Sky Hopinka's MALNI—TOWARDS THE OCEAN, TOWARDS THE SHORE (2020)

"Rapturous. Stunning. At times, Maɬni Feels like a richly woven ghost story." — Ela Bittencourt, Hyperallergic

“Watching Maɬni…I felt a sense of replenishment. A lyrical art film that uses ancestral storytelling techniques to share experiences of Indigenous living and political resistance.” — Cassie Da Costa, Vanity Fair

"Hopinka subtly inverts the tropes of the ethnographic documentary to depict indigenous life from an indigenous perspective.”— Cayley James, Cinema Scope

“Stunning. Hopinka’s use of color in Maɬni is nothing short of astonishing. One of the most awe-inspiring films I saw.”— Vikram Murthi, RoberEbert.com

7th House, Los Angeles Filmforum, and COUSIN are proud to present the mesmerizing and poetic experimental debut feature by filmmaker Sky Hopinka: MALNI—TOWARDS THE OCEAN, TOWARDS THE SHORE (2020). An acclaimed artist of Ho-Chunk and Pechanga heritage, Hopinka’s work – which spans video, photo, and text – centers around personal positions of Indigenous homeland and landscape, designs of language as containers of culture expressed through personal, documentary, and non fiction forms of media. Best known for his singular short films, his feature debut has been lauded by The New York Times as “an essential portrait of contemporary Indigenous life…(that) beckons audiences onto its wavelength by tapping into something more intuitive, the stuff of dreams.” Adam Piron who, who alongside Sky Hopinka and filmmakers Adam Khalil and Alexandra Lazarowich, co-founded of COUSIN— a collective supporting Indigenous artists expanding the form of film and building an Indigenous-led film movement — will join us for a conversation about the film, Hopinka's work, and the exciting and vital projects that COUSIN are supporting.

Circling the origin of the death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, Maɬni (pronounced “moth-nee) follows two people as they wander through their surrounding nature, the spirit world, and something much deeper inside. At its center are Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier who take separate paths contemplating their afterlife, rebirth, and the place in-between.

Spoken mostly in the chinuk wawa language, their stories are departures from the Chinookan origin of death myth, with its distant beginning and circular shape. Probing questions about humanity’s place on earth and other worlds, Hopinka’s film will have audiences thinking (and dreaming) about it long after.

Dir. Sky Hopinka, 2020, 80 mins, English/Chinuk Wawa w/ English Subtitles, Unrated, Digital.

Tickets: $10 (All Screenings Are In Person Only)

Please email events@prs.org or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

ABOUT LOS ANGELES FILMFORUM

Los Angeles Filmforum is the city’s longest-running organization dedicated to weekly screenings of experimental film, documentaries, video art, and experimental animation. 2025 is our 50th year. www.lafilmforum.org

ABOUT COUSIN

COUSIN is a collective supporting Indigenous artists expanding the form of film. We are building an Indigenous-led film movement. We create work that is personal, proudly provocative and driven by strong, artistic voices. We celebrate this work and get it made, seen and shared.

Founded in 2018 by Sky Hopinka, Adam Khalil, Alexandra Lazarowich and Adam Piron, COUSIN was created to provide support for Indigenous artists expanding traditional definitions and understandings of the moving image by experimenting with form and genre.

COUSIN Cycle 1, its first cycle of commissioned films, was made possible with the generous support of Cinereach. With commissions ranging from features, short films, installation, and hybrid projects, these artists make up a diverse international group of emerging and established artists poised to take the next important step in their practice and expand traditional definitions and understandings of the moving image.

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