Doc Fortnight ’25: Endless Cookie

It hardly seems accidental that two of Pete Scriver’s dozen or so dogs are affectionately named “Cheech” and “Chong.” They appear in an animated “documentary” that very definitely reflects a stoner aesthetic. Trippy things happen all the time and pizza will be discussed at great length. However, family and community hold greater importance for the half-brother filmmakers. Together they chronicle and animate their Scriver family lore in Seth & Peter Striver’s Endless Cookie, which screens during MoMA’s 2025 Documentary Fortnight.

Somehow, Seth Striver convinced Canadian Telefilm to give him a grant for his next animation project, even though the concept sounds a little vague. Basically, he plans to fly up to Shamattawa in northern Manitoba (because it is inaccessible by road), to record his indigenous half-brother Pete’s stories, which he later intends to animate, or something sort of like that.

However, other family members and even the fluctuating number of family dogs keep interrupting, so they soon part of the film too. Obviously, Pete’s daughter Cookie, whom Uncle Seth somewhat logically depicts as a chocolate chip cookie, takes a leading role, often serving as the film’s (heavy-handed) social conscience.

Frankly, Seth has already heard most of Pete’s stories before, but he laughs just as hard listening to them again—because they are part of their shared family fabric. On the surface, they might seem very different. Seth is the nebbish white guy. Pete is a semi-reformed hard-partier and half-indigenous. They have a father in common, who might be a bit eccentric (that’s a shocker, right?), but he remains part of both their lives. Regardless, they clearly share an affectionate bond, which serves as the foundation for their film.

Indeed, those warm, happy family vibes make Endless Cookie a pleasant experience, even though Pete’s reminiscences not infrequently detour into surreal flights of fancy. Frankly, viewers digging Scriver’s grounded family history must often wait for the film to come back down to Earth. Admittedly, these sequences can be a lot—perhaps a little too much for more conventional viewers, who do not have a solid grounding in underground comix and indie animation auteurs like Bill Plympton. (Frankly, it could be quite a show just watching the responses of older patrons when Endless Cookie screens at MoMA.)

Nevertheless, the relaxed hang vibe and the half-brothers’ easygoing chemistry are pleasantly entertaining. Most viewers will chuckle listening to the Strivers laughing and scratching. Sometimes, they even bring to mind Beavis and Butthead, in a way that is meant as a compliment.

Endless Cookie very definitely addresses the Canadian government’s treatment of indigenous and First Nations peoples, but first and foremost, it celebrates family and community. Clearly, the Strivers do not expect anything from the national government in Ottawa. Instead, the Striver family takes care of themselves and their neighbors.

Despite a lack of hockey references, Endless Cookie also deeply reflects its Canadian roots. You can learn a good deal about field dressing caribou from watching it. Sometimes, Pete’s stories even take on a Jack London-esque flavor, as when he recalls the time when he caught his hand in an animal trap and nearly died of exposure. Neither half-brother takes offense from a scatological joke either, because those are some of the funniest in the film.

Perhaps some might even question whether Endless Cookie truly constitutes a documentary, but such pedantry should not matter to us mere mortals. It would be hard to find a messier, shaggier film, but that is why it is such a distinctive critter. Recommended for adventurous animation fans, Endless Cookie screens February 24^th and March 3^rd at MoMA, as part of this year’s Doc Fortnight.