Marie Clements’s Reclaim My Skin pays sweeping homage to Indigenous female resurgence, at VIFF October 10
Yolonda Skelton’s remarkable paper dresses from the film series will be displayed on the day of the screening
Reclaim My Skin
Vancouver International Film Festival presents Reclaim My Skin on October 10 at VIFF Centre, followed by a filmmaker Q&A
LOCAL MÉTIS FILMMAKER Marie Clements will mark the world premiere of the sweeping new three-part documentary Reclaim My Skin at the Vancouver International Film Festival—complete with an exhibit in the lobby.
The series, set to debut in 2027 on the Knowledge Network, interweaves music performances by the likes of Pura Fé and Laura Grizzlypaws with interviews. It explores the way Indigenous women and 2-Spirit people lost their power through colonization and how they have been raising their voices through activism and the arts to reclaim their voices.
Among dozens of subjects from across Turtle Island who appear in the film series are journalist, author, and filmmaker Tanya Talaga; poet, performer, and writer Joy Harjo-Sapulpa; matrilineal leader and Bear Clan Mother Louise Wakerahkats:te Herne; and feminist activist Gloria Steinem in one of her final filmed interviews.
Episodes touch on issues including the rise of rematriation, the impacts of resource extraction, and the role of the mother.
Says Clements in her artist’s statement for the film: “Reclaim My Skin is a music documentary that pays homage to the cannon of powerhouse Indigenous activists who have been doing the work, fighting for their communities and families, and who have raised their voices on every front line for change.”
Reclaim My Skin’s screening will also include a Q&A and feature an exhibit in the lobby showcasing intricate paper dresses designed for the series by Gitxsan designer Yolonda Skelton.
Note that the prolific Vancouver- and Galiano Island–based Clements also has another work at the fest: How We Stand is a new feature that follows three sisters through the long aftermath of the Native American Relocation Program that uprooted Indigenous families. It opens in 1950s Oklahoma, where a single mother (Cara Jade Myers) and her three young daughters move to Los Angeles, but traumatic events separate the girls; the rest of the film follows the women’s distinct paths 20 years later. It screens October 3 at the Lindsay Family Stage on Granville Island, followed by a filmmaker Q&A, plus an additional screening on October 11. 
Reclaim My Skin
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