Sara Lafleur-Vetter's feature documentary The Sacred & The Snake follows three Indigenous women, youth, and two-spirits through their transformative experiences at Standing Rock and into the Trump era. Through their eyes, we witness their resistance to colonialism and modern forms of genocide as they continue their ancestors’ legacy: to protect the land, water, and their sovereignty. The film raised over $40,000 for post-production on Seed&Spark. 

Director and cinematographer Lafleur-Vetter caught us up on the latest for the film:


What do you hope folks will take away from watching The Sacred and The Snake?
This film places us in the shoes of our participants during a turbulent and poignant moment in this country's history. It's a story of how Indigenous youth, women, and two-spirits led one of the greatest Native resistance movements in American history, how it transformed them and how its effects continue to echo across the globe.

It presents an opportunity for audiences to know them not as caricatures but as whole people with desires, regrets, fears, trauma, faults, and resilience. It’s also an opportunity to witness through their eyes yet another chapter of white supremacy and how it ripples from the past into the present. It’s literally woven into all aspects of our culture and society.

What's the latest on The Sacred & The Snake?
We are currently working towards fine cut, developing the score, eyeing festivals, starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and aiming for release in 2022. 

What’s something during crowdfunding that surprised you? Good or bad or both!
I was a bit surprised at the resounding positive response. The crowdfund really felt like a soft release of the film. It's a bit terrifying because you're putting the film and your participants out there, and I was bracing for a lot of backlash. While there was some, it was mostly an outpouring of support. Lots of folks from my past that I hadn't been in touch with for years came out and threw down to support this project and bring it to life. It was kind of mind-boggling and really humbling. 

What was something you learned through The Sacred & The Snake production process?
When I first arrived at the Standing Rock camps in 2016, I was concerned that my presence as a white journalist might cause more harm than good. The Native community had every right to throw me out based on how they’ve been misappropriated through a white lens for generations. Over the following six months at the camps and in the five years since, our team has been encouraged again and again by Native elders and allies to continue filming. It was humbling to bear witness and be trusted enough to document it.

Now I’m hyper aware of how media, movies, TV, and the internet are all controlled by white voices and the need to restructure that. After Standing Rock rebooted my perspective on American culture and history, I now seek out information that isn’t created from a settler-colonial perspective. This has enriched my life, my connection to the land, and my relationships. 

Further, Indigenous filmmakers really need to be given the resources and opportunities to direct their own stories. My team wants to contribute to this movement. I’d really like to de-center myself moving forward and step aside to make more space for Indigenous filmmakers.

What advice would you give new crowdfunders?
This is your chance to build and get to know your audience in a really intimate way. In that sense, it's really beautiful and it prepares you for the next stage when the film is out in the world and you need to connect with your audience. But it’s a full-time job, so be prepared to commit. 

What’s next for the project and/or you?
Next for the project is fine cut, score, sound mix, color, submitting to festivals, and last but not least, getting this film out into the world — the scariest, most stressful, and exciting part. Then it’s raising funds for impact [strategy] and finding an impact producer. This is the most important stage — making sustainable change. We need to work hard to ensure that we change awareness, push legislators, implement new curriculum in schools. This country’s education system operates on a lie and erases Indigenous people and their history. We need to change that to ensure that future generations understand that they’re standing on stolen land, that some of their ancestors massacred and culturally destroyed the original people who lived in balance with the planet for millenia. We need to repair that wound as much as possible — not just for Indigenous peoples’ sake — but for our own.

I also need to wrap up our rewards for our supporters. I must thank them for being so insanely patient with this process because we had some delays with printing our merch in a timely manner and some orders that were incomplete, so we’re working on wrapping that up.  

As for me, I probably need a break from filmmaking to be more present with my family. I have a 3 year old and a partner and this has been a marathon and taken me away from them quite a bit. Once I’ve healed my family, myself, and my bank account, then I’ll be ready to take on my next film, and hopefully a low key one. 

Are you a member of any film organizations who have helped you get to where you are? Shout them out!
Huge shout out to BAVC, Berkeley Film Foundation, Brico Film Fund, IDA, and Points North for helping to bring this film to life. 


We can't wait to see what's next for The Sacred & The Snake! And if you're getting started with your own crowdfunding journey, we're here to help.