Fancy Dance

Erica Tremblay (Dir), 91 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere

Decolonial Spotlight

Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s grandfather, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.

Festivals: Sundance

*In celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seneca/Haudenosaunee lands, this is a free screening. RSVP is encouraged and donations welcome.