Ten B.C. Films to Watch at DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2025

Presented by The Documentary Media Society, a Vancouver-based non-profit and charitable society devoted to presenting independent and innovative documentaries to Vancouver audiences, the 24th annual DOXA Documentary Film Festival is taking place between May 1-11, 2025. DOXA is a curated and juried festival comprised of public screenings, panel discussions, public forums, and education programs. Each year, DOXA provides audiences with a better understanding of the complexity of our times through documentary media as an art form.

This year, DOXA’s programming includes ten films from British Columbia. Among these, AISHA’S STORY and SAINTS & WARRIORS are being screened at the opening and closing galas of the festival respectively. Here are the ten B.C. films selected for the 2025 edition:

Feature Length Documentaries:

AISHA’S STORY (dir. Elizabeth Vibert, Chen Wang)
AISHA’S STORY traces the history of Palestinian displacement using food as an expression of cultural heritage and resistance. The film follows Aisha, a matriarch running her family’s grain mill in Jordan, who preserves Palestinian history by passing down traditional cuisine to generations that have been displaced from their homeland.

Filmed over two years amidst ongoing violence against Palestinians by Israeli forces, the film maintains hope: The preservation of food sovereignty contributes to generational healing. Palestinian food is presented as a symbol of longing, resistance, and joy, carefully sustained by Aisha.

NECHAKO – IT WILL BE A BIG RIVER AGAIN (dir. Lyana Patrick)
Lyana Patrick returns to her home territory, Stellat’en First Nation, to document a decades-long fight for justice. Alongside the Saik’uz First Nation, her community has battled Rio Tinto Alcan to restore the Nechako River and uphold their fishing rights. Since the 1951 construction of the Kemano Dam, the river’s flow has dropped by 70%—devastating ecosystems and livelihoods. Despite the challenges, this multi-generational fight for eco-protection endures. As one river keeper says, “The way of the salmon is the only way forward.”

SAINTS & WARRIORS (dir. Patrick Shannon)
For the people of Xaayda Gwaay.yaay (Haida Gwaii), basketball is more than a game—it’s an arena for leadership, resistance, and cultural preservation. Under colonial rule, Indigenous peoples were banned from gathering—except for church or sports. The Haida chose the court, turning basketball into a battleground for community, identity, and survival.

Set during the 2023-24 season, the film follows the legendary Skidegate Saints as they fight to defend their dynasty at the All Native Basketball Tournament. But their battle extends beyond the scoreboard, as players navigate tensions, shifting allegiances, and the long-standing struggle for Indigenous land rights.

#SKODEN (dir. Daniel Eagle Bear)
#skoden examines the impact of an iconic yet controversial meme that has become both a rallying cry for Indigenous resilience and a symbol of harmful misrepresentation, rooted in racist stereotypes. At the center of the story is Pernell Bad Arm, a Blackfoot man from the Blood Tribe whose image was turned into a meme without his knowledge or consent. Through intimate storytelling and interviews with Pernell’s friends, the film explores the power of online culture, the weight of misrepresentation, and the ongoing fight for Indigenous dignity and truth.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD JUDI SINGH (dir. Baljit Sangra)
Originally from Edmonton, gifted jazz singer Judi Singh defied expectations as a Punjabi-Black artist stepping onto the stage in the late 1950s. Though her ethereal voice captivated musicians and niche audiences, the music industry failed to give her the recognition she deserved—an all-too-familiar story for women and artists of colour. In this lively and deeply felt portrait, Singh’s daughter Emily Hughes and director Baljit Sangra retrace Singh’s life and music through archival recordings, intimate recollections, and the bohemian spaces she once inhabited.

KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT (dir. John Bolton)
A bold reimagining of the King Arthur legend, King Arthur’s Night brings together artists with and without Down syndrome in a dazzling mix of theatre, documentary, and cinematic magic. Directed by John Bolton, the film moves fluidly between staged medieval musical reenactments and candid, behind-the-scenes moments of camaraderie and creative freedom. Blurring the lines between performance and reality, scripted drama and spontaneous play, Bolton’s film is a spellbinding fusion of myth and modernity.

Documentary shorts

BURCU’S ANGELS (dir. Özgün Gündüz)
Burcu’s Angels is more than a vintage boutique—it’s been a sanctuary for Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community for 30 years. As matriarch Burcu Özdemir says goodbye to the store’s latest location, archival footage and Turkish music celebrate a space for finding not just clothes, but also belonging.

NO PAST TO LONG FOR (dir. Monica Cheema)
Myth and memory intertwine as we trace what remains of Paldi, a logging community founded by Punjabi immigrants in the old-growth forests of Vancouver Island. Situated on unceded Cowichan territory near Duncan, B.C., the town has been memorialized and celebrated as a kind of multicultural utopia, concealing its long history of resource extraction. A closer look at the archives unsettles the fanaticism surrounding Paldi’s pioneers– asking us to reconsider what is remembered and what is forgotten.

qatŝ’ay (dir. Jeremy Williams, Trevor Mack)
qatŝ’ay follows the long-awaited return of coiled root baskets to the Tŝilhqot’in people after nearly a century spent in museums. The film challenges colonial institutions to reconsider their role in reclamation, emphasizing the baskets’ deep connection to the land and the people to which they rightfully belong.

SIX KNOTS (dir. Ali Vanderkruyk)
To reduce ambient noise when approaching a whale, a vessel should not exceed six knots—this modus operandi exemplifies the distance between human and animal, where the whale serves as both an object of fascination and exploitation. Six Knots follows cetacean specialists on the West Coast, exploring the entanglement of science, colonialism, and spirituality.

SEMI-PRECIOUS (dir. Kara Ditte Hansen)

A hypnotic exploration of memory, healing, and material resonance, Semi-precious unfolds like a visual sound bath. Shot on 16mm, Hansen layers images of handwritten labels, geological relics, and ritualistic gestures to trace the life and practice of her mother, a retired holistic practitioner.