Toronto, March 5, 2026 – imagineNATIVE is proud to announce that following the premiere and voting period on imagineNATIVE’s YouTube channel, Emmitt Manyheads from Siksika Nation has won the Tour film contest for this year. Selected out of 11 new short films, The Night Shift will be screened during the 2026 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, with flights and accommodations provided for the filmmaker.

Viewers were encouraged to vote for their favourite film by liking the YouTube videos, with the top 5 voted films moving forward to be considered by the Programming Selection Committee to choose the winner.

“The imagineNATIVE film Tour contest is a great opportunity for Indigenous youth to experience what it is like to create, promote, and share their stories to a wider audience,” said Lindsay Monture, Artistic Director of imagineNATIVE. “I’m looking forward to seeing The Night Shift play next to other youth-made films from Canada and across the globe.”

Over the course of three days, Indigenous youth, under the guidance of Indigenous filmmakers, wrote, filmed, and edited their own original works that were shown at a Community Screening, alongside one of four Tour Programs. The workshops produced 11 short films by Indigenous youth, including 5 original films from Migisi Sahgaigan (Eagle Lake), Ontario; 4 original films from Vancouver, British Columbia; 1 collaborative group film from St. John’s, Newfoundland; and 1 original film from Siksika, Alberta. The full playlist of films is available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVO4oErYtvQ2r49tVadWsrF84YH_Rpqmw.

The workshops were made possible with the support of community partners, including Migisi Sahgaigan (Eagle Lake First Nation) Community, Alt Hotel St. John’s, Eastern Edge Gallery, Yukonstruct Society & Yukon Theatre, Siksika First Nations Community, and CineWorks Independent Filmmakers Society.

Additionally, imagineNATIVE announced that the iNdigital Youth Collective has returned starting on February 25, 2026 for an eight-week program to offer Indigenous youth, aged 12-24, the opportunity to receive hands-on training in digital creation.

At the end of the program, each participant develops and presents a small-scale video game or interactive project, which will be showcased at the 2026 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and displayed in the iNdigital Space + Arcade.

The iNdigital Youth Collective is a Toronto-based collaboration between imagineNATIVE and ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency designed to empower Indigenous youth and grow the next generation of Indigenous voices in digital media. The program emphasizes culturally grounded approaches and supports the expression of Indigenous knowledge in the digital media landscape. The focus is on fostering creativity, technical skill, and confidence.

The 2026 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will take place June 2-7, 2026 (Toronto) and June 8-14, 2026 (online).