First Nations Film and Video Festival

Rettinger Hall

Free and open to all. Reserve your free tickets now.

Open to the Public

Center for American Indian Studies Programs

Join us as the First Nations Film and Video Festival kicks off the new year with a screening of Rhymes for Young Ghouls, a feature-length drama directed by Jeff Barnaby.

Set on the Red Crow Mi’kMaq reservation in 1976, Rhymes for Young Ghouls explores the traumatic experiences of Canadian residential schools. By government decree, every Indian child under the age of 16 must attend residential school. In the kingdom of the Crow, that means imprisonment at St. Dymphna’s, where students are under the mercy of “Popper,” the sadistic agent who runs the school.

At 15, Aila is the weed princess of Red Crow. Hustling with her uncle Burner, she sells enough dope to pay Popper her “truancy tax,” keeping her out of St. Dymphna’s. But when Aila’s drug money is stolen and her father Joseph returns from prison, the precarious balance of Aila’s world is destroyed. Her only options are to run or fight…and Mi’kmaq don’t run.

Please note: this film is rated R for violence, drug use, language, sexual references, and graphic nudity. It also contains content about traumatic experiences in Canadian residential schools.

The film will be followed by a discussion with Northern Arapaho filmmaker Ernest Whiteman III, Director of the First Nations Film and Video Festival.

Cost and Registration Information 

Free and open to all. Reserve your free tickets now.

Doors open half an hour before the program begins, with first-come, first-served seating for registered attendees. We will admit walk-ins without tickets, if space permits, 10 minutes before the event begins. People with accessibility concerns can request to be seated first. To reserve an access-friendly space in the room, first register using the link above, then email Sarah Jimenez at least 48 hours before the event. Seats arranged in this way will be held until 10 minutes before the event starts.