

Sisters Rising is a powerful feature documentary about six Native American women reclaiming personal & tribal sovereignty.
Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. 1 in 3 Native women report having been raped during her lifetime and 86% of the offenses are committed by non-Native men. These perpetrators exploit gaps in tribal jurisdictional authority and target Native women as ‘safe victims’. SISTERS RISING follows six women who refuse to let this pattern of violence continue in the shadows: a tribal cop in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom, an attorney fighting to overturn restrictions on tribal sovereignty, an Indigenous women’s self-defense instructor, grassroots advocates working to influence legislative change, and the author of the first anti-sex trafficking code to be introduced to a reservation’s tribal court. Their stories shine an unflinching light on righting injustice on both an individual and systemic level.
"The abhorrent violence that is a constant in the lives of Indigenous peoples impacts Indigenous women first,” says Co-producer Jaida Grey Eagle (Ogala Lakota), “We are on the frontlines of an ongoing legacy of violent colonization, and it is vitally important that the world see and hear us.”

"IN A PORTRAIT OF SIX BRAVE PARTICIPANTS WHO REFUSE TO LET A PATTERN OF VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE WOMEN CONTINUE ON IN THE SHADOWS, THIS FILM SHINES AN UNFLINCHING AND ULTIMATELY UPLIFTING LIGHT ONTO RIGHTING INJUSTICE ON BOTH AN INDIVIDUAL AND SYSTEMIC LEVEL."
BIG SKY JURY STATEMENT ABOUT SISTERS RISING
DIRECTORS O'FERAL AND HECK NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT THESE WOMEN ARE NOT JUST STATISTICS BUT PEOPLE WHO DESERVE DIGNITY AND RESPECT. THEY WEAVE THEIR SIX SUBJECTS' EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE INTO AN EFFECTIVE NARRATIVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL EYE FOR STYLE.
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Thursday, Feb 20th, 2020
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PAST SCREENINGS
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Thursday, Feb 20, 2020
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“THIS IS A CONVERSATION THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW AND I BELIEVE SISTERS RISING IS A POWERFUL CONTRIBUTING VOICE.”
SARAH DEER, MUSCOGEE CREEK LAWYER, ADVOCATE AND PROFESSOR
FILMMAKERS

WILLOW O'FERAL
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
WILLOW O'FERAL is the award-winning director, producer and cinematographer of two ....

TANTOO CARDINAL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
TANTOO CARDINAL is a Cree/Metis actor, writer, and activist, and arguably the most widely ...

BRAD HECK
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
BRAD HECK is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and educator. Sisters Rising is Brad’s ...

JENN RUFF
EDITOR
JENN RUFF is a filmmaker, editor, artist, and educator. She has worked on numerous award-winning ...

JAIDA GREY EAGLE
CO-PRODUCER
JAIDA GREY EAGLE is a Oglala Lakota artist, born in Pine Ridge,
South Dakota and raised in ...

RAZELLE BENALLY
ASSISTANT EDITOR
RAZELLE BENALLY is a Oglala Lakota/Diné filmmaker currently attending the Tisch School ...

ALLISON LEIALOHA MILHAM
COMPOSER
ALLISON LEIALOHA MILHAM is a musician, visual artist, and educator of Native Hawaiian descent who has been writing and recording music for over 15 ...

"SISTERS RISING IS NOT ONLY A VISUALLY STUNNING AND A POWERFUL PORTRAIT OF THE POWER AND RESILIENCY OF NATIVE WOMEN IN AMERICA, IT SKILLFULLY CONNECTS THE HIGH RATES OF VIOLENCE AND MURDER EXPERIENCED BY NATIVE WOMEN TO THE LEGACY OF COLONIZATION AND OUR CULTURE OF EXTRACTION AND DOMINATION. IF YOU WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACTS OF WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE ON NATIVE WOMEN, THIS IS GREAT PLACE TO START."
ANNE SMITH, VERMONT NETWORK AGAINST DOMESTIC & SEXUAL VIOLENCE
SUPPORT
Please consider donating to the following front-line organizations:
Contact your state senator and ask them to reauthorize the House's version of VAWA.
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