małni – towards the ocean, towards the shore

małni – towards the ocean, towards the shore was part of IDFA program in 2023, and withdrawn by the filmmaker. Upon the request of the filmmaker, we publish the following text as received:

"This film was one of 12 to withdraw from participation at IDFA 2023, amongst 28 total withdrawals that included moderators, jury, and others in protest at the festival's damaging denunciation of an action in solidarity with Palestine that took place on the opening night of the festival. At the time, the festival erased all information relating to the films withdrawn in protest from the website. In response to the publication of the Palestine Film Institute's 'Industry Protocol in Times of Genocide' in August 2024, and as a gesture towards transparency, IDFA reinstated the information relating to the withdrawn films in September 2024. No further accountability has been taken.”  - The Palestine Film Institute on behalf of the filmmakers, for the full statement click here

Film Synopsis

The death myth of the Chinook people, the original inhabitants of the American Northwest, centers on a conversation between a wolf and a coyote about the hereafter, about what follows this life. Video artist Sky Hopinka circles around this myth in this, his first documentary, an ethereal contemplation of the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation, and the value of cultural identity.

Our guides in the landscape are two friends of Hopinka’s: Sweetwater Sahwe and Jordan Mercier. These young parents reflect on the birth, life, death, and rebirth of individuals and their culture. Just as often, their conversations and Hopinka’s poetic voice-over create space for a form of audiovisual splendor that blends the people, the landscape and the camera itself into a unified whole. It is a perfect encapsulation of Sahwe’s words while on a walk in a woods where dew and raindrops glisten from every leaf: “You don’t have to say much here. It’s a feeling, an energy. It’s gratitude.”