If an Owl calls your name – movie
| We are just days away from the global premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name, the third film in the Wisdom of the Ancestors series. This film is a journey of transformation: how story becomes medicine, and how healing the land and the people are one and the same. Filmed in the territories now called British Columbia, the film follows Indigenous Elders, healers, and activists from the Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en Nations as they share a living legacy of resilience, remembrance, and the ongoing work of intergenerational healing. We invite you to watch the trailer and register for the global film premiere and 5-day online gathering, December 3-9, 2025. You can join by offering a small donation of any amount (including $0).
Join the Free Global Film Premiere & Live 5-Day Online Event |
| To reach as many people as possible, we’ve made the film available by donation—including $0. All are welcome. Half of all proceeds (after covering basic costs) will return directly to the communities featured in the film. Meet Roy Henry Vickers (Hìm̓às Tlakwagila) Roy Henry Vickers is a world-renowned Canadian artist, painter, carver, and author. His work blends traditional Northwest Coast formline design with vivid colors and natural themes, reflecting both his Haida, Heiltsuk, and Tsimshian ancestry and his European heritage. Roy’s art has been featured in museums and private collections worldwide, and his striking gallery in Tofino, BC—designed in the style of a traditional longhouse—has become a cultural landmark. He is also a storyteller and spiritual teacher, known for his powerful public speaking and his deep connection to land and lineage. Today, Roy lives on the banks of the Skeena River, near Hazelton, British Columbia, where he continues to create and guide others through art, story, and ceremony. A Story from the Film In If An Owl Calls Your Name, Roy shares a story from his childhood.
One Sunday morning in his coastal village, where nearly everyone was in church—including his grandmother and his mother—Roy noticed that his grandfather stayed behind. Curious, Roy joined him on his small boat. As they drifted on the water, Roy smiled, feeling a sense of ease and joy. His grandfather noticed and asked why he looked so happy. Roy replied, “Because I’m with you. I don’t have to go to church today.” This story speaks to a deep, embodied wisdom—one rooted in land, relationship, and quiet resistance to the forced missionary assimilation that sought to sever it. If An Owl Calls Your Name follows Roy, Patricia, and other Elders and healers from the Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en territories as they reclaim what colonization tried to erase – language, ceremony, belonging and more. 👉 Join us for the Global Premiere + 5-Day Live Online Event When you register, you’ll receive free access to the 5-day gathering. This is not an easy film to watch. It carries the weight of what happened. But before stories can transform, they must first be fully felt. And when we sit with these stories, we become part of the circle of mending—part of remembering what has always been sacred. This film, like each of the twelve in the Wisdom of the Ancestors series, was not “directed” in the traditional sense. It was shaped through listening. Offered in reciprocity. Rooted in relationship. With love and respect, Zaya & Maurizio Benazzo Co-Creators, If An Owl Calls Your Name |
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