FilmRise & Canal+ Docs Board Sabrina Van Tassel Project

FilmRise and Canal+ Docs have come on board Missing From Fire Trail Road, the newest documentary from Award-winning director Sabrina Van Tassel (The Silenced Walls, The State of Texas vs. Melissa).

The doc examines the case of Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis, a Native American woman who disappeared in 2020, and exposes how hundreds of Indigenous women continue to go missing in the U.S.

FilmRise will have worldwide distribution rights across all media, excluding France and French-speaking territories overseas and in Africa, which Canal+ Docs will hold.

Max Einhorn, senior VP of acquisitions and co-productions at FilmRise, said, “Sabrina is a brilliant filmmaker whose documentaries bring awareness to topics and subjects that are often overlooked but are no less important. We are honored to be working with Sabrina on her follow-up to The State of Texas vs. Melissa, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be collaborating with Canal+. The atrocities committed against indigenous communities must become a mainstream issue so we can bring about change.”

Christine Cauquelin, group director of documentaries for Canal+, commented, “After acquiring The State of Texas vs. Melissa, we supported Sabrina’s incredible impact campaign, which helped save Melissa Lucio’s life. Today, we are thrilled to be on board with her new film. Thousands of Native American women go missing in the U.S. in utter indifference, and it is time this urgent matter be brought to the table. We are proud to accompany Sabrina, along with FilmRise, on this important documentary.”

Van Tassel added: “I feel compelled to expose these stories of missing indigenous women who are forgotten and whose cases never receive any public attention. More than a crime doc, this film will explore how the traumas have been passed on from generation to generation since the first contact between natives and European settlers. I feel extremely lucky to have both FilmRise and Canal+ Docs supporting me on this project.”