Loading Page
We Were Children(2012)
Status: Released
Date: 2012-03-03
72%
10 Votes
Time: 1h 28m
Overview:
For over 130 years till 1996, more than 100,000 of Canada's First Nations children were legally required to attend government-funded schools run by various Christian faiths. There were 80 of these 'residential schools' across the country. Most children were sent to faraway schools that separated them from their families and traditional land. These children endured brutality, physical hardship, mental degradation, and the complete erasure of their culture. The schools were part of a wider program of assimilation designed to integrate the native population into 'Canadian society.' These schools were established with the express purpose 'To kill the Indian in the child.' Told through their own voices, 'We Were Children' is the shocking true story of two such children: Glen Anaquod and Lyna Hart.
Languages: Ojibwa, English.
Countries:
Canada
Movie: We Were Children
Top 10 Billed Cast
Rebecca Gibson
Sister Mary
Video Trailer We Were Children
Loading Photos
Photo Type :Total items
Recommendations Movies
71%
Stories We Tell(en)
2012-10-12
Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.
70%
Sugarcane(en)
2024-08-09
An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school in Canada ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.
70%
Girl Rising(en)
2013-03-07
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
74%
Sidney(en)
2022-09-10
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
62%
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story(en)
2025-12-30
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
72%
Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20(en)
2022-12-13
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
65%
Living with Chucky(en)
2022-08-13
A filmmaker who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll seeks out the other families surrounding the Child's Play films as they recount their experiences working on the ongoing franchise and what it means to be a part of the, "Chucky" family.
67%
Birth of the Living Dead(en)
2013-10-18
A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.
64%
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library(en)
2017-09-13
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
65%
Heart of a Dog(en)
2015-10-21
Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
67%
The U.S. vs. John Lennon(en)
2006-09-15
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
67%
Gilbert(en)
2017-04-20
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
68%
We Live in Public(en)
2009-08-28
In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.
72%
The Arbor(en)
2010-10-22
The lives of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar and Lorraine, one of her daughters, and the community of Bradford, in the 30 years since the 18-year-old Andrea penned a play about growing up in the community titled "The Arbor".
75%
I Am Vanessa Guillen(en)
2022-11-16
Vanessa Guillen was 20 years old when she was found murdered at a US Army base. Rather than submit to silence, her family fought for justice and change.
59%
Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes(en)
2021-08-18
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen narrates his life and horrific crimes via a series of chilling audiotapes recorded from his jail cell.
71%
The Class of ‘92(en)
2013-12-01
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
73%
The Menendez Brothers(en)
2024-10-07
Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.
Similar Movies
80%
Alsina's Trench(es)
2017-01-01
Documentary film about the "zanja de Alsina", a long trench dug in the Argentinian Pampa in 1876 as way to separate the "civilized" from the "barbarians" during the massacre of indigenous peoples known as "campaña del desierto".
0%
The Mountain(zh)
2015-10-03
For hundreds of years, Taiwan has been under different colonial rules. From the Dutch, the Spanish, the Japanese, and nowadays Republic of China, each regime left their footprints on this island. Only the indigenous people of this island experienced of the process. They were given different names during different periods of colonisation and their cultures have been changed. Through the life of a Truku elder, we see the history of aboriginal recertification movement.
0%
Colebrook: A Place of Healing & Learning(en)
2022-05-13
Colebrook Blackwood Reconciliation Park is where the Colebrook Training Home once stood. It is now a permanent memorial for the Aboriginal children of the “Stolen Generation” and their families.
0%
The Call of Fayu Ujmu(de)
2002-01-01
A 13-year-old Indian boy is found unconscious after being attacked in the jungle by the evil spirit Fayu Ujmu. A shaman attempts to ritually tame the spirit and advises the boy’s father to capture it. This story is based on a Chachi Indian legend; it was shot with indigenous inhabitants of the jungle community of Loma Linda, on the Rio Cayapas.
90%
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy(en)
2021-04-29
Follow filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as she creates an intimate portrait of her community and the impacts of the substance use and overdose epidemic. Witness the change brought by community members with substance-use disorder, first responders and medical professionals as they strive for harm reduction in the Kainai First Nation.
0%
Gentleman Bandit(en)
2024-05-01
Documentary on the Canadian career of train robber Billy Miner, who became a folk hero in British Columbia. Locations near Kamloops and Mission are explored in present day.
0%
The Spirit of the Tsilqot'in People is Hovering over the Supreme Court(en)
2023-12-01
The Tŝilhqot’in Nation is represented by six communities in the stunningly beautiful interior of British Columbia. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, the Tŝilhqot’in People have cared for this territory for millennia. With increasing external pressures from natural-resource extraction companies, the communities mobilized in the early 21st century to assert their rightful title to their lands. Following a decision by the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2007 that only partially acknowledged their claim, the Tŝilhqot’in Nation’s plight was heard in the Supreme Court of Canada. In a historic decision in 2014, the country’s highest court ruled what the Tŝilhqot’in have long asserted: that they alone have full title to their homelands.
0%
Thrown into Canada(en)
2022-11-19
This documentary explores the history of Canada’s first major migration of non-European and non-white refugees who arrived in 1972 when Ugandan President Idi Amin expelled all South Asians from the country. Their story of struggle and hope became part of Canada’s conversations about refugees and cultural pluralism, and informed the Canadian response to future refugee movements.
0%
Ainu Puri(ja)
2024-12-14
Shigeki, one of the Ainu people of northern Japan, follows the traditions of his ancestors and teaches his son Motoki about their heritage. But how can old customs be revived after centuries of suppression?
0%
Surviving Columbus(en)
1992-11-16
This Peabody Award-winning documentary from New Mexico PBS looks at the European arrival in the Americas from the perspective of the Pueblo Peoples.
55%
Our Indians(pt)
1995-01-16
Yndio do Brasil is a collage of hundreds of Brazilian films and films from other countries - features, newsreels and documentaries - that show how the film industry has seen and heard Brazilian indigenous peoples since they were filmed in 1912 for the first time: idealised and prejudiced, religious and militaristic, cruel and magic.
74%
The Lost Children(es)
2024-11-13
After a plane crash, four indigenous children fight to survive in the Colombian Amazon using ancestral wisdom as an unprecedented rescue mission unfolds.
0%
One Heart: One Spirit(en)
2017-07-15
An Aboriginal Australian and Native American documentary narrated by award-winning actor Jack Thompson, One Heart-One Spirit tells the story of Kenneth Little Hawk, an elder Micmac/Mohawk performing artist, meeting the oldest surviving culture on the planet: the 40,000 year old Yolngu nation located in northern Australia.
0%
Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher(en)
2023-10-17
Part oral history and part visual poem, Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher is the story of Evelyn Campbell, a trailblazer for an Inuit-led educational system in the small community of Rigolet, Labrador.
55%
The Good Canadian(en)
2025-09-30
The world knows the image of the good Canadian. But what if there was a dark secret behind a national identity? THE GOOD CANADIAN exposes the truth behind the idea of a True North strong and free. In this unflinching and eye-opening documentary, directors Leena Minifie and David Paperny move us through the corridors of systemic inequity, from the Indian Act to residential schools, to modern-day family separation. Fusing shocking footage with detailed interviews with experts, advocates, whistleblowers and politicians, THE GOOD CANADIAN challenges national myth-making, while offering Canadians the chance to forge a new identity from the truth.
70%
The Lost Colony of Roanoke: New Evidence(en)
2022-05-08
In 1587, more than 100 English colonists settle on Roanoke Island and soon vanish, baffling historians for centuries; now, experts use the latest forensic archaeology to investigate the true story behind America's oldest and most controversial mystery.