Land Invaders
Director
Cassandra Gardiner, Juan Mateo Menendez
Canada, Mexico, USA / 2026
5 min.
Original language
English
Modelled on the classic arcade game Space Invaders, this experimental 8-bit video game installation captures the nostalgic feel of classic gaming while imagining an alternate history: Instead of fending off space aliens descending onto planet earth, the players have to keep Columbus’s ships – the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria – from reaching the shores of Turtle Island.
Developed by Juan Mateo Menendez and Cassandra Gardiner of Bird x Bird, the project became unexpectedly cathartic for Anishinaabe Algonquin creator Gardiner, offering a way to symbolically confront the historical forces that caused profound harm to her people and communities. Through its gameplay, Land Invaders explores the potential of interactive media as a tool for reflection and healing, providing players a space to engage with intergenerational trauma and, in a subtle way, reprogram new neural pathways toward understanding and empowerment.
Cassandra Gardiner is an Anishinaabe Algonquin filmmaker, curator and writer from Kebaowek First Nation. She produced the short documentary, Jewels Hunt, supported by ITVS and TFI, and broadcast on PBS Independent Lens. She is a passionate arts activist within Indigenous communities and has worked as a film mentor across Canada.
Juan Mateo Menendez grew up in Mexico City, a place full of colour and motion, which inspired his lifelong passion for visual storytelling. After three years as Content Director at Tribeca Film Institute, he founded his own motion graphics studio, Bird X Bird.
Directors Cassandra Gardiner, Juan Mateo Menendez. Producers Cassandra Gardiner, Juan Mateo Menendez. Production company Bird x Bird (USA).
In collaboration with Berlinale Forum Expanded and the Indigenous Screen Office, the Embassy of Canada invites you to a panel discussion and artist talk exploring XR/VR/AR in the context of Indigenous media and artistic practice.
The conversation, led by Isabelle Ruiz from the Indigenous Screen Office, will offer insights into the work of artists Cassandra Gardiner (Anishinaabe Algonquin/Kebaowek First Nation) and Juan Mateo Menendez and use their practice as a starting point to highlight broader tendencies and innovations across Indigenous creative approaches. Together, they will examine how immersive and augmented media are being used by Indigenous artists to expand, challenge, and reframe dominant narratives within cultural institutions – for example by “augmenting” exhibitions and embedding Indigenous perspectives.
The panel discussion is organized by Berlinale Forum Expanded in cooperation with the Embassy of Canada and the Indigenous Screen Office.
16.2. 3–4:30pm
The discussion will be held in English. Admission free. Doors open for security checks at 2:30pm.
Capacity is limited, registration via Guestoo https://gstoo.de/FORUM_EXPANDED is mandatory. Registration deadline: February 15, 4pm.
Embassy of Canada, Leipziger Platz 17, 10117 Berlin
Cassandra Gardiner: 2013: The Edible Indian. 2023: Janelle Niles: Inconvenient (co-directed by Kelly Aija Zemnickis). 2025: Land Invaders.
Juan Mateo Menendez: 2025: Land Invaders.
Funded by:
