The Seventh Fire

A bird's eye view of the Ojibwe reservation in rural Minnesota. From above, with its forests and lakes, it appears to be an almost untouched landscape. But this idyll is deceptive. When the camera explores the reservation's streets and houses at close quarters, it reveals burning car parts, trash-filled front gardens and barely furnished rooms. The two young men which this precisely observed documentary accompanies live in a constant state of emergency. The gang culture of the prisons and cities is increasingly washing up at their front door with steadily climbing rates of violence, drugs and crime. At the same time a growing number of young people are recalling the culture and language of their ancestors to try and find a new foothold in life. (Berlinale)