Singing Back the Buffalo | |
---|---|
Directed by | Tasha Hubbard |
Written by | Tasha Hubbard Bonnie Thompson Amethyst First Rider Leroy Littlebear |
Produced by | Tasha Hubbard George Hupka Jason Ryle |
Narrated by | Tasha Hubbard Leroy Little Bear |
Cinematography | George Hupka |
Edited by | Hans Olson |
Music by | John McMillan Melody McKiver |
Production companies | Buffalo Song Productions Downstream Documentary Productions |
Distributed by | Cinema Politica |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
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]
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]
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]
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 .
Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | DOXA Documentary Film Festival | Nigel Moore Award | Tasha Hubbard | Honored | [7] |
Calgary International Film Festival | Best Canadian Documentary | Honored | [8] | ||
Audience Award | Won | [9] | |||
Alberta Film and Television Awards | Best Documentary Production Over 30 Minutes | Tasha Hubbard, Bonnie Thompson | Nominated | [10] | |
Best Production Reflecting Cultural Diversity | Nominated | ||||
Best Director in a Documentary Over 30 Minutes | Tasha Hubbard | Nominated | |||
Best Screenwriter in a Documentary Over 30 Minutes | Nominated | ||||
Best Editor in a Documentary Over 30 Minutes | Hans Olson | Nominated | |||
Best Overall Sound in a Documentary Over 30 Minutes | Johnny Blerot | Nominated | |||
Best Original Music Score in a Documentary | John McMillan | Nominated | |||
Best Narrator in a Web Program or Series | Tasha Hubbard | Won | [11] | ||
2025 | imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival | Alanis Obomsawin Award for Best Documentary | Tasha Hubbard | Won | [12] |