Endless Cookie – Opening Night Screening

Directors: Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver
Canada | 2024 | 97 min
English, Cree | Animated Documentary Feature

Pete and Seth Scriver’s Endless Cookie is a refreshingly unique animated documentary, a testament to their singular vision and handcrafted charm. It’s a film that deftly navigates complex themes of race and identity through the lens of a deeply personal journey, tracing the bond between two half-brothers — one Indigenous, one white — as they traverse the stark contrasts between isolated Shamattawa and 1980s Toronto. The Scrivers’ animation style, imbued with a raw, unpolished energy, perfectly complements their candid storytelling. The film’s humour is both sharp and endearing, weaving together anecdotes about documentary filmmaking amidst a chaotic household, grocery store escapades, and encounters with caribou. Beyond the laughter, Endless Cookie is rooted in a quiet yet powerful resistance to colonialism, offering a nuanced exploration of Indigenous life. It’s a film that finds beauty in the everyday, weaving together oral histories and cosmic musings into a bittersweet tapestry of life.

Preceded by: The Opening Address

Directors: Konwanahktotha Alvera Sargent (Mohawk), Jess Lowe Chaverri
USA | 2024 | 10 min
Mohawk | Documentary Short
Canadian Premiere

Presented by The Akwesasne Freedom School, this film honours The Opening Address, a Haudenosaunee prayer of gratitude, unity, and respect for nature, fostering connection, conservation, and appreciation for all life.

Singing Back the Buffalo

Director/Writer: Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Canada | 2024 | 98 min
English | Documentary Features

From the opening shot of a buffalo hide illustrating the texture and movement of the hair, the beauty of the buffalo’s exterior welcomes us into this stunning documentary about personal connection fueling a desire to return the animal back to their ancestral homelands. In addition to providing the historical background on the hows and whys buffalo populations were decimated, the film also follows the present-day quest to right the relationship between humans, buffalo, and the land. Filmed on many tribal lands across Turtle Island, filmmaker Tasha Hubbard, founding director of the International Buffalo Relations Institute, tracks the efforts of buffalo activists to return free-ranging buffalo back to their lands.

Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man

Director/Writer: Sinakson Trevor Solway (Blackfoot)
Producer: Coty Savard (Cree/Métis)
Canada | 2024 | 77 min
Blackfoot, English | Documentary Feature

Trevor Solway’s Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man is a deeply resonant and necessary film, a corrective to the often simplistic portrayals of Indigenous masculinity. Solway, returning to his home nation of Siksika, crafts a portrait of Blackfoot men that is both intimate and expansive. He moves beyond reductive stereotypes, offering unfiltered glimpses into the lives of fathers, sons, artists, athletes, and DJs, each grappling with the complexities of manhood. The film’s strength lies in its quiet power, its willingness to explore vulnerability alongside strength. Solway, having experienced the pressure to conform to rigid masculine ideals, uses his lens to gently dissect and challenge these notions, fostering a space for honest reflection. The vastness of the Prairies serves as a poignant backdrop, amplifying the film’s exploration of generational bonds and the ongoing journey of self-discovery. Siksikakowan is a testament to the nuanced realities of Indigenous men, a film that speaks to the universal experience of navigating identity and love.

Kōkā (Matriarch)

Director/Writer: Kath Akuhata-Brown (Ngāti Porou)
Aotearoa (New Zealand) | 2024 | 107 min
English | Dramatic Feature
Canadian Premiere

Worlds collide when Māori Elder Hamo accidentally hits Jo, a rough-around-the-edges wahine, with her car. Feeling responsible for her care, Hamo tries to help Jo back on her feet, only to find herself entangled in Jo’s antics after Jo lost her only home and family — a group of misfits who outlived their stay in an encampment. Hamo reluctantly agrees to take Jo under her wing, bringing her along on the trip back home. While on the road, the women form an unlikely bond that leads them to face the past and lean on each other on the path to healing. 

Ninan Auassat: We, The Children

Director/Writer: Kim O’Bomsawin (Abenaki)
Canada | 2024 | 93 min
English, French, Innu Aimun, Atikamekw | Documentary Feature

Over six years, Ninan Auassat: We, The Children embeds itself among three groups of youth that live on the Atikamekw, Eeyou Cree, and Innu Nations. Told entirely from the point of view of the children and teens, the level of trust and caring that filmmaker Kim O’Bomsawin has put into these relationships is evident by the candidness of what the youth share. In between sweeping cinematography, they talk about what life is like in a fly-in community, the complications of being in school with Innu being their first language, and how their lives are different from non-Indigenous kids their age. Apart from the differences, this film also shows how similar children are, no matter where they’re from. 

Preceded by: My Message to You

Director/Writer/Producer: ‘Wáats’asdíyei Joe Yates (Haida)
Canada | 2024 | 2 min
Haida | Documentary Short
Canadian Premiere

With less than a handful of fluent Haida speakers, Nayak’aq Yaahl (age six) shares a message in the Haida language: even though we may be going through difficult times, be still and listen to our ancestors. 

#skoden

Director/Writer: Damien Eagle Bear (Blackfoot (Kainai))
Canada | 2025 | 76 min
English, Blackfoot | Documentary Feature

#skoden tells the story of Pernell Leonard Bad Arm, the Blackfoot man behind the infamous “Skoden” meme. What started out as a social media post to bond Indigenous people across Turtle Island over rez slang and relatable uncle material opened our eyes to something much more: a man whose life on the streets became a mockery to some and a figure of Indigenous empowerment to others but was most beloved by those who knew him personally. 

Bila Burba

Director/Writer: Duiren Wagua (Gunadule)
Panama | 2023 | 70 min
Dulegaya, Spanish | Documentary Feature
Canadian Premiere

Each year the Gunadule people come together to honour their sovereignty by reenacting the 1925 Dule Revolution, their resistance to the Panamanian government’s suppression of their people through racist laws set to erase their identities. In an effort to keep the resistance alive for generations to come, this history is instilled in vivid detail so their people never lose sight of the sacrifices that were made to preserve their lands and cultural heritage. 

Preceded by: Indai Apai Darah

Director/Writer/Producer: Kynan Tegar (Iban)
Indonesia | 2024 | 15 min
Iban | Documentary Short
Ontario Premiere

A young girl growing up in the forests of central Borneo follows ancient connections to earn the gift of a story — how her community united to preserve their lands amid rampant deforestation.

The Haka Party Incident

Director/Writer: Katie Wolfe (Māori)
Aotearoa (New Zealand) | 2024 | 88 min
Māori, English | Documentary Feature
Canadian Premiere

This impressively candid documentary revisits the three-minute-long “incident” at the University of Auckland, which triggered race relations between Māori and non-Māori in 1970s New Zealand. Current Interviews with the engineering students who participated in the mocking haka party and members of the activist group that disrupted it, now adults, reflect on their versions of what happened. Directed by Katie Wolfe (one of the directors of 2017’s Waru) this doc, originally a theatre piece, is the ultimate telling of this true story. With archival footage and insights from those who were there, The Haka Party Incident brings forgotten history to life.

Remaining Native

Director/Writer: Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee)
USA | 2025 | 88 min
English | Documentary Feature
International Premiere

Paige Bethmann’s debut Remaining Native is a vital, unflinching documentary that follows runner Kutoven Stevens, who goes by Ku, on his journey from small-town Nevada to an out-of-state university. Through a masterful use of voiceover and interview, Bethmann explores the meaning behind Ku’s choice to honour his ancestors’ survival of boarding school through his dedication to running and the path that it sets him on. It’s not a film that offers easy answers, but rather a deeply human portrait of Indigenous individuals navigating the complexities of their heritage in a world that often seeks to erase them. It’s a powerful testament to the enduring strength of community and the ongoing fight to preserve cultural identity and to find healing. Most recently awarded SXSW’s Audience Award and Special Jury Award for Best Documentary, Remaining Native is a necessary film and offers a crucial perspective on the lived realities of Indigenous people today.

NiiMisSak: Sisters in Film

Director/Writer/Producer: Jules Arita Koostachin (Cree)
Canada | 2024 | 70 min
English | Documentary Feature
Ontario Premiere

Indigenous women’s contributions to the growth of Indigenous Cinema were never easy. From the early days of Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin’s career to today’s emerging Iskwewak storytellers, Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin meets with Indigenous female filmmakers to share their stories and struggles of breaking into the industry and what it takes to uplift the next generation.

Preceded by: Confluence

Director/Writer/Producer: Charlene Moore (Cree)
Director/Writer: ODMK (Cree)
Canada | 2025 | 11 min
English | Experimental Short

World Premiere

This “Winnipeg” fever dream on Treaty 1 territory weaves together a constellation of lived experiences of creation and imaginations of prophecies come true in this unconventional 16mm film.

Guts & Glitz

Director/Writer/Producer: Fox Maxy (Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians and Payómkawichum)
USA | 2024 | 70 min
Payómkawichum Chaamteela, English | Experimental Feature

Canadian Premiere

Fox Maxy’s Guts & Glitz is a vibrant, experimental exploration of trauma and healing, a film that defies easy categorization. It’s a deeply personal work, yet one that resonates with universal themes of resilience and connection. Guts & Glitz, grappling with the aftermath of abuse, navigates a world where the lines between the physical and spiritual blur. The film’s visual poetry is striking, weaving together intimate portraits of human relationships with the raw beauty of the natural world, all drawn from over a decade of Maxy’s personal archive. The film pulsates with a raw energy, capturing the messy, often contradictory nature of the human experience. It’s a bold, uncompromising debut, marking Maxy as a vital new voice in Indigenous Cinema.

Preceded by: Pidikwe (Rumble)

Director/Writer/Producer: Caroline Monnet (Anishinaabe)
Canada | 2024 | 10 min
No Dialogue | Experimental Short

Ontario Premiere

Featuring Indigenous women of various generations, Pidikwe (Rumble) integrates traditional and contemporary dance in an audiovisual whirlwind that straddles the border between film and performance, somewhere between the past and the future.

The Lost Tiger

Director/Writer/Producer: Chantelle Murray (Bardi/Bunial)
Co-Writer: Phillip Tarl Denson
Co-Producers: Kristen Souvlis, Nadine Bates
Australia | 2024 | 81 min
English | Animated Feature

North American Premiere

Teo, a Tasmanian tiger found and raised by a family of wrestling kangaroos, feels out of place more than ever when his differences become apparent after his attempt to fit into the family’s travelling wrestling show. Recurring visions of his origins spark a journey to self-discovery and a mission to save his homelands from coloniz— “conservation.”

Chantelle Murray’s animated feature debut cleverly contextualizes the concepts of colonization and exploitation of land for a young audience, while also highlighting a deep love and connection to land and the need for preservation. The Lost Tiger is an adorable film that is fun for the whole family.

Preceded by: Ornmol

Director/Writer/Producer: Marlikka Perdrisat (Nyikina)
Australia | 2024 | 10 min
Ngarinyin, English | Documentary Short
North American Premiere

Kupungarri, a remote community in the Northwest of Australia, is one of the most natural places left in the world. This small community fosters confidence in young people through their relationship with Country. Watch the excitement grow as they prepare for the annual Mowanjum Festival.

Mann’s Sparks

Director: Ryland Walker Knight (Cherokee)
USA | 2024 | 52 min
English | Experimental Feature
World Premiere

Ryland Walker Knight’s Mann’s Sparks is a hypnotic essay film that stitches together footage from Michael Mann’s iconic filmography with Beach House’s 2015 album Depression Cherry into an editorial masterstroke. As much as the film stands as a testament to Knight’s craft as editor, it also acts as a thematic dialogue between the dream pop band’s music and the images by one of cinema’s greatest auteurs, spanning Mann’s work from Thief (1981) to Blackhat (2015). It’s a mesmeric work, both visually and sonically, acting also as a document of Knight’s own development as an editor after suffering an injury and using Mann’s footage and the band’s album to relearn how to edit. Mann’s Sparks is a spellbinding celebration of cinematic language and how it can be reused, relearned, and reimagined into new possibilities.

Preceded by: EYES TWIRL ROUNDS

Director/Producer: Nanobah Becker (Diné)
USA | 2024 | 15 min
English | Music Video

World Premiere

Solo musician Laura Ortman takes us on a journey through three songs with legendary dancer Jock Soto as the two convene on a wintry mountaintop.

La Raya

Director/Writer/Producer: Yolanda Cruz (Chatino)
Mexico | 2024 | 80 min
Spanish, Chatino | Dramatic Feature
Canadian Premiere

A tight-knit village on the outskirts of Oaxaca called La Raya is a place where everyone leaves for work in the North. It’s also home to Sotera Santos, a young girl whose parents have promised to return for her. Sotera and her friend Eric discover a mysterious fridge and, after trying to sell it around the village, they discover it has magical properties. This bright dramedy combines the realities of migration for those left behind, found families, and a dash of magic realism to depict a charming community that has plenty of heart.

Preceded by: Pītiti (Peaches)

Director/Writer: Tajim Mohammed-Kapa (Māori)
Aotearoa (New Zealand) | 2024 | 17 min
Māori, English | Dramatic Short
North American Premiere

When a boy from a broken home steals a peach from his neighbour’s tree, he sets off events that will change him forever.

We Were Dangerous

Director: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu (Ngāpuhi/Te Rarawa)
Aotearoa (New Zealand) | 2024 | 83 min
English, Māori | Dramatic Feature

Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s We Were Dangerous is a simmering, potent drama set against the stark backdrop of a 1954 New Zealand reform school. It’s a story of rebellion, told through the intertwined fates of Nellie and Daisy, two young women seeking escape from a system that seeks to break them. The arrival of Lou adds a complex layer to their dynamic, as the girls navigate the oppressive regime of a devout matron and the unsettling experimental punishments meted out under the cover of night. Director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu doesn’t shy away from the darkness, but rather leans into moments of joy and absurdity in what the trio of young women face. The film pulses with a quiet rage, a testament to the enduring power of friendship in the face of systemic injustice. It’s a challenging, yet deeply human story.

Preceded by: Ohskennón:ten Owí:ra (Little Deer)

Director/Writer: Jonathan Elliott (Mohawk)
Canada | 2023 | 32 min
English | Dramatic Mid-Length
Toronto Premiere

On Christmas Eve, 1967, two young Indigenous girls battle the elements, confront their darkest secrets, and work together to return home after escaping the Mohawk Institute Residential School.

Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End

Director/Writer: Michael Jonathan (Māori)
Aotearoa (New Zealand) | 2024 | 104 min
Māori, English | Dramatic Feature

It’s 1864 and against impossible odds, the Māori in the Waikato region valiantly face an army of colonial settlers to fight for their lands and people. Haki is a half-Māori and half-European teenager fighting on the side of the New Zealand military and taken prisoner by the Māori resistance. He befriends Kopu, a Māori girl who is imprisoned in her own right as she is believed to be the vessel for manifesting a Māori god of war, used for guidance as a resistance tactic in her people’s battle for sovereignty. Haki and Kopu find themselves caught between many concurrent battles of identity politics, physical and spiritual warfare, and friends and enemies, as they both discover there is no escape without a fight.

Aberdeen

Directors/Writers: Eva Thomas (Ojibwe/Tohono O’odham/Cherokee), Ryan Cooper (Ojibway)
Producers: Ryan Cooper (Ojibway), Kathleen Easton
Canada | 2024 | 83 min
English, Ojibway | Dramatic Feature

This drama sees Gail Maurice in a layered performance as Aberdeen, who is navigating through the barriers stacked up against her to find home for herself and her grandchildren. With supporting roles by Billy Merasty, Jennifer Podemski, and Ryan Black, Aberdeen is an emotional, but hopeful, portrait of a complicated woman who must make life-altering choices. 

Preceded by: Michif Land-Based Knowledge

Director/Writer/Producer: Robyn Adams (Red River Métis)
Canada | 2024 | 3 min
English | Experimental Short

A short film highlighting Indigenous beadwork, prairie landscapes, and relationship to the land.

The Legends of Eternal Snow (Khaar Kuyaar Nomokhtoro)

Director/Writer: Alexei Romanov (Sakha)
Russia | 2024 | 80 min
Sakha, Even | Dramatic Feature
Canadian Premiere

When Khabyy is tasked with exchanging riches for the hand of a beautiful young bride for his old Chief, he does not anticipate the mission leading him back to a dark and haunted past. Accompanied by two other men, one bent on challenging Khabyy’s authority and the other softening to the bride’s strong will to escape, the group finds themselves battling the harsh Yakutia climate and barely surviving. Tensions rise throughout the long and arduous journey and when they seek shelter in an old abandoned hut, they discover it holds a subject of lore with which Khabyy is all too familiar.

imagineNATIVE Institute Presents: Lucky Strikes

Director/Writer: Darcy Waite (Cree)
Canada | 2024 | 83 min
English | Dramatic Feature
Ontario Premiere

Washed-up bowler Adam Cardinal Jr. fights to buy his late father’s bowling alley but faces sabotage from Sarah, his father’s rival’s daughter. With his best friend Benny, he schemes, hustles, and trains for a high-stakes tournament — his last shot at redemption, legacy, and proving he still has what it takes.

Seeds – Closing Night Screening

Director/Writer/Executive Producer: Kaniehtiio Horn (Mohawk)
Canada | 2024 | 82 min
Mohawk, English | Dramatic Feature

Kaniehtiio Horn’s Seeds is a sharp, unsettling thriller and black comedy that digs deep into Indigenous anxieties. Horn, pulling triple duty as writer, director, and star, crafts a taut narrative around Ziggy, a Toronto bike courier and emerging influencer drawn back to her community and into the orbit of a suspicious seed company, Nature’s Oath. The film’s strength lies in its ability to blend the familiar tropes of a thriller with the specific, often overlooked, suspicions of Indigenous communities, exploring the fraught relationship between land, reproduction, and corporate exploitation. The creeping dread is palpable, amplified by the remote setting and the growing sense of unease surrounding the increasingly strange happenings circling Ziggy’s aunt’s house and the cache of seeds she’s been entrusted to protect. Horn skillfully weaves Kanienʼkehá:ka perspectives into the narrative, creating a film that is both thrilling and deeply resonant. It’s a work that lingers, built on dark humour and subversion of genre, all with a very Mohawk twist.