Entertainment
Indigenous stories at the forefront of Yellowknife Film Festival
This year's festival features a wide range of films either about Indigenous stories, or made by Indigenous filmmakers
In just over a month, NWT filmmakers will once again be able to present their work at the annual Yellowknife International Film Festival.
This year will mark the 19th anniversary for the Festival, and will showcase more than fifty different projects from filmmakers across the world, as well as local and Indigenous directors. These films will be shown off at the Capitol Theatre, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, and the Top Knight Pub.
Jeremy Emerson, the Programmer for Western Arctic Moving Pictures, shared some of the highlights of Indigenous filmmaking that people can expect at this year’s festival.
“I think our biggest film would be the opening night film, Wrong Husband by Zacharias Kunuk. It’s about two Inuit teenagers whose predetermined marriage is disrupted by tragic events. It blends realism and supernatural themes as its set in Iglulik, and it really gives you a glimpse into ancient Inuit customs and naming. It’s a pretty exciting opening film.
“We also have Nika & Madison, directed by Eva Thomas. It’s about one of the Indigenous girls who was sexually assaulted by a police officer, and the two of them go out on the run. Eva Thomas has directed episodes of the CBC’s Still Standing and Acting Good, so it’s pretty exciting to see her solo feature debut with Nika & Madison”
Emerson also named the romance movie Bloodlines, and the documentary projects Tutu and Good Canadian as Indigenous led projects that he feels people will be excited to see.
Emerson added that, every year, WAMP and the YKIFF give smaller scale filmmakers an opportunity to put their stories on the screen.
“There’s a pitch competition that we do every year. You can make your pitch and potentially get funding for a film, and it’s something that many Indigenous filmmakers have done. They’ve won those picture competitions in the past, so that’s one way to do it!”
In addition to the various films, the YKIFF is also introducing additional screening opportunities. The Heritage Centre will be holding free daytime screenings of this year’s documentaries. The Top Knight will be offering screenings of horror movies and other genre films. The Capitol theatre will be holding free youth screenings on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and through YKIFF Live, will be hosting local DJs to perform music thirty minutes before the screenings begin.
Emerson shared that there are various ways that people can lend some support to Western Arctic Moving Pictures, such as getting a membership, attending the events, and keeping up with their newsletter.
“Every year, they need quite a lot of volunteers to run the Festival and also sign up for pre screenings. There’s over six hundred films that were previewed for the festival, and that takes an army of free screeners to go through them throughout the Spring and Summer months to be prepared for the Festival.”
Tickets for the festival are now on sale. A full lineup of this year’s movies can be found at wamp.ca.