2017 imagineNATIVE Festival Announces Full Film and Video Lineup

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival has announced the film and video works that will be presented as part of the 18th Annual Festival, October 18-22, 2017 in Toronto.

With multiple world, international, Canadian and North American premieres, imagineNATIVE will present over 100 feature films, documentaries, shorts, and music videos created by Indigenous filmmakers with almost three quarters of the films (72%) made by Indigenous female directors.

imagineNATIVE is proud to include Our People Will Be Healed, the 50th documentary in 50 years from revered filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin, keeping on the subject of her last four films: children's rights. Our People Will Be Healed focuses on the Cree community of Norway House, Manitoba, and their innovative approach to educating First Nations students.

Documentary features receiving their world premieres at imagineNATIVE include Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier (d. Shane Belcourt, LiSa Jackson) that peels back the layers of the true-crime story revolving around a captivating reclusive woman from a small northern Manitoba reserve whose catfishing of an NBA superstar made international headlines; and Glwa: Resurgence of the Ocean-Going Canoe (d. Hillary Beattie, Vina Brown) that tells the story of Tribal Canoe Journeys - a decades old gathering on the Northwest Pacific coast.

imagineNATIVE will present additional feature length documentaries including the Canadian premiere of Out of State (d. Ciara Lacy) following two Indigenous Hawaiian inmates incarcerated in Arizona; the North American premiere of Rio Verde. El Tiempo de los Yakurunas (d. Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento) which explores the perception of time in three small villages intertwined by the Amazon river; the international premiere of MANKILLER (d. Valerie Red-Horse Mohl) examining the legacy of the formidable Wilma Mankiller, who overcame rampant sexism to emerge as the Cherokee Nation's first female Principal Chief; and Birth of a Family (d. Tasha Hubbard) about three sisters and a brother separated at birth reconnecting for the first time.

imagineNATIVE will also present the world premieres of two dramatic features including Juliana & the Medicine Fish (d. Jeremy Torrie) which follows the story of 12-year old Juliana as she's forced to repair an awkward relationship with her father (Adam Beach) following her mother's death; and Kayaking for Beginners (d. Zoe Hopkins) where 14-year old Ella is determined to travel the length of the Inside Passage to testify against a proposed pipeline that would see oil tanker traffic through her beloved homeland waters. imagineNATIVE will also present Sweet Country, from director Warwick Thornton and starring Hamilton Morris and Sam Neill in a period western set on the Northern Territory frontier where justice itself is put on trial.

imagineNATIVE will also screen a number of short film programmes with ten varied themes including the anticipated return of The Witching Hour, the annual midnight horror/comedy series; Receptors, a series of experimental, dramatic, and documentary shorts; Ambient Light, shedding a light on the polar region with five shorts from Sweden, Greenland and North America; and Channel 51 Igloolik, celebrating 30 years of Inuit video art with a world premiere screening of Bowhead Whale Hunt by Carol Kunnuk and Zacharias Kunuk - the first episode from the seven-part television series, Hunting with my Ancestors.

More programming for the 18th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be announced in the coming weeks. imagineNATIVE's Early Bird Ticket Packages and Festival Pass are on sale now.

IF YOU GO:

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
October 18-22, 2017
imagineNATIVE Early Bird Ticket Packages and Festival Pass
are on sale at a reduced price until Sunday, September 24, 2017
Call - TIFF Box Office on 416-599-TIFF (8433)
Online - TIFF Festival Partners and Third Party Events
In Person - TIFF Box Office at 350 King St W, Toronto, ON

For more information, call 416.585.2333 or visit www.imagineNATIVE.org.

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous festival showcasing innovation in film, video, audio and digital media. The Festival presents the most compelling and distinctive works from Canada and around the globe, reflecting the diversity of the world's Indigenous nations and illustrating the vitality and excellence of Native art and culture in contemporary media.

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imagineNATIVE 2017 Film + Video Facts:

115 film and video works programmed

All made by an Indigenous director, producer and/or writer

101 Indigenous nations represented

16 countries represented

A vast majority of film + videos created by Indigenous female directors (72%)

67 Canadian films/videos

43 World Premieres, 22 International Premieres, 6 North American Premieres, 7 Canadian Premieres, 8 Ontario Premieres, 6 Toronto Premieres

imagineNATIVE 2017 Programmed Film + Video:

• Uktena and Thunder, d. Joseph Erb
• 2 Spirit DREAMCATCHER Dot Com, d. Thirza Cuthand
• A Prayer for the Lost, d. Natasha Francis
• Amásání (The Grandma), d. StaCy Howard
• Anna Marina, d. Trevor Mack
• Aqtuqsi (My Nightmare), d. Mary Kunuk
• Atte munnje sáni saji (Just Give Me the Word), d. Sara Margrethe Oskal
• Bayline, d. JJ Neepin
• Believer, d. Migizi Pensoneau
• Birth of a Family, d. Tasha Hubbard
• Blight, d. Perun Bonser
• "Bowhead Whale Hunt" Hunting with My Ancestors, d. Carol Kunnuk, Zacharias Kunuk
• Braids, d. Cole Stevens-Goulais
• Brown Lips, d. Nakkiah Lui
• Bzindan (Harmony), d. Nadia McLaren
• CALVING (CAPS), d. Nathan Adler
• Captivity Narrative, d. Jason Asenap
• CARRY THE FLAG, d. Danielle MacLean
• Creatura Dada, d. Caroline Monnet
• Cry Wolf, d. Dianne Ouellette
• Dear Hatetts, d. Kerry Barber
• Demons, d. Morningstar Derosier
• Dislocation Blues, d. Sky Hopinka
• Empire State, d. Govind Deecee, Terry Jones
• Experiments in Light, d. Jaene Castrillon
• Flat Rocks, d. Courtney Montour
• Fox in the Box, d. Travis Shilling
• From Up North, d. Trudy Stewart
• Glwa: Resurgence of the Ocean-Going Canoe, d. Hillary Beattie, Vina Brown
• Gos leat don? (Where Are You?), d. Egil Pedersen
• Guolli (Fish), d. Jouni West
• Holy Angels, d. Jay Cardinal Villeneuve
• I Will Always Love You Kingen, d. Amanda Kernell
• In Moment, d. Samay Arcentales Cajas
• Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier, d. Shane Belcourt, LiSa Jackson
• Inuk Hunter, d. George Annanack
• Issaituq (Waterproof), d. Bruce Haulli
• J'aime les filles (I Like Girls), d. Diane Obomsawin
• Juliana & The Medicine Fish, d. Jeremy Torrie
• Just One Word, d. Jani Lauzon
• Juuret On (Under Two Skies), d. Anssi Kömi, Suvi West
• Ka Puta Ko Au, d. Amie Batalibasi, Renae Maihi, Kelton Stepanowich
• Kat Waj, d. Teresa Jiménez
• Kayaking For Beginners, d. Zoe Hopkins
• Kchi-Nendizan (Big Pride), d. Lena Recollet, Miles Turner
• Keepers for the Old People, d. Michael Keshane
• Keeping the Legends at Heart, d.
• KEEWAYDAH (Let's Go Home), d. Terril Calder
• Kéwku, d. Sean Stiller
• Kia Tau (Be at Rest), d. Michelle Latimer, Chris Malloy, Yamin Tun
• Last Drinks at Frida's, d. Bjorn Stewart
• Laundry, d. Becs Arahanga
• Lelum' (Home), d. Asia Youngman
• MANKILLER, d. Valerie Red-Horse Mohl
• MARIA, d. Jeremiah Tauamiti
• Meke, d. Tim Worrall
• Metal Road, d. Sarah Del Seronde
• Mikinakay: Trail of the Turtle, d. Erica Daniels
• Morit Elena Morit, d. Inga-Wiktoria Påve
• My Father's Tools, d. Heather Condo
• MY SOUL REMAINER, d. Nanobah Becker
• NATALIE, d. Qianna Titore
• NDNs on the Airwaves, d. Jackson 2Bears
• Nieiddaš ja guolle?ik?a (Girl with a Fish Necklace), d. Egil Pedersen
• No Reservations, d. Trevor Carroll
• North of South, d. Francisco Huichaquo, Casey Koyczan, Alejandro Valbuena
• Nutag-Homeland, d. Alisi Telengut
• Nuuca (Take), d. Michelle Latimer
• Occupation Of Memory, d. Jade Baxter
• Ôtênaw, d. Conor McNally
• Our People will be Healed, d. Alanis Obomsawin
• Our Protection For Our Future Generations, d. Bella Brown, Trinity Hunt, Nathanial Mason-Brown
• Out of State, d. Ciara Lacy
• PaPa, d. Ryan Alexander Lloyd
• People of the Pines, d. Shane Ghostkeeper, Joshua Whitford
• Possum, d. Dave Whitehead
• Qulliq (Oil Lamp), d. Susan Avingaq, Marie-Helene Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
• Rae, d. Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
• Raven, d. Razelle Benally
• Ravggon - Goaikkanasat, d. Henry Kestilä
• Red Card World: The Tree, d. Cara Mumford
• Riiji Carver, d. Kimberley West
• Rio Verde. El tiempo de los Yakurunas (Green River. The Time of the Yakurunas), d. Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento
• ROTO (The Lake Within), d. Louise Potiki Bryant
• Shaman, d. Echo Henoche
• Slincraze - Stállu, d. Egil Pedersen
• Snaglines, d. Howard Adler, Charlotte Hoelke
• Snow, d. Nivi Pederse
• STACK, d. Dana Claxton
• Sunday Fun Day, d. Dianna Fuemana
• Sweet Country, d. Warwick Thornton
• The End of the World, d. Clayton Windatt
• The Fire, d. Liselotte Wajstedt
• The Importance of Dreaming, d. Tara Audibert
• The Last Walk, d. Anna Hoover, Pipaluk K. Jørgensen, Mikisoq H. Lynge, Jerri Thrasher
• The Mountain of SGaana, d. Christopher Auchter
• Thirza Cuthand Is an Indian Within the Meaning of the Indian Act, d. Thirza Cuthand
• This Wild Season, d. Jonathan Elliott
• Three Thousand, d. Asinnajaq
• Thunderbird Strike, d. Elizabeth LaPensee
• TRENCH, d. Trevor Solway
• Tsanizid (Wake Up), d. Beric Manywounds
• Twilight Dancers, d. Paola Marino, Theola Ross
• Under Your Always Light, d. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
• Unikausiq (Stories), d. Mary Kunuk
• Unintentional Mother, d. Mary Galloway
• [untitled & unlabeled], d. Terry Jones
• Versaearcolonion, d. Chandra Melting Tallow, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
• Vulkan (Volcano), d. Ann Holmgren
• Walk In Dreams, d. Jonathan Thunder
• Water, d. John Harvey
• Zaasaakwe (Shout with Joy), d. Madison Thomas

Pictured: Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier

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