Film on legacy of residential schools in Canada nominated for best documentary at 2025 Oscars

February 6, 2025

Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars cried — for the first time in a while — tears of joy on Thursday morning when this year’s Oscar nominees were announced.

“I shouted tears of joy, and then I cried tears of joy,” he told CBC’s Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce.

Sellars and his community were featured in Sugarcane, which details the legacy of residential schools in Canada, and in particular, that of the St. Joseph’s Mission near Williams Lake, B.C.