The White House Hosts Special Screening of "Sugarcane"

Sugarcane, a documentary exploring the maltreatment of Canada’s Indigenous populations, had the unique honor of a screening at the White House. Make sure you check out Marshal’s review of the Oscar-contending documentary here.

What’s Happening:

Reported exclusively by Deadline, The White House hosted a screening of the critically acclaimed documentary Sugarcane on December 17th.
Taking place at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House, directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie along with several of the film’s participants were in attendance alongside important US officials such as Rose Petoskey, Director of Tribal Affairs, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American person to serve as cabinet secretary.
This includes Chief Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake First Nation, Chris Wycotte, and Anna Gilbert.
Sugarcane takes a deep dive into the abuse and disappearances of Indigenous children at Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
The school, which is part of a network of similar schools in the US and Canada, has operated for over a century.
The boarding schools were designed to keep Indigenous children from their cultures, customs, languages and identities.
Earlier this year, President Biden traveled to Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona to issue an official apology on behalf of the US Government's role in these boarding schools.
The team behind Sugarcane received a letter from the President after the screening reiterating the apology and condemning the actions of these boarding schools.
The letter reads:

“It is a tremendous honor to host all of those gathered at the White House for this screening of Sugarcane.

I have always believed that we must know the good, the bad, and the truth of our past so that we can begin to remember and heal,” the president wrote. “That is why I became the first President to issue a formal apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School era—one of our Nation’s most horrific periods.

For over 150 years, the Federal Government ran boarding schools that forcibly removed generations of Native children from their homes to live at schools that were often far away. The schools aimed to assimilate Native children by stripping them of their languages, religions, and cultures, often separating them from their families for years, with some never returning home. Native children endured physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and at least 973 children died in these schools.

The Sugarcane documentary shines a light on this shameful chapter of history, helping ensure that it is never forgotten or repeated. It is in that same spirit that, earlier this month, I designated the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School—the first federal off-reservation boarding school—as a national monument. Here, we can take a step toward redress and national healing in the arc of the survival, resilience, and triumph of Tribal Nations and communities.

I know the story told in Sugarcane wasn’t an easy story to tell, but we do ourselves no favors by pretending it didn’t happen. I thank you for your dedication to sharing the stories of so many Native children, families, and communities and shining the light of truth upon these wrongs.”

Three of the documentary’s executive producers were in attendance, including Jenny Raskin, David Fialkow, and Nina Fialkow.
Other attendees included National Geographic Global Television Networks president Courteney Monroe and VP of government relations at The Walt Disney Company Jessica Moore.
Capping off the screening, Chief Sellars and NoiseCat performed an impromptu drum circle.
Recently, Sugarcane has received several honors outside of the White House screening. These include:
- Winner of Best Documentary by National Board of Review
- Six nominations from the upcoming Cinema Eye Honors
- NoiseCat and Kassie received a nomination for the Film Independent Spirit Awards’ Truer Than Fiction Award
- The pair also won the Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for a U.S. Documentary
Sugarcane is available to stream now on Hulu and Disney+.

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