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Resident Orca documentary film

WATCH THE TRAILER

PRESS

Sk'ali Ch'elh-Tenaut, aka Toki or Lolita

DEADLINE

‘Resident Orca’: Watch Trailer For Documentary On Killer Whale Seized As Baby, Held Captive In Seaquarium For Over 50 Years

Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris

WLRN PBS & NPR

Resident Orca at Miami Film Festival

Lolita meets her relatives

DEADLINE

‘My Octopus Teacher’ Producer Off The Fence Acquires Documentary ‘Resident Orca’

Miami

OVERLY HONEST REVIEWS

Advocacy and Action Beyond the Tank

Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris and Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinley

MOVIEMAKER MAGAZINE

In Resident Orca, Indigenous Women Fight to Save a Whale They Consider Family

Lolita and Marcia

POV MAGAZINE

Resident Orca Review: In Honour of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, Lolita the Killer Whale

Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris

KUOW NPR

Resident Orca tells the story of Lummi elders' quest to bring captured whale home

Marcia and Toki

THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Treaty Day event features ‘Resident Orca,’ acclaimed film about effort to free Tokitae

 

Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinley, Hy-Oltse Shirley Bob and Sk'ali Ch'elh-Tenaut

KNKX NPR

‘Resident Orca’ film shows Lummi elders’ quest to bring captured whale home to the Salish Sea

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

April 6th and 9th, 2024

Miami, FL

Miami Film Festival, World Premiere

Documentary Achievement Award Nominee

*Sold Out

October 18th, 2024

Sante Fe, NM

Santa Fe Film Festival

*Sold Out

October 20th, 2024

Toronto, ON

Planet in Focus Film Festival

*Closing Night Film

November 10th, 2024

Lake Placid, NY

Lake Placid Film Festival

November 13th, 2024

Los Angeles, CA

Red Nation International Film Festival

*Best Documentary Nominee

December 6th, 2024

Whistler, BC

Whistler Film Festival

*Winner, Best BC Director

January 23rd, 2025

Lummi, WA

Treaty Day Film Festival

January 25th, 2025

Bellingham, WA

Pickford Film Center

12:45pm

*Sold Out

January 26th, 2024

Mount Dora, FL

Central Florida Film Festival

Epic Theatres Mount Dora

4:45pm

February 14th, 2025

Whitehorse, YT

Available Light Film Festival

Yukon Theatre

8:30pm

March 26, 2025

Berkeley, CA

Bioneers

6:45pm

*sold out

March 30, 2025

Tampa Bay, FL

Gasparilla International Film Festival

AMC Westshore 1

12:15pm

April 1 - 6, 2025

Vancouver, BC

VIFF Centre 

April 1, 6:30pm

April 2, 6:30pm

April 3, 6:45pm

April 4, 2:00pm

April 5, 3:00pm

April 6, 4:00pm

April 12, 2025

Toronto, ON

Hot Docs Cinema 

3:00pm

April 26 - 27, 2025

Washington DC

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

Living Earth Festival 

April 26, 2:00pm

April 27, 2:00pm

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"In presenting this film we have a great opportunity to learn from Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s journey and to do better for her family, the Southern Resident Killer Whales. To protect and restore our waters, and our entire ecosystem before it’s too late.”

- Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris

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CREDITS

A CRAVE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY PRODUCED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF CANADA MEDIA FUND AND ROGERS DOCUMENTARY FUND AN EVERYDAY FILM PRODUCTION
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS SQUIL-LE-HE-LE RAYNELL MORRIS TAH-MAHS ELLIE KINLEY SARAH SHARKEY PEARCE SIMON SCHNEIDER ROMNEY GRANT MELISSA GAUCHER LYNNE KIRBY AND JAMES COSTA DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON SCHNEIDER ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY JESSE AND JOSH ZUBOT

SOUND DESIGN EUGENIO BATTAGLIA EDITOR TONY KENT WRITTEN DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY SARAH SHARKEY PEARCE AND SIMON SCHNEIDER

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copyright Everyday Films, 2025
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ABOUT THE FILM.

RESIDENT ORCA TELLS THE SHOCKING STORY OF A CAPTIVE WHALE'S FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL AND FREEDOM.

our fates are the same

After decades of failed attempts to bring her home, an unlikely partnership between Indigenous matriarchs, a billionaire philanthropist, killer whale experts, and the aquarium’s new owner take on the herculean task of freeing Lolita, captured 53 years ago as a baby, only to spend the rest of her life performing in the smallest killer whale tank in North America. When Lolita falls ill under troubling circumstances, her advocates are faced with a painful question: is it too late to save her?

“UNWAVERING... A REMINDER FOR STRENGTH AND NECESSITY OF CHANGE"
“A RIVETING PIECE OF CINEMATIC ACTIVISM...”  OVERLY HONEST REVIEWS
“A SUBLIME MESSAGE OF LIFE AND CONNECTION.”  FILM THREAT
“the stunning, hypnotic resident orca film is a sante fe film fest"
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