Programmers' Picks: Tracy Rector on SIFF 2025

Tinā

Who doesn't love an inspiring, lighthearted tearjerker with a strong Samoan auntie leading the way with her excellent performance and some serious side-eye? A classic fish-out-of-water tale!

Remaining Native

First-time director Paige Bethmann heard about this remarkable teenager living in Nevada who chose to run 50 miles, in the footsteps of his grandfather, to honor his resilient spirit. She was so inspired by this young athlete and his family she decided to move from New York City to Reno and make this beautiful documentary.

Medicine Circle: Indigenous Stories of Return

In this year’s Indigenous shorts package, we explore films born of the snowy landscapes of the northern territories and the Arctic Circle. We see stories of salmon, reindeer, student activism, and gender-shifting warriors come to life through the darkness into the light.

Drowned Land

4th World Media Lab alumna Colleen Thurston set out seven years ago to share a story about the rights of water parallel with her connection to her peoples' history and tribal lands. Ultimately, her film became more than a fight for a river; it demonstrates a lifelong reckoning with the cycle of land theft and displacement that began with the Trail of Tears.

Seeds

An exquisite celebration of Black farmers in the American South and their relationship to land, while acknowledging the generational decline of this population.