This film includes a pre-recorded Q&A. You may choose to watch it before or after the film by clicking on the Q&A button on the right hand side of this page.
Spoken almost entirely in chinuk wawa, a near-extinct Indigenous language, małni – towards the ocean, towards the shore is an experimental documentary rooted in the origin-of-death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest. Lush landscape imagery and an immersive soundscape are poetically intertwined, evoking a dream-like state as we get to know Sweetwater Sahme, an expecting mother, and Jordan Mercier, a fluent chinuk wawa speaker. As they wander throughout their natural surroundings, Sahme and Mercier each reflect on their experiences, identities, and families; contemplating the phases of life, death, and rebirth.
Similar to the feeling of learning a new language, there is a mysterious and associative quality to małni. Recently awarded the 2020 Media Arts Guggenheim Fellowship, filmmaker and curator Sky Hopinka’s debut feature-length film is a quiet, earthly meditation on language, place, and eternity.
Did you enjoy this film? Have any comments or questions? You can send filmmakers your feedback by leaving them a written or video note at feedback@doxafestival.ca.
- Year2020
- Runtime82 minutes
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorSky Hopinka
This film includes a pre-recorded Q&A. You may choose to watch it before or after the film by clicking on the Q&A button on the right hand side of this page.
Spoken almost entirely in chinuk wawa, a near-extinct Indigenous language, małni – towards the ocean, towards the shore is an experimental documentary rooted in the origin-of-death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest. Lush landscape imagery and an immersive soundscape are poetically intertwined, evoking a dream-like state as we get to know Sweetwater Sahme, an expecting mother, and Jordan Mercier, a fluent chinuk wawa speaker. As they wander throughout their natural surroundings, Sahme and Mercier each reflect on their experiences, identities, and families; contemplating the phases of life, death, and rebirth.
Similar to the feeling of learning a new language, there is a mysterious and associative quality to małni. Recently awarded the 2020 Media Arts Guggenheim Fellowship, filmmaker and curator Sky Hopinka’s debut feature-length film is a quiet, earthly meditation on language, place, and eternity.
Did you enjoy this film? Have any comments or questions? You can send filmmakers your feedback by leaving them a written or video note at feedback@doxafestival.ca.
- Year2020
- Runtime82 minutes
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorSky Hopinka