"Resistance as Transcendence: An Exploration of Indigenous Cinema's Move Beyond Cinematic Taxidermy"

Abstract

This paper looks at the history of Indigenous Cinema, and it first explores the historical relationship of visual ethnography and its recording of Indigenous peoples. The following goal of this paper is to address how Indigenous Cinema handles the legacy tied to colonialism through visual ethnography. Here, I assess that Indigenous Cinema entails a process of reconciling these visual representations, while resisting them. Upon a discussion of resistance within Indigenous Cinema, this thesis aims to explore how resistance can be articulated. Here, I propose a closer look at the various sub-concepts within resistance, and how they correspond to non-cinematic principles of depicting a multitude, and entanglement. In doing so, I further focus on how resistance narratives often handle topics that relate to intergenerational trauma. As a result, this thesis explore a constellation of concepts within Indigenous Cinema.