Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy

A portrait of a community facing radical change, Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy is a film that brings humanity and compassion to the substance-use crisis and drug-poisoning epidemic on the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta. Contextualized in the historical and lived trauma of settler colonialism, the film draws a connecting line between the impacts of colonialism on Blackfoot land and people and the ongoing substance-use crisis. People with a substance-use disorder, both in active use and in recovery, come together with frontline workers to issue an urgent call to action: change is a matter of life or death for many people. (Tromsø International Film Festival)