''We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice'' is a 2016 Canadian documentary film by Alanis Obomsawin about the First Nations activist

Cindy Blackstock Cindy Blackstock is a Canadian Gitxsan activist for child welfare and executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. She is also a professor for the School of Social Work at McGill University. Early life an ...

and her court case against the federal government of Canada for underfunding social services to children living on

First Nations reserves In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Monarchy of Canada, Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benef ...

. The film details how the federal government has resisted applying

Jordan's Principle Jordan's Principle is a child-first and needs-based principle used in public policy and administration in Canada to ensure that First Nations children living on and off reserve have equitable access to all government funded public services. It ho ...

to restitution efforts. Also appearing in the film is Assembly of First Nations lawyer David Nahwegahbow, who describes the government's efforts to avoid living up to its agreements with Indigenous peoples. To make the film, Obomsawin followed the case for six years, recording testimony from all sides. ''We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice'' is the 49th film that Obomsawin has directed for the National Film Board of Canada—with her 50th, ''Norway House'', in production.

Release

The film premiered at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

."Scenes from TIFF, Day 4: Bearing witness to films that tell the truth"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 11, 2016. Subsequent Canadian film festival screenings included the 2016

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto in the month of October. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Abori ...

References

External links

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''We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice''
watch on-line at NFB.ca 2016 films 2016 documentary films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Alanis Obomsawin National Film Board of Canada documentaries Documentary films about Indigenous rights in Canada Documentary films about law Canadian Aboriginal and indigenous law 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language documentary films {{2010s-Canada-documentary-film-stub