The Ballad of Oppenheimer Park is a film that celebrates the everyday life of a group of Indigenous people, exiles from Canadian reserves, who, over a fleeting summer, hang out in a contested park in Vancouver. Through direct participation in the filmmaking process, the day to day becomes a ceremonial space in the ongoing confrontation against law and order.

The Ballad of Oppenheimer Park

As a child, Harley Prosper was chosen and trained to be the Shaman of a Cree community in Canada. Growing up, Harley rejects this responsibility and flees to Vancouver, defying the spirit that chose him. Confined in a hospice for the terminally ill, the film follows the life of a man willing to desecrate his sacred mission.