i told the indian agent, he told me to tell the rcmp. i told the rcmp.went and told my dad and my dad beat the -- out of me. that's when i said ok. i bought a bottle of wine and got drunk. >> the secrets that people have kept for decades, including those of noisecat's father and grandmother, are part of the generational trauma the film captures. >> i didn't leave you, son. >> yeah you did. >> what was i supposed to do? >> i had to move in with my dad for two years to work on this film. we had enough time and develop deep enough relationships that you actually get to see real people grapple with a very deep and terrible history here, overcome it, and to change over the course of the film. and i think that that, you know, in nonfiction is quite rare. >> also notable, the stylistic choices they made. no formal interviews, scenes playing out almost like a dramatic feature. >> it meant picking up chief willie sellars' kids from hockey practice and spending, you know, nights watching american idol with rick gilbert. we decided to shoot on prime lenses, which m