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How do we remember our human and more-than-human relations? What are the legacies we wish to remember? Join us for this collection of family-friendly shorts that prompt us to think about our lives in relationship to others and the world around us.—
Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher (dir. Heather Campbell (Inuit), 2023)
Part oral history and part visual poem, this is the story of Evelyn Campbell, a trailblazer for an Inuit-led educational system in the small community of Rigolet, Labrador, Canada. Recreating not only the events of a life, but also the spare beauty of the landscape in fluid, free-flowing images that embody traditional knowledge passed on from generation to generation, this documentary is a loving testimony to the ability of one person to help shape an entire community.
Radio Bingo (dir. Shelby Adams (Mohawk), 2023)
Bingo is a communal activity that brings together family and friends for fun and connection. But can it be more than that? Radio Bingo highlights a live radio program by the same name and reveals its role in strengthening the Mohawk language in Akwesasne, a Mohawk territory located on the borderlands of Canada and the United States.
The Queen’s Flowers (dir. Ciara Leinaʻala Lacy (Kānaka Maoli), 2024)
A magical take on a true story, The Queen’s Flowers is an animated short adventure for kids that follows Emma, a Native Hawaiian girl living in 1915 Honolulu, as she prepares a special gift for the last monarch of Hawaiʻi, Queen Liliʻuokalani.
Mintsita, Landscapes and Interfered Breaths (dir. Celina Yunuen Manuel Piñón (Purépecha), 2023)
Mintsita is breathing. Mintsita is heart. Mintsita is taking breath to continue. Mintsita is a cinematographic essay created with archival material, about external interferences and the murmurs of the trees, stones, and hills, which have been guardians of our memory. If we listen carefully, what do they tell us?
Winimaku Ara Papa Wiimatjaraku (dir. Rosalyn Brenda Boko (Luritja), David Boko, 2024)
This short film tells a special family story shared by painter (Kunmanara) Margaret Nampitjinpa Boko in her 2013 painting on canvas “Tjulpu & Papa” (Hawk and Dog). The animation collages images of people, animals, trees, hills, roads, and houses from other painted stories, playing new roles in the retelling of this intimate story of place, family, and community, while remembering Boko’s legacy in art making and storytelling.
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The Smithsonian’s Mother Tongue Film Festival celebrates cultural and language revitalization by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world, highlighting the crucial role languages play in our daily lives.
The festival is a public program of Recovering Voices, a collaboration between Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the Asian Pacific American Center.
Image credit: The Queen’s Flowers (film still)
ACCESSIBILITY
All films are fully open captioned or subtitled in English. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024, United States,Washington D.C.
