USA PREMIERE

Documentary | Canada | 15 MINUTES | English

Border Crossing 2025

Director: January Marie Rogers

The Indian Defense League of America is a small group of organizers in Six Nations of the Grand River reserve are who are dedicated to maintaining the annual border crossing event which began in 1928 as a response to enacting the Jay Treaty. The Jay Treaty was signed in 1794 between Great Britain and the United States. It gave “American Indians” who were born in Canada the ability to freely enter the United States for travel, studies, employment, retirement and immigration. This film documents the 98th annual border crossing event leading up to the celebration of the 100th annual border crossing taking place at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls Canada/US.

CAST & CREDITS

Director

January Marie Rogers

Producer

January Marie Rogers

DIRECTORS BIO

January Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer and media producer. She lives in Six Nations of the Grand River where she operates Ojistoh Publishing and Productions. January combines her literary talents with her passion for media making to produce audio and video poetry. Her video poem Ego of a Nation won Best Music Video at the American Indian International Film Festival 2020 and her sound art The Battle Within won Best Experimental Audio with imagine Native International Film and Media Festival 2021.

 

She is a literary mentor with Audible’s Indigenous Writers Circle since 2022. January wrote, produced and directed the 10-episode comedy series NDNs on the Airwaves (found on the Ojistoh youtube channel) and her play Blood Sport, a comedy about the pretendian crisis in Indian Country has received numerous stage readings and was published by Turtle’s Back Publishing in 2023. January also has a background in radio production and is part of the 2024 and 2025 A Day to Listen hosted by the Downie Wenjack Fund. She guest-hosted 10 episodes of the Kim Wheeler show on SiriusXM The Indigiverse through the summer of 2024, and produced 6 episodes of Words and Culture (The Haudenosaunee language series) with SiriusXM in January 2024.

 

In 2025 she received an Indigenous Arts Award nomination from the Ontario Arts Council in recognition of her scope of work spanning over 30 years and was awarded an Indigenous Niagara Outstanding Achievement Award for Performing Arts in September 2025.

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

We created this film to expose some hidden truths about US Government policy, law and behavior regarding Native Peoples. Our hope is to educate Native people and the general public to issues they will never be taught in school. The ideals that the United States loves to claim as their guiding principles not only were absent regarding slavery but also with the overtly racist policies imposed on Native peoples. Claiming to be a nation based on “rule of law” sounds great until you come to realize the legal doctrines their legal authority is based on are not legal at all.

Showtimes

AMC The Grove 14

189 The Grove Dr

Los Angeles, CA 90036

Parking At The Theatre