Inconvenient Indian dives deep into the brilliant mind of Thomas King, Indigenous intellectual, master storyteller, and author of the bestselling book The Inconvenient Indian, to shatter the misconception that history is anything more than stories we tell about the past.
Unpacking hundreds of years of history, Inconvenient Indian creatively frames Thomas King’s critical journey back through the colonial narratives of North America with Coyote as our cabdriver. “Stories are all we are,” King tells us as he eloquently exposes the falsehoods of white supremacy and deftly punctures myths of Indigenous erasure to lay bare what has been extracted from the land, culture and peoples of Turtle Island.
In this time of momentous change and essential re-examination, Inconvenient Indian is a powerful visual poem anchored in the land and amplified by the voices of those who continue the tradition of Indigenous resistance, such as Christi Belcourt, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Nyla Innuksuk, A Tribe Called Red, Skawennati, Jason Edward Lewis, Carman Tozer, Steven Lonsdale and Kent Monkman. Their words and actions subvert the “inconvenience” of their existence, creating an essential new narrative and a possible path forward for us all.
Inconvenient Indian is a crucial part of the conversation between Indigenous peoples and those of us who have settled, uninvited, on these lands.
Inconvenient Indian dives deep into the brilliant mind of Thomas King, Indigenous intellectual, master storyteller, and author of the bestselling book The Inconvenient Indian, to shatter the misconception that history is anything more than stories we tell about the past. With winks to his cab driver Coyote along the way, King takes us on a critical journey through the colonial narratives of North America. He eloquently exposes the falsehoods of white supremacy and deftly punctures myths of Indigenous erasure to lay bare what has been extracted from the land, culture, and peoples of Turtle Island. In this time of momentous change and essential re- examination, Inconvenient Indian is a powerful visual poem anchored in the land and amplified by the voices of those who continue the tradition of Indigenous resistance. Artist activists, land protectors, hunters, and those leading cultural revitalization powerfully subvert the “inconvenience” of their existence, creating an essential new narrative and a possible path forward for us all.
One Liner
In the documentary Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King dismantles North America’s colonial narrative to reveal the falsehoods and fictions known as “history.”
Two liner
In this time of radical change and essential re-examination, Inconvenient Indian brings to life Thomas King’s brilliant dismantling of North America’s colonial narrative, reframing this history with the powerful voices of those continuing the tradition of Indigenous resistance.
DIRECTOR
Michelle Latimer
PRODUCERS
Stuart Henderson
Justine Pimlott
Jesse Wente
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Gordon Henderson
Anita Lee
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Chris Romeike
EDITOR
Katie Chipperfield
MUSIC COMPOSER
Brennan Mercer
SOUND DESIGNER
Brennan Mercer
NARRATOR
Thomas King
SCREENWRITER
Michelle Latimer
Inspired by the book by: Thomas King
A 90th Parallel Productions and National Film Board of Canada Co-Production
Produced in association with CRAVE (a division of Bell Media) and APTN.
Produced with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada,
the Rogers Documentary Fund,
the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program, and Ontario Creates,
with the assistance of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund.
2020