TRIBECA 2025 - 'THIS LAND' Documentary Short Film to Have NY Premiere; Ganienkeh, a Mohawk community, fights to regain its traditional culture.

Admin
May 7
2 min read

'This Land' Award-Winning Documentary Short Film to have New York Premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival

The untold story of Ganienkeh, a Mohawk community fighting to regain its traditional culture.

It's one of the only examples of an indigenous people successfully reclaiming land from the United States, but it may not be the last.

Director Mike Bradley In-Person for Screenings on June 9, 14, 15; Part of the Shorts: Common Ground program.

Watch the Trailer Now Here

In 1974 a group of Mohawk Indians occupied a defunct girls camp in New York’s Adirondack mountains and established a community they called Ganienkeh. Aiming to practice a more traditional lifestyle, and asserting aboriginal title to the land, they stayed for three years, having occasional violent clashes with the local residents.

In 1977 they negotiated a (somewhat complicated) land swap with the State, and agreed to move to a permanent home near Plattsburgh, New York, where they remain today. Ganienkeh is one of the only examples of an indigenous people successfully reclaiming land from the United States, but it may not be the last.

Official Film Website

https://www.thislandfilm.mov/

Director's Statement

My films are all born the same way: when I learn a tiny bit about something that makes me say, "how did I not know about that before this moment?" While on a camping trip at Moss Lake, in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in 2022, I stumbled upon a historic marker that included a single sentence about the Mohawks who’d occupied the land in the 1970s. As I learned more about these traditionalist Mohawks and their goals when they arrived at Moss Lake, I came to believe that they had been largely misunderstood in the contemporaneous press coverage and in the local consciousness. In This Land, I attempt to provide the avenue for them to tell the story for themselves for the first time.

About the Director

Mike Bradley is a Rochester, New York-based director and cinematographer specializing in nonfiction film, including documentary and branded content. He began his career as an independent documentary photographer for clients like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal covering issues including mental health, politics, and the American healthcare system.

He is the founder of the production company Big Slide Creative, which was established in 2018. Through its 1% for the Planet membership, Big Slide donates at least one percent of its annual revenue to environmental organizations.