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“Inkwo for When the Starving Return” at Sundance (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Festival).
“INKWO FOR WHEN THE STARVING RETURN” debuted January 24th at Sundance in the Animated Shorts Film Program with three additional in-person screenings to follow. The film will also screen online across North America January 29th, 7:00 AM PST through February 3rd, 3:55 AM PST. The series is in development. It is being coproduced by Spotted Fawn Productions (SFP) and by the National Film Board of Canada. Spotted Fawn Productions (SFP) is an Indigenous-led and community-oriented Vancouver-based studio founded in 2010, which focuses on visionary illustration, stop motion, 2D, 3D and virtual reality animations.
“Inkwo for When the Starving Returns” is a story set two lifetimes in the future (Denendeh), when the world hangs in the balance. Sadly, that seems very much like the world today. On tonight’s news they announced that the world clock predicting the end of the world has been reset at 87 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been. (Hardly encouraging, but a good preface to this piece).
The animated story focuses on a young, enigmatic gender-shifting warrior named Dove. “Inkwo” means medicine; it is used to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters that re-emerge to feed upon humans. The flesh-consuming creatures become stronger with each body and soul they devour.
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Amanda Strong, director of Inkwo for When the Starving Return, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
The animation, sound, and voice acting are top-notch. The creatures are appropriately horrific and threatening. Amanda Strong, showrunner for the production, is a Sundance Native Lab Fellowship recipient (the first Canadian Indigenous Fellow), a Red River Métis artist, writer, producer, director, and mother. A Canadian Screen Award and Emmy-nominated director, Amanda is the owner, director and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions. Her collaborative creations amplify Indigenous storytelling.
The story is adapted from the collection of published and unpublished short stories and graphic novels “Wheetago War,” written by award-winning storyteller Richard Van Camp. It features voice talents Tantoo Cardinal (“Legend of the Fall,” “Killers of the Flower Moon”) and Paulina Alexis (“Reservation Dogs”) and Art Napoleon (“Moosemeat & Marmalade”).
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“Inkwo for When the Starving Return” at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.)
The series articulates truths like this: “When people forgot their connection to the land, they lost themselves as well.” That sort of truth isn’t confined to just a futuristic animated series about monsters. The fading family farm, our pollution of the very food we consume, the escalating climate changes globally being largely ignored by U.S. leadership—all bear testimony to the truth of that observation.
Another scripted moment, between the frog that Dove saves (who promises strong medicine—-“Inkwo”) is a call to action to fight and protect against the forces of greed around us. There seems to be a surplus of greed in the U.S. in 2025, so, hopefully the “inkwo” will help those who disagree with the way things seem to be going in the United States. Another insightful line: “We are all born hunted.”
Certainly feels that way more and more, especially if you are an immigrant in the U.S.
I applaud the goal of the series, which is: “Taking a stand to defend the remaining humans and animals left on the Earth.”
In the United States in January, 2025, all of us need to take a stand to defend the remaining humans and animals left on Earth. Perhaps we could start by rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization and not re-creating the sort of camps the United States government established in WWII. As concerned citizens, we must urge elected representatives to do what they know is best for democracy in the United States. Endorsing and embracing a kakistocracy is counter-productive to safeguarding peace and prosperity.
CREDITS
DIRECTOR
- Amanda Strong
- Screenwriters
Bracken Hanuse Corlett
Richard Van Camp
Amanda Strong
- Producers
Amanda Strong
Maral Mohammadian
Nina Werewka
- Principal Cast
Paulina Alexis
Tantoo Cardinal
Art Napoleon
- Year
2024
- Category
Short
- Country
Canada
- Language
English, Dene
- Run time
18 min
- Website
https://www.nfb.ca/film/inkwo-for-when-the-starving-return/
- Contact
festivals@nfb.ca