Singing Back the Buffalo

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Singing Back the Buffalo
Directed by Tasha Hubbard
Written byTasha Hubbard
Bonnie Thompson
Amethyst First Rider
Leroy Littlebear
Produced byTasha Hubbard
George Hupka
Jason Ryle
Narrated byTasha Hubbard
Leroy Little Bear
CinematographyGeorge Hupka
Edited byHans Olson
Music byJohn McMillan
Melody McKiver
Production
companies
Buffalo Song Productions
Downstream Documentary Productions
Distributed byCinema Politica
Release date
  • February 24, 2024 (2024-02-24)(Big Sky)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Singing Back the Buffalo is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Tasha Hubbard and released in 2024. [1] The film profiles indigenous efforts to restore the buffalo to the North American plains ecosystem after the animals were driven to near extinction. [2]

Contents

The film follows the path of the buffalo during the spring, summer and fall of 2022, across the Northern Plains of Canada and the United States. [3]

Production

In 2016, Hubbard was invited to film a historic transfer of buffalo, which were returned from Elk Island National Park to their original territory on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. [4] However, she put the project on pause following the controversial death of Colten Boushie, and turned her attention to making Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up , her film about the Boushie incident which was released in 2019. [1]

Hubbard was then approached to make other films about similar incidents of anti-indigenous violence, but returned to Singing Back the Buffalo after being convinced by her family that she needed to take a break from telling difficult stories and make a film that brought her joy. [1] She resumed production on the film in 2022. [5]

Release

The film premiered at the 2024 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, [6] and had its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. [2]

A shorter edit of the film was broadcast by CBC Television in March 2025 as an episode of The Nature of Things .

Awards

YearAwardCategoryTitleResultRef
2024 DOXA Documentary Film Festival Nigel Moore Award Tasha Hubbard Honored [7]
Calgary International Film Festival Best Canadian DocumentaryHonored [8]
Audience AwardWon [9]
Alberta Film and Television Awards Best Documentary Production Over 30 MinutesTasha Hubbard, Bonnie ThompsonNominated [10]
Best Production Reflecting Cultural DiversityNominated
Best Director in a Documentary Over 30 MinutesTasha HubbardNominated
Best Screenwriter in a Documentary Over 30 MinutesNominated
Best Editor in a Documentary Over 30 MinutesHans OlsonNominated
Best Overall Sound in a Documentary Over 30 MinutesJohnny BlerotNominated
Best Original Music Score in a DocumentaryJohn McMillanNominated
Best Narrator in a Web Program or SeriesTasha HubbardWon [11]
2025 imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival Alanis Obomsawin Award for Best DocumentaryTasha HubbardWon [12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Randall King, "Giving a voice to the North American buffalo: New documentary tells overdue story of bison ‘genocide’". Winnipeg Free Press , September 14, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Andrew Parker, "Hot Docs 2024 Review: Singing Back the Buffalo". TheGATE.ca , April 26, 2024.
  3. Kayla MacInnis, "Cree filmmaker’s documentary explores 'buffalo justice' and a vision for herds returning". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , May 12, 2024.
  4. Tasha Hubbard, "Buffalo deserve an epic film about their history — so I decided to give it to them". CBC Arts, April 25, 2024.
  5. Victoria Ahearn, "Cameras roll on Tasha Hubbard’s Singing Back the Buffalo". Playback , June 21, 2022.
  6. Taimur Sikander Mirza, "In Brief: Singing Back the Buffalo to world premiere at Big Sky fest". Playback , January 16, 2024.
  7. Janet Smith, "Red Fever, Bye Bye Tiberias, and La Laguna del Soldado amid award winners at DOXA Documentary Film Festival". Stir, May 11, 2024.
  8. Aryn Toombs, "Calgary International Film Festival awards The Assistant, now eligible for Academy Award consideration". LiveWire Calgary, September 26, 2024.
  9. Nicholas Sokic, "Audiences fete Drive Back Home, Tragically Hip docuseries at CIFF". Playback , October 9, 2024.
  10. "50th Annual Film and TV Awards". Rosie Awards, 2024.
  11. "This Too Shall Pass, Calgary's Troy Greenwood, Emily Howard among winners at 50th annual Rosie Awards". Calgary Herald , October 23, 2024.
  12. Jamie Casemore, "Seeds takes two awards at 2025 imagineNATIVE". Playback , June 11, 2025.