How Banchi Hanuse’s ‘Ceremony’ Honors Nuxalk History, Healing and Survival

By Carole Horst

Carole Horst

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Indigenous director Banchi Hanuse’s “Ceremony” won the Audience Award at SXSW, a DGC Award at Hot Docs and the First Nations Award at the Sydney Film Festival — that success underlines her goals with the film. The film screens June 19 at the Bentonville Film Festival.

Hanuse spent 12 years with the story of her Nuxalk community — a community that has lived in the Pacific Northwest for millennia. As a resident of the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia, she took on the responsibility of telling the story of her people through the disappearance of the ooligan in the Bella Coola River. It’s an essential part of their culture, as it not only provides food but also grease. And the way the grease is made provides family and community-wide bonds.

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