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The World’s Largest Indigenous Festival

The 21st Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will take place online October 20 – 25, 2020 to present work by Indigenous artists including feature length films, short programs, iNdigital Space, visual art exhibitions, The Beat music showcase, Industry Days, and more.

Here’s all you need to know:

Courtesy of imagineNATIVE

The Film Festival portion of imagineNATIVE will present work from 153 Indigenous voices, including 59% from female directors. Each day of the Festival imagineNATIVE will be hosting Feature Focus and Short Focus, which are live Q&As with guest Directors. On October 23, imagineNATIVE Programmer Darlene Naponse will be joined by Monkey Beach Director Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis) and actor Grace Dove. On October 24, Love And Fury Director Sterlin Harjo (Seminole) will be in conversation with imagineNATIVE Programmer Adam Piron.

imagineNATIVE will open the Festival with the shorts program YELLOW on October 20, a program composed of works created by artists from seven different nations. imagineNATIVE will close October 25 with the Canadian premiere of Compañía by Bolivian director Miguel Hilari.

Following the opening night shorts program, imagineNATIVE’s Opening Night Party on October 20 will fill the screen with Indigenous Drag Queens, DJs, and hand drummers including Ilona Verley (Canada’s Drag Race), Quanah Style, Classic Roots, and Manitou Mkwa Singers.

imagineNATIVE will showcase 17 Indigenous-made digital and interactive media works in the iNdigital Space for FREE October 21 – 25, including the return of Night of the Indigenous Devs, hosted by Achimostawinan Games. On October 23 Night of the Indigenous Devs will showcase international Indigenous virtual reality and video games. The iNdigital Space will also host an online arcade, Audio Works including podcasts and documentaries, 360 Videos, and interactive websites.

imagineNATIVE Industry Days returns October 21-24, with Indigenous-focused panel discussions, masterclasses, and networking events. Industry Days events include: a keynote speech from legendary Métis actor Tantoo Cardinal; a Night Raiders case study, with award-winning director/writer Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis), and Maori producers Chelsea Winstanley (Jojo Rabbit) and Ainsley Gardiner (Boy); a discussion with documentarian Tasha Hubbard about the role of social activism in film; and the annual APTN/imagineNATIVE Web Series Pitch competition.

Courtesy of imagineNATIVE

imagineNATIVE’s annual Art Crawl on October 22 will showcase a dynamic selection of visual art works including: Sāmoan Hxstories, Screens, and Intimacies by seven Sāmoan artists curated by Léuli Eshrāghi; Medicine and Magic, Thirza Cuthand curated by Ariel Smith; Constellations of Kin curated by Eli Hirtle featuring Elisa Harkins, Nicole Neidhardt, and Whess Harman; and This moment an endurance to the end forever by Tanya Lukin Linklater.

On October 25, imagineNATIVE will screen Tell Me A Story: A Multi-Generational Film Program, curated by Jenny Western, with 16 works made by, and for, youth and their families. Tell Me A Story will include shorts such as: Little Blue Bird, a nursery rhyme in the Stoney language; a music video for the Black Lodge Singers’ cover of the SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song; and Grumpy Old Man, which made imagineNATIVE history in 2011 with their youngest filmmaker ever Tristan Craig, who was just nine years old at the time.

imagineNATIVE will honour award winning actor, producer, and director Lorne Cardinal with the 6th annual August Schellenberg Award of Excellence. The August Schellenberg Award of Excellence was launched in partnership with Joan Karasevich Schellenberg to honour her late husband, the legendary actor August (Augie) Schellenberg, and the spirit of his work. The “Augie” Award will be presented to Lorne Cardinal as part of the imagineNATIVE Awards Presentation on October 25.
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
October 20 – 25, 2020
imagineNATIVE Tickets and Passes On Sale Now

Day Passes are $6
festival.imaginenative.org/day-pass

Special Event Tickets are $10
festival.imaginenative.org/event-tickets

Community Passes are $60 including tax and fees
Industry Passes are $85 including tax and fees and can be purchased online at
festival.imaginenative.org/passes

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

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