Haida Modern

Our latest feature documentary – Haida Modern – which documents the life and times of amazing, visionary artist Robert Davidson continues to meet with warm reception all over.  The film recently played in a translated Chinese version at the Liangjie Culture Media Film Festival in Shanghai, China.  It was nominated for Best Documentary Director, Cinematography & Editing at the 2021 Leo Awards and won Best Feature Documentary.  The film was awarded Best Feature Documentary at the Berlin Filmarte Festival in 2021.

Here on the west coast pretty much everyone is touched by Robert’s work.   Even if you don’t know Indigenous art and artists, we’re surrounded by it.  It’s on the walls, the phone boxes, on T-shirts, jewelry, tattoos, on the protest signs and regalia at the frequent rallies in defence of the increasingly threatened natural world.  It’s in the monumental displays that make YVR one of the top airports on the planet.  50 years ago it wasn’t like this.  Outside of museums there was almost no sign of the advanced cultures that had lived here for millennia.  So what happened?

Haida Modern finds out by following Robert Davidson to his native Haida Gwaii, Alaska, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, Austin Texas.  We see Robert at work in his studio bringing forward the knowledge of the old masters into the 21st century.  It’s a story full of laughter and tears.  It’s an amazing story filled with hope and magic and the breathtaking beauty of the natural world Robert’s works spring from.

Working together with Sara Florence Davidson we’ve recently completed Beyond Being Silenced - a documentary on the latest Potlatch Robert Davidson held in Alaska.

View Trailer

What Critics have to say

“…cleverly and beautifully lays out a deeper argument.” Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail

“… revealing portrait of an unassuming living legend.” Vancouver International Film Festival

“… breathtaking.”CBC “Q”

“…fascinating, entertaining and eye-opening” Dana Gee, Vancouver Sun