Set on the Tsilhqot'in plateau in the 1970s, Clouds of Autumn focuses on a young Indigenous boy named William and his older sister Shayl whose carefree childhoods are torn apart when Shayl is forced to attend a residential school. Singular visual interpretations infuse co-director Trevor Mack's family history with a slowly shifting tone that evokes loss and love. The film explores the impact residential schools had on the relationships of First Nations children with themselves, their heritage, and nature itself. The opening notes of the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our God" are a poignant leitmotif in this mostly non-narrated production. A moving, short docudrama ideal for film studies.

Trevor Mack is a Tsilhqot’in Nation filmmaker from Williams Lake and the TI’etinqox area in British Columbia, Canada.