FESTIVAL PREMIERE
DOC SHORT | USA | 27 MINUTES | English
Kanenon:we - Original Seeds
Director: Katsitsionni D Fox
Kanenon:we – Original Seeds carries viewers into the grassroots Indigenous seed sovereignty movement led by Haudenosaunee women. Prior to European contact there was a rich and vibrant diversity of foods, with women primarily responsible for caretaking of the seeds. Genocidal practices including, boarding schools, land theft, forced relocation, imposed religion and even food warfare contributed to a disconnection from our traditional foods and seeds.
Indigenous seed keepers are vigilantly protecting the biodiversity of seeds under threat of Agro-Chemical Giants that currently control over sixty percent of seeds worldwide. As these Haudenosaunee women step back into their sacred responsibility as seed keepers they offer a powerful view of what is possible in Indigenous communities working towards food sovereignty.
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Katsitsionni D Fox
Producer
Katsitsionni D Fox, Katja Esson
Writer
Katsitsionni D Fox
Associate Producer
Xochitl Fox
Editor
Amina Megalli
Cinematographer
Jaiden Mitchell
Animation
John Valencia
Key Cast
Angela Ferguson, Rebecca Webster, Rowen White
DIRECTORS BIO
Katsitsionnni Fox is a Mohawk filmmaker sharing empowering stories of resilient Indigenous women. Her debut film was the award winning Ohero:kon – Under the Husk a 26-min documentary following the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their traditional passage rites to becoming Mohawk Women.
Katsitsionni received the Jane Glassco Award for Emerging Filmmaker at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival in 2016 as well as the Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking Award at LA Skins Fest in 2016. This film received funding from Vision Maker Media and has been broadcast on many PBS stations since 2017. Her most recent film, Without a Whisper – Konnon:kwe is untold story of how Indigenous women influenced the early suffragists in their fight for freedom and equality.
Without a Whisper received an audience award at Woods Hole Film Festival, Best Short Film Winner at Female Voices Rock Film Festival and Best Documentary Short at Red Nations Film. Without a Whisper was broadcast on PBS Plus and was selected for the PBS Shorts Film Festival in 2021.
Katsitsionni was selected as a 2021 Nia Tero Storytelling Fellow, focused on amplifying Indigenous creatives working on innovative projects rooted in culture, environment and story. She was a 2021 Jackson Wild Multicultural Alliance Fellow. Katsitsionni is currently a Reciprocity Project Season 2 Filmmaker, a diverse cohort of Indigenous filmmakers and storytellers, spanning across continents sharing stories of reciprocity with the earth. Katsitsionni is a recipient artist for the Creative Rebuild New York artist program 2022 – 2024. She is honored to be selected for the 2023 cohort for PBS Ignite Mentorship for Diverse Voices.
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
I am an Indigenous (Kanien’keha:ka/Haudenosaunee) woman filmmaker, artist and educator. My focus is on shining a light on Indigenous Women that are walking in their purpose and power, stepping back into the spaces where they were displaced. I have the unique ability to create from inside their circles, with respect and knowledge of the culture that we share.
I have a personal connection to this story as a Haudenosaunee woman and seed savor myself. In the Haudenosaunee Creation Story it was Sky Woman who carried seeds here to this world, she was our very first seed keeper. Our seeds, like our people have had to survive through great atrocities. Still today, every Spring we continue to sing to our seed relatives to let them know it is time for them to wake up and to grown to sustain our people.
Returning Filmmaker
SHOWTIMES
Monday, November 10
Screening: 3:15pm
Program Two
AMC The Grove 14
189 The Grove Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking
At The Theatre
