Interest: Indigenous Filmmaker
- Own Voice
Tomson Highway: kipimâtisinaw tapâhpeyahk
Director
Barry Bilinsky (Métis/Cree)
Writer
Barry Bilinsky (Métis/Cree)
Cast
Tompson Highway (Cree)
Producer
Chehala Leonard (Aseniwuche Winewak)
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
Cree
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Hebron Relocation
Director
Holly Anderson (Labrador Inuit)
Writer
Holly Anderson (Labrador Inuit)
Producers
Latonia Hartery, Katherine Baulu
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Sweet Summer Pow Wow
Director
Darrell Dennis (Secwepemc)
Writers
Darrell Dennis (Secwepemc), Katya Gardner
Cast
Joshua Odjick (Algonquin/Anishinaabe), Tatyana Rose Baptiste (Syilx Okanagan), Graham Greene (Oneida)
Producers
Leslie D. Bland, Harold Joe
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Orca Cove Media
- Own Voice
Red Fever
Directors
Neil Diamond (Cree)
Cree filmmaker Diamond is known for several award winning documentaries that focus on Indigenous life and issues. His debut film, Cree Spoken Here, garnered the Telefilm/APTN award for Best Aboriginal Documentary. His most recent film was Inuit Cree Reconciliation with filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and he is currently directing the documentary Red Fever.
Writers
Neil Diamond (Cree), Catherine Bainbridge
Producers
Rebecca Lessard, Lisa M. Roth
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
Les Films du 3 Mars
- Own Voice
Seeds
In this tense thriller, a Mohawk internet personality receives her first sponsorship, promoting the seed and fertilizer company Nature's Oath. But when she returns to her reserve, she discovers a dark side to the company that threatens both her and her people.
Director
Kaniehtiio Horn (Mohawk)
Writer
Kaniehtiio Horn (Mohawk)
Cast
Kaniehtiio Horn (Mohawk), Meegwun Fairbrother (Ojibway), Cherish Violet Blood (Kainai), Graham Greene (Oneida)
Producers
Leonard Farlinger, Jennifer Jonas
Genres
Horror, Thriller
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
levelFILM
- Own Voice
Singing Back the Buffalo
This epic and inspiring documentary not only offers a new perspective on our connection to the land, it shows us what’s possible when we come together. Singing Back the Buffalo is an essential call to take notice – and take action.
“Tasha Hubbard has created a piece of living history” – Caitie Talty, In the Seats
Director
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Hubbard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and an associate professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies. Her NFB documentary Two Worlds Colliding won a Gemini and a Golden Sheaf Award. She has also directed the short film 7 Minutes, and the feature docs Birth of a Family, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which won 14 awards, including the CSA for best documentary and Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2019. She is a founding director of the International Buffalo Relations Institute. Her documentary Singing Back the Buffalo won three awards and was nominated for four others.
Writer
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Producers
George Hupka, Tasha Hubbard (Cree), Jason Ryle (Anishinaabe)
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Cinema Politica
- Own Voice
Yintah
Capturing footage that startlingly echoes Alanis Obomsawin’s 1994 film Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, this is a story we can’t afford to forget. Winner of the Audience Award at Hot Docs 2024.
“An incendiary feat of filmmaking” – Pat Mullen, POV Magazine
Directors
Brenda Michell (Wet'suwet'en)
Brenda Mitchell is Tsakë ze’ K‑eltiy (a hereditary chief) of the Unist'ot'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. In addition to participating in Wet’suwet’en governance, she has worked in post-secondary education for the Lake Babine Nation Band for decades, and is currently a resident Elder, language teacher and addictions counselor. Yintah is her first documentary.
Jennifer Wickham (Wet'suwet'en)
A member of the Cas Yikh (Grizzly House) of the Gidimt’en (Bear/Wolf) Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, Wickham is a poet, youth advocate, and a committed land defender and activist whose work includes language and culture revitalization. She has worked as Media Coordinator for Gidimt’en Checkpoint since 2018. Yintah is her first documentary.
Michael Toledano
Michael Toledano is a journalist, photographer, and documentarian whose work focuses on environmental pollution and Indigenous land defense. His reporting has appeared on Al Jazeera America, VICE, Ricochet, Upworthy, Rabble, and other outlets. His footage has appeared on CBC News, CTV, CP24, CityNews, APTN, and Democracy Now. Yintah is his first feature documentary.
Producer
Bob Moore
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Environment, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Eyesteel Film
- Own Voice
Tautuktavuk (What We See)
Blurring the line between narrative and non-fiction, Uyarak and her eldest sister Saqpinak, embark on a difficult healing journey after a traumatic event that reminds them of the importance of community, culture, and family. Tautuktavuk (What We See) explores issues of trauma, resilience, and domestic violence from the perspective of two Inuit women.
Directors
Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Tulugarjuk is an actor, throat singer, writer and director who has starred in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, L’iceberg, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen and Maïna, among other films. Tia and Piujuq was her directorial debut. She wrote, directed and starred in What We See, which won the Amplify Voices Award at TIFF 2023.
Writers
Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk), Gillian Robinson, Samuel Cohn-Cousineau, Norman Cohn
Cast
Carol Kunnuk (Inuk), Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Producers
Jonathan Frantz, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
Inuktitut
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
Isuma Distribution International
- Own Voice
Café Daughter
Tells the story of a nine year old half-Chinese half-Cree girl, Yvette Wong. On top of struggling to find her place in a small Saskatchewan community in the 1960s, she is also faced with the passing of her mother, who always told her children not to let anyone know they were Native Indian, as she believed they would have a better life if this information was kept hidden. Yvette confronts racism on the prairies in the classroom, with teachers and fellow students letting her know she is different from them. Despite wanting to be a doctor, her teacher states that girls can't be doctors, and that maybe she would be better suited as a nurse. Yvette begins to explore and embrace her Cree identity when she befriends Maggie Wolf, a part Mi'kmaq girl who encourages Yvette to be proud of her ancestry. When her Cree ancestry is revealed at school, Yvette confronts discrimination, but perseveres to pursue her dream of going to medical school.
Director
Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka)
Shelley Niro is a Mohawk filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist. She is widely recognized for her photography, and in 2023, was recognized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian with a career retrospective. Her latest film, Café Daughter, premiered at imagineNATIVE in 2023 where it won the Audience Choice Award.
Writers
Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka), Kenneth T. Williams (Cree)
Cast
Violah Beauvais (Mohawk), Sera-Lys McArthur (Nakoda/Assiniboine ), Star Slade
Producers
Amos Adetuyi, Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka)
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
levelFILM
- Own Voice
Hey, Viktor!
Twenty-five years after starring in the hit 90s film Smoke Signals, Cody Lightning directs and stars in this uproarious mockumentary about a fictionalized version of himself attempting to make a sequel. When a mysterious fan offers a full budget for the film, Cody jumps at the chance, promising the full participation of the original cast. The only thing standing in his way is the small fact that the entire original cast hates him.
A refreshing and occasionally raunchy comedy, this charming underdog story is a great movie about how to make a terrible one.
Director
Cody Lightning (Cree)
Lightning is an actor and filmmaker who has been working in films since he was a child. Early roles include his performances in The Brave and Smoke Signals, and he went on to appear in films such as Manic and Run Woman Run. His performance in 2007’s Four Sheets to the Wind earned him the American Indian Film Festival award for Best Actor, and in 2023 he wrote, directed and starred in Hey,Viktor! which earned three Canadian Screen Awards nominations. He has also appeared on the Marvel TV series Echo.
Writer
Cody Lightning (Cree)
Cast
Cody Lightning (Cree), Roseanne Supernault (Cree/Métis)
Producers
Blake McWilliam, Sara Corry, Samuel Miller, Kyle Thomas
Genre
Comedy
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Levelfilm
- Own Voice
Short Film Programme
If you’d like to show several short films together as a programme, please feel free to get in touch for advice and tips on selecting the perfect combination for your needs.
Director
Shorts Programme
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Bullying, Classics, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Discrimination, Environment, ESL, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Sports, Strong Female Leads
Original Languages
English, French
- Own Voice
Indigenous-made Short Films
Director
Various
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Languages
English, French, Other Language
- Own Voice
Foster Child
At 35 years old, filmmaker Gil Cardinal makes the decision to seek out his biological family, sending him on a journey into his own roots, uncovering an ancestry he knew nothing about. As Cardinal discovers that he was forcibly taken from his Métis mother, the film shifts into addressing the ongoing systematic oppression of Indigenous peoples.
This incredibly personal documentary was a landmark in Indigenous storytelling on film, and received many accolades including the Gemini award for directing.
Director
Gil Cardinal (Métis)
Cardinal was a groundbreaking filmmaker whose work embodied the complex history of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. His body of work includes NFB documentaries such as Foster Child and The Spirit Within alongside television series such as North of 60, Big Bear, Chiefs, and Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis. In 1997, he received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Film and Television, and in 2003, he won the Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award at the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival for Totem: the Return of the G’psgolox Pole.
Cast
Gil Cardinal (Métis), Don Cardinal (Métis)
Producer
Jerry Krepakevich
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, BIPOC Stories, Classics, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Two Worlds Colliding
Director
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Hubbard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and an associate professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies. Her NFB documentary Two Worlds Colliding won a Gemini and a Golden Sheaf Award. She has also directed the short film 7 Minutes, and the feature docs Birth of a Family, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which won 14 awards, including the CSA for best documentary and Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2019. She is a founding director of the International Buffalo Relations Institute. Her documentary Singing Back the Buffalo won three awards and was nominated for four others.
Writer
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Cast
Andrea Menard
Producer
Bonnie Thompson
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Wildfire
Director
Bretten Hannam (L'nu)
Writer
Bretten Hannam (L'nu)
Cast
Guillermo Knockwood, Bobby Pierro
Producers
Bretten Hannam (L'nu), Gharrett Patrick Paon
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Indigo
Director
Amanda Strong (Michif)
Writer
Daniel T. Fischer
Producers
Luke Sargent, Brett Long, Amanda Strong (Michif)
Genre
Experimental
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Vtape
- Own Voice
Honey For Sale
Director
Amanda Strong (Michif)
Writers
Amanda Strong (Michif), John Sedore
Producer
Amanda Strong (Michif)
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Vtape
- Own Voice
Against The Grain
Director
Curtis Mandeville (Métis)
Writer
Curtis Mandeville (Métis)
Cast
Simon Mutabazi
Producers
Curtis Mandeville (Métis), Eileen McCord
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Kajutaijuq: The Spirit That Comes
Director
Scott Brachmayer
Writer
Scott Brachmayer
Cast
Johnny Issaluk
Producer
Nyla Innuksuk (Inuk)
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
Inuktitut
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
North Creative Films Inc.
- Own Voice
Barefoot
Director
Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)
Danis Goulet is an award-winning Cree/Métis filmmaker from La Ronge, SK, now based in Toronto. Her films have screened at festivals worldwide including Sundance, Berlinale, TIFF, and MoMA. She has directed numerous short films, including Wapawekka, Barefoot, Wakening, Blind Spot, and others. Night Raiders was her first feature film. It premiered at TIFF 2021 and went on to win 14 awards, including six CSAs. She has also directed episodes of Reservation Dogs and North of North.
Writer
Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)
Cast
Emily Roberts, Cole Ballantyne
Producer
Christine Kleckner
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Treeline Pictures