Malni–Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore

Sunday Showcase
Malni–Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore
Directed by Sky Hopinka

Sunday, February 12, 1 pm

Free

“Rapturous. Feels like a richly woven ghost story.”—Ella Bittencourt, Hyperallergic

Sky Hopinka’s poetic debut feature, Malni (pronounced moth-nee), follows Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier as they wander through their surrounding nature in the Pacific Northwest, contemplating their contrasting viewpoints on the afterlife, rebirth, and the place in between. Spoken mostly in the Chinuk Wawa language, their stories take a departure from the Chinookan people’s circular origin-of-death myth, probing questions about humanity’s place both on earth and in other worlds. This film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is a New York Times Critic’s Pick. 2020, U.S., DCP, in English and Chinuk Wawa with English subtitles, 72 minutes. Recommended for 12 +

In the fall of 2022, Hopinka was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his skill in combining imagery and language in films and videos that offer new strategies or representation for the expression of Indigenous worldviews. 

Screened in conjunction with the exhibition Current Speed: Sky Hopinka currently on view.