“We can’t sit back and expect things to change without doing the work,” we’re told in a trailer for “Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy.” Currently screening at Hot Docs, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ documentary explores her Blackfoot community’s response to the opioid crisis. The film was shot in the largest reserve in Canada over a four-year period and features frontline workers, individuals living with active substance-use disorder, and individuals in recovery.
“Beginning in 2014 fentanyl flooded the illicit drug trade on the reserve,” a voiceover explains. “This new reality has forced our community to approach addiction in radically different ways.” One character reflects on the difficulty of convincing people that harm reduction was the best route to take. “By no means is it celebrating addiction,” we’re told, “but what it does is it celebrates the lives of people without judgement.”
“As a filmmaker and a community member, I felt an urgency and a responsibility to document these radical changes and also honor the lives of those lost to this crisis,” Tailfeathers told us. “Kímmapiiyipitssini is a Blackfoot teaching that reminds us that practicing empathy and compassion is how we survive as a people. It is how our ancestors survived genocide and it is how we, as a community, will survive this crisis. Kímmapiiyipitssini is our harm reduction.”
The director emphasized, “My community, and many other Indigenous communities, are often framed through the monolithic and reductive lens of tragedy and trauma. I want to present non-Indigenous audiences with a portrait of a strong and beautiful community that challenges those problematic representations. I also want to provide other Indigenous communities, who are facing similar issues, with a useful tool for dialogue.”
Tailfeathers co-wrote and co-directed “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open” with Kathleen Hepburn. She also starred in the 2019 drama. The multi-hyphenate toplines “Night Raiders,” Danis Goulet’s feature debut. The sci-fi pic about a Cree woman was recently acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Hot Docs runs through May 9. The fest is digital this year due to COVID-19. Streaming is geo-blocked to Canada.
