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The Spirit Within looks at Native spirituality programs which have been set up in western Canadian federal penal institutions and in some provincial institutions. The programs which are led by Native elders and assisted by liaison officers, include workshops and ceremonies which help to put the Native prison inmate back in touch with himself, his culture and his spirituality. The film deals with the impact of the programs and in particular that of the sweat lodge. The Spirit Within also serves as an introduction to the kind of life faced by Native inmates. (Awards: Oklahoma City; Oakland; Minneapolis.)

Né d'une mère métisse, Gil Cardinal grandit dans une famille d'accueil non autochtone. Cette personnalité marquante de l'histoire du cinéma autochtone au Canada rend compte, dans ce document autobiographique, des démarches effectuées en vue de retrouver sa mère biologique et de comprendre les motifs de leur séparation. Considéré comme un jalon du cinéma documentaire, le film aborde la question du colonialisme interne du pays sous un angle profondément persoonel.

An important figure in the history of Canadian Indigenous filmmaking, Gil Cardinal was born to a Métis mother but raised by a non-Indigenous foster family, and with this auto-biographical documentary, he charts his efforts to find his biological mother and to understand why he was removed from her. Considered a milestone in documentary cinema, it addressed the country's internal colonialism in a profoundly personal manner, winning a Special Jury Prize at Banff and multiple international awards. "Foster Child is one of the great docs to come out of Canada and nobody but Gil could have made it," says Jesse Wente, Director of Canada's Indigenous Screen Office. "Gil made it possible for us to think about putting our own stories on the screen, and that was something new and important.".