Gather
Sanjay Rawal, 2020
Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.

Keynote Address
Nishanga Bliss, DAIM, D.Sc., L.Ac.
Nishanga is an integrative physician, licensed acupuncturist and professor of Chinese medicine who believes that personal and planetary health are inseparable, and her mission is to bring sustainable healthcare and education to support communities meeting the incredible challenges of our times. She is the author of the Real Food All Year: Eating Seasonal Whole Foods for Optimal Health and All-Day Energy. Visit her on the web at nishangabliss.com/about.

Faculty Panel
Faculty panel led by our keynote speaker Nishanga Bliss in collaboration with Tatiana Irwin (History), Nathan Churches (Biology), and Eric Heltzel (English).

Los Guardianes del Maíz (The Keepers of Corn)
Gustavo Vazquez, 2021
This film tells the story of native corn from the perspectives of indigenous farmers, artisans and cooks in Mexico whose ancestors shepherded the ever-evolving seeds from the dawn of agriculture into the 21st Century. It’s a story of collective labor spanning more than 350 generations.

These voices are joined by community leaders, scientists, chefs, and others whose knowledge and activism stand not only in defense of food sovereignty and the genetic integrity, diversity, and community ownership of native seeds, but in defense of a durable cultural legacy and a way of life.

Q & A
Q & A: Gustavo Vazquez, director of the film, will lead this discussion.

Sol in the Garden
Débora Souza Silva, Emily Cohen Ibañez, 2023
After 16 years of incarceration, Sol is released from prison, only to discover that coming into her own freedom can be as challenging as living behind bars. Through a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland, Sol strives to recover her humanity and sense of self.