#skoden – Hot Docs 2025
Martin Scorsese Teaches Filmmaking
April 24 to May 4, 2025
Content Advisory: Substance abuse or alcoholism, Racism, Residential School Trauma
FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Docs
Hot Docs 2025
PROGRAMME
Canadian Spectrum Competition
The tragic story behind a photo of an indigenous man that went viral is told in #skoden. Beginning around 2008, a photo of an indigenous man putting his dukes up spread around the internet. Initially used in a derogatory fashion by white supremacists, the photo was reclaimed by indigenous individuals as an Internet meme using the rez slang term SKODEN (Let’s Go Then) as a call to action. However, there is a tragic story behind Pernell Bad Arm, the man in the photo, a Blackfoot Residential School survivor who lived on the streets of Lethbridge, Alberta.
#skoden Synopsis
#skoden is a documentary directed by Damien Eagle Bear, which uses the titular meme as the starting point to tell the tragic story of Pernell Bad Arm. Damien previously interviewed Pernell as part of a scrapped documentary he was shooting in a Lethbridge homeless shelter. When Pernell’s image became viral as part of the SKODEN meme, Damien went back to uncover Pernell’s story as a Residential School survivor, who battled alcoholism all his life and was ultimately failed by the system.
My Thoughts on #skoden
Despite using the meme to kick off the story, #skoden is more about the man behind the viral photo, which those covering the film are asked not to share. The tale of Pernell Bad Arm is a very sad and tragic one, as he was the victim of systemic racism against indigenous individuals in Lethbridge, even though there were individuals sympathetic to his cause, such as social worker Amber Jensen. Even though the indigenous community took ownership of Pernell Bad Arm’s viral image, #skoden is ultimately the latest example of how the system failed the First Nations, particularly in the “Canadian Deep South” of Lethbridge, Alberta.
