Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) recently released a new Indigenous film for streaming, Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy.
Kímmapiiyipitssini – GEE-maa-bee-bit-sin — is the Blackfoot word for ‘giving kindness to each other’. Elle–Máijá Tailfeathers’ film is about the collective work of healing in the Kainai First Nation in Southern Alberta, a Blackfoot community facing the impacts of substance use and a drug-poisoning epidemic. Community members active in addiction and recovery, first responders, and medical professionals implement harm reduction to save lives. This work is contextualized within the historical and contemporary impacts of settler colonialism; Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy draws a connecting line between the effects of colonial violence on Blackfoot land and people and the ongoing substance-use crisis.
Click here to watch the film (free streaming on NFB)
The NFB offers an entire collection of Indigenous cinema. Find their collection here.
