Documentary backdrop image for Finding the Secret Path (2018)

Documentary backdrop image for Finding the Secret Path (2018)

201895 minGdocumentary

Indigenous Histories Music History

Finding the Secret Path

201895 minGdocumentary

A 12-year-old boy named Chanie Wenjack died in 1966 after fleeing the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario.

Indigenous Histories Music History

Genres

Director

Synopsis

A 12-year-old boy named Chanie Wenjack died in 1966 after fleeing the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario.

People

Mike Downiedirector

Mike Downiewriter

Gord Downie

Gord Downiecast

Synopsis

Gord Downie prepares for a historic performance at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, honoring Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who died in 1966 after fleeing the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario. Finding the Secret Path intertwines behind-the-scenes footage of Downie's emotional concert with segments from the animated film based on Jeff Lemire's graphic novel. The project combines Downie's poetry and music to address Wenjack's story and its significance.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Unarmed Verses (2020)

Unarmed Verses

2020•1h26m•★10.0TMDB

Twelve-year-old Keshia Chanté reflects on life and identity as her community in Regent Park faces the threat of relocation and urban revitalization.

Unwanted Soldiers (2025)

Unwanted Soldiers

2025•49m•★8.0TMDB

Jari Osborne reflects on her father's experiences as a Chinese-Canadian veteran in World War II, highlighting the discrimination faced by British Columbia's Chinese-Canadian community.

Unwanted Soldiers

We Were Children (2025)

We Were Children

Survivors recount being stripped and bathed in a large shower room, where they were treated with DDT to kill lice during their time in residential schools.

We Were Children

Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child (2019)

Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child

Richard Cardinal lived in 28 different placements, including 16 foster homes and 12 group homes, before his death by suicide at age 17.

Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child

The Road Forward (2020)

The Road Forward

A 101-minute documentary features musical performances that blend blues, rock, and traditional beats to address First Nations rights in Canada.

The Road Forward

Let the Daylight into the Swamp (2024)

Let the Daylight into the Swamp

A thousand kilometres north of Toronto, a lumber camp serves as the backdrop for a family's history in Northern Ontario's logging towns.

Let the Daylight into the Swamp

BILL REID Remembers (2026)

BILL REID Remembers

Bill Reid, a prominent Haida artist, is honored by Alanis Obomsawin, who explores his profound influence on Indigenous art and culture in Canada.

BILL REID Remembers

Two World Colliding (2024)

Two World Colliding

In January 2000, Darrell Night, an Indigenous man, survives being abandoned by police in extreme cold, prompting an investigation into multiple suspicious deaths of Indigenous individuals.

Two World Colliding

The Geographie of Dar (2024)

The Geographie of Dar

Renowned Canadian author David Adams Richards reflects on his life and literary works, highlighting the influence of Eastern Canada's Miramichi region.

The Geographie of Dar

Finding Dawn (2016)

Finding Dawn

The murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years are examined through personal stories and testimonies.

Viva Elvis (2023 Biography) directed by Gerardo Rissotti (2024)

Viva Elvis (2023 Biography) directed by Gerardo Rissotti

Elvis Presley sold more than 1 billion records worldwide and starred in 33 films, becoming a key figure in 20th-century pop culture.

Viva Elvis (2023 Biography) directed by Gerardo Rissotti

You Don't Know Ivan Julian | Punk Rock Documentary | Full Movie (2025)

You Don't Know Ivan Julian | Punk Rock Documentary | Full Movie

Ivan Julian, a pioneering guitarist in New York's punk rock scene, reflects on his creative process and collaborations with notable artists like Richard Hell and Alejandro Escovedo.

You Don't Know Ivan Julian | Punk Rock Documentary | Full Movie

Explore Finding the Secret Path

Cast & Crew Topics FAQ

Where else to watch

Unwanted Soldiers (2025)

Unwanted Soldiers

2025•49m•★8.0TMDB

Jari Osborne reflects on her father's experiences as a Chinese-Canadian veteran in World War II, highlighting the discrimination faced by British Columbia's Chinese-Canadian community.

Unwanted Soldiers

No digital watch option in your country

BILL REID Remembers (2026)

BILL REID Remembers

Bill Reid, a prominent Haida artist, is honored by Alanis Obomsawin, who explores his profound influence on Indigenous art and culture in Canada.

BILL REID Remembers

No digital watch option in your country

Finding Dawn (2016)

Finding Dawn

The murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years are examined through personal stories and testimonies.

No digital watch option in your country

The Tragically Hip - A National Celebration (2016)

The Tragically Hip - A National Celebration

2016•2h42m•★9.6TMDB

One-third of Canadians tuned in to watch the Tragically Hip's final concert, A National Celebration, broadcast live on August 20, 2016.

The Tragically Hip - A National Celebration

The Tragically Hip - Long Time Running (2017)

The Tragically Hip - Long Time Running

2017•1h37m•★7.4TMDB

Five days before the start of their 2016 tour, filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier were asked to create a documentary about The Tragically Hip.

The Tragically Hip - Long Time Running

The Long Ride Home: Part 2 (2021)

The Long Ride Home: Part 2

2021•57m•★9.0TMDB

A group of Indigenous Canadians continues a four-year horse ride, started in 2020, to raise awareness about Indigenous children in care.

The Long Ride Home: Part 2

Sugarcane (2024)

Sugarcane

2024•1h47m•★7.0TMDB

Over 100 children are reported missing from the Indian residential school system in Canada, prompting a reckoning among survivors and their descendants.

Killing the Indian in the Child (2021)

Killing the Indian in the Child

2021•1h13m•★6.5TMDB

Thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and placed in residential schools as part of a policy of cultural genocide in Canada.

Killing the Indian in the Child

Lost Heroes (2014)

Lost Heroes

2014•1h47m•★8.0TMDB

Ninety minutes reveal the story of Canada's comic book superheroes and the creators who fought to establish their place in a market dominated by U.S. icons.

Browse more like this

We Were Children (2025)

We Were Children

Survivors recount being stripped and bathed in a large shower room, where they were treated with DDT to kill lice during their time in residential schools.

We Were Children

No digital watch option in your country

The Geographie of Dar (2024)

The Geographie of Dar

Renowned Canadian author David Adams Richards reflects on his life and literary works, highlighting the influence of Eastern Canada's Miramichi region.

The Geographie of Dar

No digital watch option in your country

We are not legends (2019)

We are not legends

2019•52m•★8.0TMDB

Three Atikamekw teenagers take music lessons with non-Indigenous teachers while balancing their cultural heritage and aspirations on a Quebec reserve.

We are not legends

Colonization Road (2016)

Colonization Road

2016•49m•★10.0TMDB

Ontario has streets named Colonization Road that date back to the Public Lands Act of 1853, which affected Indigenous treaties and lands.

Colonization Road

The Experimental Eskimos (2009)

The Experimental Eskimos

2009•1h10m•★6.0TMDB

Three Inuit boys are taken from their families in the Arctic in the 1960s and relocated to Ottawa, where they face significant cultural challenges.

The Experimental Eskimos

The Death Tour (2023)

The Death Tour

2023•1h29m•★10.0TMDB

Over several weeks, professional wrestlers travel across frozen lakes to perform in Canada’s most remote Indigenous communities.

Liquid Vinyl (2005)

Liquid Vinyl

2005•1h24m•★8.0TMDB

Superstar DJs discuss the history and future of electronic dance music, a genre that transformed club culture and elevated DJs to rock star status.

Here's a Piano I Prepared Earlier (2005)

Here's a Piano I Prepared Earlier

2005•49m•★7.0TMDB

Five musicians in the 1960s used unconventional methods like stuffing pianos with hay and rolling dice to select notes, challenging traditional music composition.

Here's a Piano I Prepared Earlier

Browse more by Mike Downie

View all films →

Shades of Survival (2025)

Shades of Survival

2025

Nuts About Squirrels (2022)

Nuts About Squirrels

2022

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →