Children of the Setting Sun is pleased to present the sixth annual Treaty Day Film Festival (TDFF) January 16 - 20, 2024. TDFF was created in remembrance of the 1855 Point Elliot Treaty. The aim of this festival is to unify and educate the community on Indigenous perspectives and the challenges we are currently facing. From cultural identity to salmon and habitat revitalization, we aim to shed light on matters that impact all of our communities.
On January 16 and 17, the festival kicks off with an educational offering at the Mt Baker Theatre, where we will host nearly 2500 hundred Bellingham Public School District fourth, seventh, and eleventh grade students and their teachers. The program will inspire questions and conversations about the films shared, and also about the history and local impact of the Point Elliott Treaty.
The festival features the following films: Sleeping Bear by Johanna Oswald, Walking Two Worlds by Maia Wikler, Jason LaClair: Story Pole Film, a Children of the Setting Sun Production, The Water Walker directed by James Burns, Weaving the Path directed by Cristobal Ruiz, The Sound, a Children of the Setting Sun Production, and the feature film this year, Frybread Face and Me directed by Billy Luther.
In addition to the wonderful films, each event will include an opening ceremony with traditional dancers and songs from the Westshore Canoe Family, and a Q&A with filmmakers and crews from this yearʻs films.
To honor the Indigenous community, there will be an exclusive Community Tribal Screening on Friday, January 19 at the Silver Reef Casino from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. with a Q&A at the end with filmmakers. This free event (no tickets needed) is reserved for the Tribal community and will include snacks and drinks.
The last day of the festival, Saturday, January 20, is open to the public at the Pickford Film Center. The shorts program starts at 10 a.m., and the feature program starts at 12:45 p.m. with a showing of Frybread Face and Me. Tickets are $10 for each program and are available for purchase online.
Children of the Setting Sun Productions is an Indigenous-led non-profit located in Bellingham on the ancestral homelands of the Lummi and Nooksack peoples. The purpose of CSSP is to educate, share history, create understanding, and change perceptions across cultural differences. CSSP’s work contributes to a paradigm shift underway, in favor of historical truth and eventual rights realization of Indigenous peoples.
