nearly 40 days.
This groundbreaking Occupation led the members to Ottawa with warriors from Cache Creek, B.C., as part of the Native Caravan, which ended on Parliament Hill after police violently moved to end their peaceful demonstration. There is only eight minutes of footage from this event, but Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising unearths the buried history of this moment in our history.
Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising helmer is four-time Canadian Screen Award nomine, Shane Belcourt (Amplify, Tkaronto) whose family descends from the Cree-speaking Michif community of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta.
Produced by Anishinaabe journalist and author Tanya Talaga (The Knowing), a proud member of Fort William First Nation, this doc is written by both Belcourt & Talaga, and executive produced by Talaga and Antica Productions’ Stuart Coxe (Dragons’ Den). Original music and score for Ni-Nadaamadiz are composed by Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory musician, Tom Wilson, known for his work in bands including Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Junkhouse, and Thompson Wilson.
“When I first heard the story of Anicinabe Park, I knew young people everywhere needed to know about this important stand taken by a fearless group of Anishinabeg. This was a story that was written out of history, but one that deserves to be told,” says Talaga, the film’s producer and co-writer. Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising is produced in association with documentary Channel and APTN.
The project was made with generous support from the Indigenous Screen Office, Canada Council for the Arts, CMF Indigenous Fund, and Telefilm Canada. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual, & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; Sandra Kleinfeld is Senior Director, Documentary; and Nic Meloney is Executive in Charge of Production.
Find out more info here.
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