CUFF Orange Shirt Day Watch List 2026

The Calgary Underground Film Festival has curated a list of films created by and / or showcasing our country’s Indigenous heritage. Watch one of these CUFF PICKS to mark Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

1. EDGE OF THE KNIFE (2018): When a man accidentally causes the death of the son of his best friend, the man is wracked by grief and runs off into the woods. - Watch on CBC Gem and Starz
2. CLEARCUT (1991): A white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction. - Watch on Tubi, YouTube and Google Play
3. HEY VIKTOR (2023): Twenty-five long years after his time in the limelight, former child actor Cody Lightning tries to revive his fortunes with a self-produced sequel to SMOKE SIGNALS (1998). - Watch on YouTube, Google Play and Apple TV
4. RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS (2013) - In 1976, a Mi'kmaq teenager plots revenge against the sadistic Indian agent who imprisoned her in a residential school where rape and abuse are common. CUFF 2022 National Canadian Film Day Selection - Watch on Hollywood Suite, CBC Gem and Paramount+
5. SLASH/BACK (2022): In Nunavut, four girls who like horror and alien movies, love their phones and even their poor elders who believe in shapeshifters because "they didn't have the internet" realize local disappearances are linked to a shapeshifting alien. CUFF 2022 Selection. - Watch on CBC Gem, Shudder and Paramount+
6. NIGHT RAIDERS (2021): A mother joins an underground band of vigilantes to try to rescue her daughter from a state-run institution. - Watch on CBC Gem, Crave and Starz
7. RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD (2017): A documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history. - Watch on CBC Gem
8. THE DEATH TOUR (2024): The documentary follows wrestling hopefuls across remote Indigenous communities in Canada's far North on the most grueling tour in indie wrestling. This test of strength will show how far some are willing to go to live their dreams. - Watch on CBC Gem
9. TALES FROM THE REZ (2023): The horror-comedy series adapts Blackfoot traditional tales and urban legends for the screen. Grizzled Elder Uncle Randalf, who straddles the living and spirit worlds, introduces each episode with dark humor and a love for storytelling. - Watch on APTN+
10. HORSE WARRIORS (2024 / 2025): Follow Indigenous relay racers as they train, compete, and strive for victory on the Indian relay circuit. CUFF.Docs 2024 Selection. - Watch on APTN+
11. SAINTS AND WARRIORS (2025): Follow the legendary Skidegate Saints as they defend their championship at the All Native Basketball Tournament - and battle for the sovereignty of their homeland, Haida Gwaii. - Watch on Crave
12. AT THE PLACE OF GHOSTS (2025): Siblings Mise'l and Antle were close as children, but trauma from their upbringing has caused them to drift apart as adults. When they are both haunted by a malevolent spirit of bones and rot, the siblings are forced to reunite. - Watch on CBC Gem
13. FAST HORSE (2018): This short film from director Alexandra Lazarowich follows the return of the Blackfoot bareback horseracing tradition in a new form: the Indian Relay. Siksika horseman Allison RedCrow struggles to build a team with second-hand races and a new jockey, Cody BigTobacco, to take on the best riders in the Blackfoot Confederacy at the Calgary Stampede. - Watch on CBC Gem

CUFF.Docs First Film Announcement

Today, on Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we're announcing the first title from the CUFF.Docs 2026 Lineup: TURTLE ISLAND RAP from director Alexandra Lazarowich, who also directed the number 13 pick FAST HORSE! Alexandra Lazarowich is a Cree writer, director and producer from northern Alberta. TURTLE ISLAND RAP is her first documentary feature and follows three aspiring Indigenous hip-hop artists on their challenging journey to success.

See TURTLE ISLAND RAP as part of the 14th annual Documentary Film Festival presented by CUFF, November 18-22 at Globe Cinema. The full lineup will be announced and tickets go on sale October 28.

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CUFF acknowledges that we operate on the lands of Treaty 7 territory - home of the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as the Tsuut ina Nation, the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations, and Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6.