The 20th edition of the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is right around the corner, taking place in Toronto from October 22 to 27, 2019. Kicking off this major Indigenous film and media arts festival with an opening night gala is Zacharias Kunuk’s film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk.

The lineup

Canadian films are part of the festival’s exciting line-up this year, from features like Madison Thomas’s Ruthless Souls (in its world premiere), Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, Sonia Boileau’s Rustic Oracle, Shelley Niro’s The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw, and Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum (in a special presentation). Canadian documentaries include Alanis Obomsawin’s Jordan River Anderson,The Messenger, and a Special Presentation of Tasha Hubbard’s nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up.

Panel: On-Screen Protocols and Pathways: Funders in Action

Among the festival’s many exciting events is this free, open-to-the-public panel discussion with leaders of the funding organizations, to discuss the critical work; On-Screen Protocols and Pathways Media Guide, a recently-released report that lays out an adaptable framework on how to work with Indigenous communities and content in Canada. Followed by a Q&A session, the panel will include executives from its funding organizations: Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, Creative BC, Ontario Creates, the National Film Board of Canada, the Inspirit Foundation, as well as Telus Storyhive — and imagineNATIVE, who commissioned the Guide.

When: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Where: TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3 (Toronto, Canada) 

For more about Protocols and Pathways, check out our interview with imagineNATIVE’s executive director Jason Ryle.

One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

Before its North American premiere at this year’s TIFF, the film was showcased at the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale as part of a video art installation by Inuit artist collective and video production company Isuma, which was officially selected to represent Canada at the prestigious Biennale.

Kunuk (who was recently awarded the Order of Nunavut) is a renowned filmmaker and also one of Isuma’s co-founders. Learn more about him, his process, and inspirations in this video, where he speaks of his childhood in Igloolik, Nunavut. From visualizing the stories his grandmother told him, to the 16mm films showed a few times a week in their community hall, he explains how even today, the entire community remains essential to his filmmaking and television process. “The Isuma collective involves the whole community,” he says in this spotlight interview. “We put the whole community to work.”