Acting
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Born 1941-02-20
Canadian-born American singer-songwriter, guitarist, political activist, and visual artist known especially for her use of music to promote awareness of issues affecting Native Americans. Orphaned as an infant in Canada when her mother, a Plains Cree, died in an auto accident, Sainte-Marie was adopted by an U.S. couple of Mi’kmaq ancestry and raised in Massachusetts & Maine. Her earliest days as a self-taught folk singer were spent shaking up the coffeehouses and consciousnesses in Greenwich Village and helping Joni Mitchell get discovered. Along with her lifelong commitment to and advocacy for Indigenous and Aboriginal people around the world, she has changed the education system from within, and maintained an unwavering passion for social justice, equality and the Earth mixed with her love of sound and songs. Her legacy is that of as an ever-curious, ever-evolving, and technologically pioneering musician, producer, composer and artist — despite her inability to read a note of music.
Acting credits
5.8Documentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.
Broken Rainbow
1985
NRExplores the consequences of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose profound, long-term environmental hazards. Miners suffer a substantially increased risk of getting cancer. Most mining occurs on Indigenous People's land, violating their traditional economic and spiritual lives. Given our limited knowledge of the risks associated with uranium mining, why continue?
Uranium
1990
NRSesame Street celebrated its 10th anniversary in the spring of 1979 with a half-hour PBS special hosted by James Earl Jones titled A Walking Tour of Sesame Street. The special aired on individual PBS stations at various times between March and May 1979. (Muppet Wiki)
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
1979
7.6Documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history, a little-known story built around the incredible lives and careers of the some of the greatest music legends.
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
2017
3.4The true story of Iroquois warrior Thayendanegea participating in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War.
The Broken Chain
1993
5.5Join iconic Canadian artists, activists, actors, and athletes as they share their stories of hope and inspiration in this national salute to our frontline workers and in support of Food Banks Canada’s COVID-19 relief efforts.
Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble
2020
7.0Explores the music scene in Greenwich Village, New York in the '60s and early '70s. The film highlights some of the finest singer/songwriters of the day.
Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation
2013
7.5An in-depth look at the life of the activist and musician, with archival material never seen before, with present-day footage of Buffy performing and interviews with her bandmates, colleagues and herself.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
2022
The life and times of music arranger, composer, producer Jack Nitzsche (Starman, Up Where We Belong, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).
Stringman: The Jack Nitzsche Story
2018
NRProduced and directed this documentary for BBC in the 1980’s, about David Gulpilil, acclaimed Australian Aboriginal actor, dancer and musician. The film shows how Gulpilil is always working to bridge the gap between the tribal Aboriginal and Western worlds. He divides his time between a traditional tribal lifestyle and his artistic work, which has included major film roles, collaboration with contemporary dance and music groups and teaching Aboriginal dance and culture. Bill and David travel to Hollywood where David was the most popular Australian in the world at that time, with FOUR films playing in America – WALKABOUT, STORM BOY, THE LAST WAVE and MAD DOG MORGAN. After relating to both the black and native American cultures and filming a quick scene for a big Hollywood picture, he pines to head back through the Outback to his beloved Arnhem Land. Edited by Simon Dibbs and shot by Ray Henman.
Walkabout to Hollywood
1980
7.0This doc explores "The Band" guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson's Native American background. Half Mohawk on his mother's side, the film follows him back to the Six Nations reservation in Ontario where he spent summers growing up and picked up his first guitar. The resulting album, "Contact From the Underworld of Red Boy", draws on his childhood First Nation influences and includes musical collaborations wth Native artists such as John Trudell, Rita Coolidge and Buffy Ste Marie.
Making a Noise: A Native American Musical Journey with Robbie Robertson
1999
6.5SAINT MISBEHAVIN’ reveals the true story of cultural phenomenon Wavy Gravy, a man whose commitment to making the world a better place has never wavered. Wavy Gravy is known as the MC of the Woodstock Festival, a hippie icon, a clown and even a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. In Saint Misbehavin’ we meet a true servant to humanity, who carries his message through humor and compassion. The film weaves together intimate verite footage, reflections from an array of cultural and countercultural peers, and never-before-seen archival footage to tell a story that is bigger than the man himself.
Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie
2010
6.0Black and white footage of performances, interviews, and conversations at the Newport Folk Festival, from 1963 to 1966. The headliners are Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan, who's acoustic and electric. Son House and Mike Bloomfield talk about the blues; John Hurt, Howlin' Wolf, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee show its range. The Osborne Brothers perform bluegrass. Donovan, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Mimi and Dick Farina, and others less well known also perform. Several talk musical philosophy, and there's a running commentary about the nature and appeal of folk music. The crowd looks clean cut.
Festival
1967
NRBuffy Sainte-Marie is best known for her protest songs (Universal Soldier) and her love songs (Up Where We Belong). This one-hour documentary chronicles her remarkable career as she rises to prominence in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene and blazes a groundbreaking path as an Aboriginal-rights advocate, digital artist and Oscar-winning songwriter.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life
2006
NRExamines the violence and civil disobedience leading up to the hallmark decision in U.S. v. Washington, with particular reference to the Nisqually Indians of Frank's Landing in Washington.
As Long as the Rivers Run
1971
Folk music icon Buffy Sainte-Marie became internationally renowned with her protest song "Universal Soldier." In this short documentary, she candidly discusses her hopes, creative vision and songwriting skills, as well as her role as an Aboriginal activist. Still a vibrant artist fifty years into her career, she keeps her eyes set on the future.
Buffy
2010
Native American singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie -- who scored a Best Original Song Oscar for the title track in 1983 -- performs along with Red Bull and Stoney Park, two world-champion powwow singing groups from Alberta, Canada. Tunes include "Up Where We Belong," "Cripple Creek," "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," "Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo," "Darling Don't Cry," "Piney Wood Hills" and "Until It's Time for You to Go."
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Up Where We Belong
1996
NRThree of the top folksinger-composers - Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Buffy Sainte-Marie - are featured here. These are the new "city" folksingers whose songs are strictly topical, commenting on the political and social issues of the day. Pete Seeger, an earlier singer in a similar tradition, talks about what the younger singer-composers are attempting to do and about their forerunners, such as Woody Guthrie and Aunt Molly Jackson.
The Creative Person: The Folksinger
1965
NRVatican documents issued by various popes during the fifteenth century created global patterns of domination, leading ultimately to the current ecological crisis. The wisdom teachings of original nations and peoples provide a way forward for the well-being of the planet and our future generations.
The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code
2015