ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival

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The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, [1] held annually in Toronto. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Peoples from around the world. The festival includes screenings, parties, panel discussions, and cultural events.

Contents

As an organization, imagineNATIVE supports the creation of new works through their commissioning program, and national outreach to and for Indigenous communities through various off-site programs throughout the year. imagineNATIVE also commissions industry reports on the status of Indigenous film production in Canada. [2]

Held in October each year for most of its history, in February 2024 the festival announced that it would not be held that year, and will shift to June in 2025. [3]

History

The festival was founded in 1998 by Cynthia Lickers-Sage in her capacity as the Aboriginal outreach coordinator for Vtape as a venue for the exhibition of short film and video work by Aboriginal artists. While initially operated through Vtape, the festival subsequently became an independent organization. [4] An early programmer for the festival was Ojibway critic and journalist Jesse Wente, [5] who continued in his role as programmer through 2010. [6] In 2010, Jason Ryle took on the role of the festival's executive director; [7] he was succeeded in 2020 by Naomi Johnson. [8] Ryle was subsequently named the winner of the Toronto Film Critics Association's Clyde Gilmour Award for his contributions to the Canadian film industry, [9] and joined the Toronto International Film Festival as lead programmer for Indigenous films. [10]

In May 2023, Lindsay Monture was named the new festival director. [11]

Awards

The 2001 winner for Best Film went to Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner by Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk. [12] This film was the first feature dramatic film in an Indigenous language by an Inuit director. [13]

The 2016 festival focused on Inuit and northern films, with a special focus on films from Greenland. [14] Award winners for that year included Bonfire, a film by Russian Sakha director Dmitry Davydov, for Best Dramatic Feature; Searchers (Maliglutit) by Zacharias Kunuk for Best Indigenous Language Production; and Angry Inuk , directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, which won Best Documentary Feature. [15]

Audience Choice Award

YearFilmDirectorRef
2019 nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up Tasha Hubbard
2020 Brother, I Cry Jessie Anthony
2021 Run Woman Run Zoe Leigh Hopkins [16]
2022 Rosie Gail Maurice [17]
2023 Café Daughter Shelley Niro [18]

Best Dramatic Feature

YearFilmDirectorRef
2001 Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Zacharias Kunuk
2002
2003 The Doe Boy Randy Redroad
2004 The Land Has Eyes (Pear ta ma ʻon maf) Vilsoni Hereniko
2005 The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros) Auraeus Solito
2006 The Journals of Knud Rasmussen Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn
2007 Four Sheets to the Wind Sterlin Harjo
2008 Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain) Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
2009The Wind and the Water (Burwa dii ebo)Vero Bollow
2010 Boy Taika Waititi
2011 Here I Am Beck Cole
2012Charlie ZoneHank White
2013 Satellite Boy Catriona McKenzie [19]
2014A White Day (Yryn kyn)Mikhail Lukachevskiy
2015 Mekko Sterlin Harjo
2016BonfireDmitrii Davydov [20]
2017 Sweet Country Warwick Thornton [21]
2018The Lord Eagle (Toyon Kyyl)Eduard Novikov [22]
2019 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers [23]
2020The Legend of Baron To’aKiel McNaughton
2021 Bootlegger Caroline Monnet [24]
2022 We Are Still Here Beck Cole, Dena Curtis, Tracey Rigney, Danielle MacLean, Tim Worrall, Renae Maihi, Miki Magasiva, Mario Gaoa, Richard Curtis, Chantelle Burgoyne
2023 Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning [25]

Best Short Drama

YearFilmDirectorRef
2000
2001
2002
2003Moccasin Flats Randy Redroad
2004MemoryCedar Sherbert
2005There's No 'I' in HockeyDennis Jackson
2006HawaikiiMike Jonathan
2007Shooting Geronimo Kent Monkman
2008Sikumi (On the Ice)Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
2009Tungijuq Zacharias Kunuk
2010Redemption Katie Wolfe
2011SalarNicholas Greene
2012 Throat Song Stacey Aglok MacDonald
2013AbaloneTracey Rigney [19]
2014The Underground Michelle Latimer
2015Stoerre Vaerie (Northern Great Mountain) Amanda Kernell
2016UFOGregory King [20]

Best Canadian Short Drama (2006–2016)

YearFilmDirectorRef
2006133 Skyway Randy Redroad
2007 The Colony Jeff Barnaby
2008A Small Thing Adam Garnet Jones
2009Shi-Shi-EtkoMarilyn Thomas
2010Lumaajuuq Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
2011Amaqqut Nunaat (The Country of Wolves)Neil Christopher
2012A Red Girl's Reasoning Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
2013Mohawk Midnight Runners Zoe Hopkins [19]
2014Indigo Amanda Strong
2015Clouds of Autumn Trevor Mack
2016God's Acre Kelton Stepanowich [20]

Best Short Work (Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award, 2017–Present)

YearFilmDirectorRef
2017I Will Always Love You Kingen Amanda Kernell
2018 Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) Amanda Strong [22]
2019Moloka’i BoundAlika Maikau [23]
2020Njuokčamat (The Tongues) Marja Bål Nango and Ingir Bål Nango
2021 Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice Zacharias Kunuk [24]
2022
2023Nigiqtuq (The South Wind)Lindsay McIntyre [25]

Best Indigenous Language Production

YearFilmDirectorRef
2007 Nikamowin (Song) Kevin Lee Burton
2008L'Amendement Kevin Papatie
2009The Wind and the Water (Burwa Dii Ebo)Vero Bollow
Igar Yala Collective
2010 File Under Miscellaneous Jeff Barnaby
2011Samson & Delilah Warwick Thornton
2012 Throat Song Stacey Aglok MacDonald
2013The Script (Baybayin) Kanakan Balintagos [19]
2014This May Be the Last Time Sterlin Harjo
2015Bulunu Milkarri Sylvia Nulpinditj
2016 Searchers (Maliglutit) Zacharias Kunuk
Natar Ungalaaq
[20]
2017Bowhead Whale Hunting With My Ancestors Carol Kunnuk, Zacharias Kunuk [21]
2018Eternity (Wiñaypacha)Oscar Catacora [22]
2019The Book of the SeaAleksei Vakhrushev [23]
2020KapaemahuHinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
2021Matuna, la sombra del GuerreroRafael Roberto Mojica Gil [26]
2022MəcaRitchie Norman Hemphill
2023The Bull of ColdAlexander Moruo [25]

Kent Monkman Award: Best Experimental/Innovation in Storytelling

YearFilmDirectorRef
2000
2001
2002
2003Thorn GrassRobin Hammer
2004Wagon BurnerTerrance Houle
2005My Big Brother (Su naa) Helen Haig-Brown
2006Women in Canada: A TrilogyMarnie Parrell
2007 Nikamowin (Song) Kevin Lee Burton
2008Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan 1 Nicholas Galanin
2009HorseArcher Pechawis
2010BurntAlejandro Valbuena
2011The Gift Terril Calder
2012Her Silent LifeLindsay McIntyre
2013He Who Dreams Dana Claxton [19]
2014Covered Tara (Beier) Browne
2015Tai Whetuki - House of Death Lisa Reihana
2016Dolastallat Marja Helander [20]
2017 Three Thousand Asinnajaq [21]
2018Birds in the Earth (Eatnanvuloš Lottit) Marja Helander
2019The Creation of the World (Hant Quij Cöipaxi Hac)Antonio Coello [23]
2020Suodji (Shelter)Marja Helander
2021PuisiPilutaq Lundblad [26]
2022The Original Shareholder ExperiencePetyr Xyst
2023AykuoAyaal Adamov [25]

Best Documentary - Short Format

YearFilmDirectorRef
2005Wirriya (Small Boy) Beck Cole [27]
2006Coureurs de nuitShanouk Newashish
2007The Vanishing TraceKeesic Douglas
2008Le rêve d'une mèreCherilyn Papatie
2009How People Got FireChristopher Auchter
2010Do Not Tell (Ne le dis pas / Nika tshika uiten mishkut) Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush
2011Spirit of the BluebirdJesse Gouchey, Xstine Cook
2012Songline to HappinessDanny Teece-Johnson
2013Inuit Cree Reconciliation Neil Diamond, Zacharias Kunuk [19]
2014Treading WaterJanelle Wookey, Jérémie Wookey
2015Nowhere LandBonnie Ammaq
2016Cree Code TalkerAlexandra Lazarowich [20]
2017Lelum' Asia Youngman [21]
2018Fast HorseAlexandra Lazarowich
2019The Boxers of BruleJesse Adler [23]
2020 êmîcêtôcêt: Many Bloodlines Theola Ross
2021Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian AgainCourtney Montour [26]
2022First Time HomeNoemi Librado-Sanchez, Esmirna Librado, Esmeralda Ventura, Heriberto Ventura
2023Grape Soda in the Parking LotMegan Kyak-Monteith, Taqralik Partridge [25]

Best Documentary - Long Format (Alanis Obomsawin Award)

YearFilmDirectorRef
2000
2001
2002
2003Totem: The Return of the G'psgolox Pole Gil Cardinal
2004The Ghost RidersV. Blackhawk Aamodt
2005 Mohawk Girls Tracey Deer
2006Waban-aki: People from Where the Sun Rises Alanis Obomsawin
2007Water Flowing TogetherGwendolen Cates
2008March PointCody Cayou
Nick Clark
Tracy Rector
Annie Silverstein
Travis Tom
2009C.B.Q.M.Dennis Allen
2010And the River Flows On (Y el rio sigue corriendo)Carlos Pérez Rojas
2011The Tall ManTony Krawitz
2012My Louisiana LoveMonique Verdi
2013Who Will Be A Gurkha?Kesang Tseten [19]
2014My Legacy Helen Haig-Brown
2015The Price of PeaceKim Webby
2016 Angry Inuk Alethea Arnaquq-Baril [20]
2017Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier Shane Belcourt

Lisa Jackson

[21]
2018Marks of Mana Lisa Taouma
2019Mothers of the Land (Sembradoras de vida)Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento [23]
2020CompañíaMiguel Hilari
2021Warrior SpiritLandon Dyksterhouse [24]
2022Šaamšiǩ – Great Grandmothers HatAnstein Mikkelsen, Harry Johansen
2023MamaXun Sero [25]

Best Music Video (2000–2016)

YearTitleDirector
2000
2001
2002
2003Music is the Medicine Randy Redroad
2004Slangblossom: PossiblyDaybi

Slangblossom

2005 Tamara Podemski: Meegwetch Bruce McDonald
2006The Dust Dive: A Minor DisturbanceBlackhorse Lowe
2007PunassiunSpencer St-Onge

Francis Grégoire

Carl Grégoire

Jean-Christophe Gabriel

James Chescappin

Marco Bentz

Jonathan Germain

Wendy Germain

Nicolas Paradis

Jean Philippe Robertson

2008Warrk WarrkTommy Lewis

Julia Morris

2009 Ariana Tikao: Tuia (Stitched) Louise Potiki Bryant
2010Haunted Shane Ghostkeeper
2011I Lost My ShadowNanobah Becker
2012SidesMosha Folger
2013RowHouston R. Cypress
2014Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters Amanda Strong
2015Nitahkôtân (I Have Arrived)Moe Clark
2016We Are Still Here Sofia Jannok

Best Radio (2000–2013)

YearGenreTitleDirector
2000
2001
2002
2003The Aboriginal Music Experience: A Radio Documentary Series
2004Great Indian Bus TourAndre Morriseau
2005Red Album Radio ShowRichard Hunter
2006Charles Shoots the EnemyNative Vibes
2007Red Moon Dawn Dumont
Documentary, Current Affairs & TalkGood Medicine Radio Show: Tobacco ShowRita Chretien

Wanbdi Wakita

2008Arts & EntertainmentThe Plex Show Doug Bedard
Documentary, Current Affairs & Talk ReVision Quest : "Alcohol"Kim Ziervogel
2009ReVision Quest Wab Kinew
2010ReVision Quest: "What's So Funny About Being Native?"Kim Ziervogel
2011Bring Your Drum Janet Rogers
2012Trailbreakers: Cindy Blackstock Angela Sterritt
2013Native Waves Radio: Resonating Reconciliation Janet Rogers

Best Television (2000–2004)

YearTitleDirector
2000
2001
2002
2003 Moccasin Flats Stacey Stewart Curtis
2004Kunuk Family Reunion Zacharias Kunuk

Best New Media (2000–2014)

YearFilmDirector
2000
2001
2002
2003Daybi
2004Fire This TimeKokonda Dub
2005HorizonZero Issue 17: TellCheryl L'Hirondelle
2006WepinasowinaCheryl L'Hirondelle
2007An Indian Act: Shooting the Indian ActArcher Pechawis
2008Rabbit and BearpawsChad Solomon
2009Time TravellerSkawennati Fragnito
2010Otsì:! Rise of the Kanien'kehá:ka LegendsAboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC)
2011God's Lake NarrowsKevin Lee Burton
2012Sense of HomeLeena Minifie
2013Skahiòn:hati / Rise of the Kanien'kehá:ka LegendsSkins 3.0 Collective
2014UhkeCheyenne Scott

Best Audio Work (since 2014)

YearFilmDirector
2014The Soul of Darwin: The Centenary of the Kahlin CompoundLorena Allam
2015Reach For the StarsCrystal Favel
2016The Story She Carries Angela Sterritt
2017ElcrysMichael Wilson
2018Trans Mountain Pipeline, B.C. Wolf Cull and Dog Sled MassacreCrystal Favel

Best Digital Media Work (since 2015)

YearFilmDirector
2015Sky PetsShandiin Woodward
2016Ch’aak’ S’aagi (Eagle Bone) Tracy Rector
2017Thunderbird Strike Elizabeth LaPensée
2018AeasiAmie Batalibasi

Best Interactive Work (since 2018)

YearFilmDirectorRef
2018 Biidaaban: First Light Lisa Jackson [22]

Emerging Talent (Cynthia Lickers-Sage & Jane Glassco Awards)

YearAwardFilmDirector
2000Cynthia Lickers-Sage
2001Cynthia Lickers-Sage
2002Cynthia Lickers-Sage
2003Cynthia Lickers-SageGeoffery Parenteau
2004Cynthia Lickers-SageSwallowAriel Lightningchild
2005Cynthia Lickers-SageMeskanahk (My Path)Kevin Lee Burton
2006Cynthia Lickers-SageEggs InsteadLena Recollet
2007Cynthia Lickers-SageFighterErica Lepage
2008Cynthia Lickers-SageMémere MétisseJanelle Wookey
2009Cynthia Lickers-SageNia's MelancholyS.F. Tusa
2010Cynthia Lickers-SageRedemption Katie Wolfe
2011Cynthia Lickers-SageAmaqqut Nunnat (The Country of Wolves)Neil Christopher
2012Cynthia Lickers-SageScarTiffany Parker
2013Cynthia Lickers-SageEl Último Consejo (The Last Council)Itandehui Jansen
2014Jane GlasscoSumé - Mumisitsinerup Nipaa (Sume - The Sound of a revolution) Inuk Silis Høegh
Cynthia Lickers-Sage
2015Jane GlasscoThe RoutesJames McDougall
Cynthia Lickers-Sage Le Dep Sonia Boileau
2016Jane GlasscoOhero:kon – Under the HuskKatsitsionni Fox
2017Jane GlasscoMorit Elena MoritInga-Wiktoria Påve

Anders Sunna

2018Jane GlasscoANORI (Wind)Pipaluk Kreutzmann Jorgensen

Best Youth (Ellen Monague Award)

YearFilmDirectorRef
2010Kurt-E: In My BloodKurt Filiga
2011The DimmingIppiksaut Friesen
2012Le Joie de vivreJérémy Vassiliou
2013Before She Came, After He Left (Før Hun Kom, Etter Han Dro) Marja Bål Nango [19]
2014#nightslikethese Amber Midthunder, Shay Eyre, Hannah Macpherson
2015Lo que quiero decirteRaquiel Palomino Ochoa
2016Smoke That TravelsKayla Briët
2017RAE Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs [21]
2018A World of Our OwnMorningstar Derosier
2019The Cursed HarpPeter Hiki [23]

Sun & Moon Jury Prizes

YearJuryFilmDirectorRef
2017SunSunday Fun DayDianna Fuemana [21]
Moon Birth of a Family Tasha Hubbard
2018Sun Edge of the Knife (Sgaawaay K'uuna) Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown [22]
MoonMy Friend MichaelIan Leaupepe, Samson Rambo
2019Sun nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up Tasha Hubbard [23]
MoonRibaditElle Sofe Sara
2020SunMooz MiikanEvelyn Pakinewatik
MoonPilluarneq ErsigiunnaarparaNivi Pedersen
2021SunHiamaMatasila Freshwater [26]
Moon Run Woman Run Zoe Leigh Hopkins
2022SunNightAhmad Saleh
MoonKikino KidsBarry Bilinsky
2023Sun Tautuktavuk (What We See) Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk [25]
MoonCu-CkooLindsay McIntyre

August Schellenberg Award of Excellence

Named in memory of actor August Schellenberg, the August Schellenberg Award of Excellence is a lifetime achievement award honoring indigenous actors. The award was presented for the first time in 2015.

Commissions

NFB/imagineNATIVE Interactive Partnership

NFB/imagineNATIVE Interactive Partnership was started in 2012 for the commissioning and production of new digital and interactive works by established Indigenous artists. Works produced through this program include De Nort (2012) by the ITWE Collective, Similkameen Crossroads (2013) by Tyler Hagan, Ice Fishing (2014) by Jordan Bennett and Red Card (2016) by Cara Mumford. Ice Fishing was subsequently selected to represent Canada at the 2015 Venice Biennale. [30]

Stolen Sisters Digital Initiative

The Stolen Sisters Digital Initiative (SSDI) was a 2012 imagineNATIVE artistic commission and national exhibition of four, one-minute digital works by award-winning Canadian Indigenous filmmakers. The commissioned works were created to reflect and respond to the Stolen Sisters, a term adopted by the Aboriginal community and larger social justice organizations of the struggle to find answers for the hundreds of unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada. The four commissioned works were:

This was the first time the Festival partnered to present a simultaneous national exhibition. Working with Amnesty International Canada and Pattison Onestop, a national media company, the short videos were exhibited throughout Toronto's subway system, on display screens in 33 shopping centres across Canada, at the Calgary International Airport, and at the TIFF Bell Lightbox leading up to and during the 2012 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. [31] [32]

Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg

In 2009, the festival commissioned Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg, a short film by Saulteaux filmmaker Darryl Nepinak. The film subsequently screened at the 2009 Berlinale. [33] [34]

Embargo Collective

In March 2008, imagineNATIVE formed the Embargo Collective, an international group of seven Indigenous artists for the purposes of collaborating and challenging one another to create seven new films. Collective members included Helen Haig-Brown, Heiltsuk/Mohawk filmmaker and actress Zoe Leigh Hopkins and Anishnaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson. The resulting films were subsequently screened at the 2010 Berlinale. Following this, Brown's The Cave was awarded a top-ten recognition at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was screened at the 2011 Sundance Festival, while Jackson's Savage won a 2011 Genie Award for best live action short drama. [35]

In 2014, Embargo Collective II focused on women filmmakers. It was curated by Danis Goulet, and included Hopkins, Blackfoot/Sami filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Caroline Monnet. Among the films produced that year was Roberta. [7]

Other programs

imagineNATIVE Film + Video Tour

The imagineNATIVE Film + Video Tour provides regional and remote communities access to Indigenous-made film and video from Canada and abroad. In addition to bringing a Festival-favourite feature presentation to these communities, the Tour encourages youth to explore the creation of film and video through a Youth-focused film and video program, discussion and hands-on video-making workshops. The video-making workshops assist and lead youth to create and edit short videos using readily-available technology such as cellphones and webcams. The videos are featured on imagineNATIVE's website and open to public voting, sending the winner to Toronto for the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.

indigiFLIX Community Screening Series

The indigiFLIX Community Screening Series, presented by imagineNATIVE, is hosted in cultural and community centres to reach a broader First Nations, Métis, Inuit and non-Native audience beyond the annual Festival in Toronto. Films are selected from past imagineNATIVE Festivals in an effort to keep these important films alive and accessible to the Indigenous community. imagineNATIVE is committed to supporting artists through payment of industry-standard artist fees for all works presented.

Canadian Indigenous Film Producer Mini-Lab

The Canadian Indigenous Film Producer Mini-Lab was started as a program to develop skills and talent for emerging Indigenous producers. Among its alumni are Cara Mumford, Michelle Latimer and Jeremy Torrie. [36]

Jeff Barnaby Grant

In 2023, imagineNATIVE and Netflix partnered on the Jeff Barnaby Grant, a granting program for emerging indigenous speculative fiction filmmakers created in memory of film director Jeff Barnaby following his death in 2022. [37] The inaugural recipients, announced in May 2023, were Bronwyn Szabo, Walter Scott, Kristina Fithern-Stiele, Gavin Baird and Tank Standing Buffalo. [38]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner</i> 2001 film by Zacharias Kunuk

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner is a 2001 Canadian epic film directed by Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and produced by his company Isuma Igloolik Productions. It was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alanis Obomsawin</span> American-Canadian Abenaki artist and filmmaker

Alanis Obomsawin, is an Abenaki American-Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues. Obomsawin is a member of Film Fatales independent women filmmakers.

Zacharias Kunuk is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut. He is the president and co-founder with Paul Qulitalik, Paul Apak Angilirq, and Norman Cohn, of Igloolik Isuma Productions, Canada's first independent Inuit production company. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), the first feature film that was entirely in Inuktitut was named as the greatest Canadian film of all time by the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival poll.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian live action short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isuma</span> Production company

Isuma is an artist collective and Canada's first Inuit-owned (75%) production company, co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk, Paul Apak Angilirq and Norman Cohn in Igloolik, Nunavut in 1990. Known internationally for its award-winning film, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language, Isuma was selected to represent Canada at the 2019 Venice Biennale where they screened the film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, the first presentation of art by Inuit in the Canada Pavilion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natar Ungalaaq</span>

Natar Ungalaaq is a Canadian Inuit actor, filmmaker and sculptor whose work is in many major collections of Inuit art. Before playing the lead roles in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) and The Necessities of Life (2008), Ungalaaq played major roles in other Canadian and American films, including Kabloonak (1995), Glory & Honor (1998) and Frostfire (1994). He is also a producer and director of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation.

Vtape is a Canadian artist-run centre located in Toronto, Ontario. It is Canada's largest distributor of video art, and the world's largest distributor of Indigenous and First People's film and video. The organization is run as a not for profit and is known for video art distribution, media preservation, exhibition programming, and training programs.

<i>Reel Injun</i> 2009 Canadian documentary directed by Neil Diamond

Reel Injun is a 2009 Canadian documentary film directed by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, and Jeremiah Hayes that explores the portrayal of Native Americans in film. Reel Injun is illustrated with excerpts from classic and contemporary portrayals of Native people in Hollywood movies and interviews with filmmakers, actors and film historians, while director Diamond travels across the United States to visit iconic locations in motion picture as well as American Indian history.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alethea Arnaquq-Baril</span> Canadian Inuk filmmaker

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is an Inuk filmmaker, known for her work on Inuit life and culture. She is the owner of Unikkaat Studios, a production company in Iqaluit, which produces Inuktitut films. She was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross, in 2017 in recognition of her work as an activist and filmmaker. She currently works part-time at the Qanak Collective, a social project which supports Inuit empowerment initiatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Jackson (filmmaker)</span> First Nations filmmaker

Lisa Jackson is a Canadian Screen Award and Genie Award-winning Canadian and Anishinaabe filmmaker. Her films have been broadcast on APTN and Knowledge Network, as well as CBC's ZeD, Canadian Reflections and Newsworld and have screened at festivals including HotDocs, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Melbourne, Worldwide Short Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Searchers</i> (film) 2016 Canadian film

Searchers is a 2016 Inuktitut-language Canadian drama film directed by Zacharias Kunuk and Natar Ungalaaq, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based in part on the 1956 John Ford film The Searchers, the film is set in Northern Canada in 1913. It centres on Kuanana, a man who returns from hunting to discover that much of his family has been killed and his wife and daughter have been kidnapped.

Jesse Wente is a First Nations Canadian arts journalist and chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts. He is an Ojibwe member of Serpent River First Nation.

Bretten Hannam is a Canadian screenwriter and film director.

Biidaban: First Light is a Canadian immersive virtual reality film, created by Lisa Jackson and released in 2018. The film places viewers in an immersive vision of a Downtown Toronto that has been reclaimed by nature, with vegetation and animals living freely inside the urban landscape, with narration in the indigenous Wendat, Mohawk and Ojibwe languages.

Danis Goulet is a First Nations (Cree-Métis) film director and screenwriter from Canada, whose debut feature film Night Raiders premiered in 2021.

Saqpinaq Carol Kunnuk is an Inuk actress and filmmaker from Canada, noted for her work with both Arnait Video Productions and Isuma Studios.

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