Available Light Film Festival 2021

Available in Yukon and Northwest Territories with 25+ films available across Canada

THE UNOFFICIAL JACKET OF FILM CREWS EVERYWHERE

WELCOME TO ALFF 2021 Welcome to the 19th edition of the Available Light Film Festival! (We are happy to see all of you.)

Dan’ ch’e. Hello there, how are you? So much in the world has turned upside down since ALFF 2020 when we had hosted 50+ filmmakers, artists and industry delegates and thousands of audience members for what proved to be one of the last film festivals in Canada to bring people together in all its in-person festival glory. Shäw nithan, Qujannamiik, thank you for coming back, virtually, to Available Light. The team is extremely grateful for your support, patronage and participation as we re-invent our film festival. We live in an extraordinary community in an extraordinary region of the earth.

This edition of the festival will continue to offer the experience of gathering with strangers in a dark cinema, albeit in a much reduced number of screenings to a small audience for each. Shàw níthan to the Yukon Arts Centre and Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre for making that possible this year. Join us for a day of special programming in partnership with the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre on Saturday, February 6th for vital Indigenous cinema and discussion, and in the Open Air Cinema evening at the KDCC firepit: transcendent media art by a young Yukon artist screening next to Lisa Jackson’s otherworldly short film, Lichen.

Available Light continues to celebrate and spotlight the experiences of Indigenous peoples and the work of Indigenous filmmakers by presenting 30 films by Indigenous directors, including the ALFF 2021 Opening Gala Film; Beans, which will be presented with Mohawk writer and director Tracey Deer attending virtually. This award-winning coming of age film is set in Kahnawá:ke in 1990 and recounts the Oka Crisis through the eyes of a 12-year-old Mohawk girl named Beans. Deer’s semi-autobiographical film is one of five films selected for TIFF’s Top Ten Canadian films of 2020 that are included in ALFF 2021. The other features include Fauna and Nadia, Butterfly and the shorts are Sing Me a Lullaby and êmîcêtôcêt: Many Bloodlines.

Available Light celebrates Indigenous and diverse filmmakers in a new way this year. Made possible through the support of Canada Goose, Available Light Film Festival is thrilled to award cash prizes to the three outstanding films by underrepresented filmmakers in ALFF Official Selection.

The Made in the North Award presented by Canada Goose is designed to advance the talent of Black, Indigenous, people

of colour, and LGBTQ2S+ Canadian filmmakers with a focus on those living in the northern territories. A jury of invited diverse filmmakers will select the award-winning films.

There are three award categories: Best Canadian Feature Film, Best Canadian Short Film and Best Northern Short Film (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

The Yukon Film Society is honoured to host many talented creatives each year at Available Light. Thank you to all the filmmakers, creatives, Industry delegates and documentary participants who have taken part in virtual Q&As, ALFF Industry sessions, concerts and artist talks.

We’re also happy to announce that more than 50% of the films we’re presenting are female-led and directed productions. A commitment to gender equity in film needs to happen in the cinema and not just on set. There will be 73 films screened at ALFF 2021, seven of which will be world premieres.

We could not present this multi-faceted 18-day festival without the ongoing generous support of numerous Yukon businesses, some of which are not able to support the festival as they have in previous years because of the pandemic. We know it’s been a challenging year and we acknowledge your on-going support. The Yukon Film Society is also acknowledges the ongoing support of Canada Council for the Arts, Yukon Arts Operating Fund, Yukon Lotteries and Telefilm Canada. This support that has made it possible for us to plan, produce and present this festival.

Thank you to our new presenting partner, and supporter of the inaugural Made In the North Award, Canada Goose.

Please join us in thanking all the artists, filmmakers and industry representatives for sharing their work and experience at ALFF and ALFF Industry, as well as the sponsors, community organizations and hard-working volunteers and staff that make Available Light 2021 possible.

Shäw níthän, gunalchîsh, mahsi cho, merci, gracias, chi miigwech, Qujannamiik and thank you for coming to Available Light and making this a very special community event every Yukon winter.

Siku Allooloo ASSOCIATE PROGRAMMER + INDUSTRY PRODUCER Vivian Belik CO-PROGRAMMER Andrew Connors FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME TO ALFF 2021

3

FESTIVAL TEAM

6

THANK YOU!

7

FESTIVAL INFORMATION

8

MADE IN THE NORTH AWARD

12

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

14

MEDIA ART

18

AVAILABLE LIGHT CABARET

22

INDIGENOUS SHORT FILMS AND OPEN AIR CINEMA AT KDCC

26

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

30

FILM LISTINGS

32

ALFF INDUSTRY SERIES 2021

56

Presented by Canada Goose

5

FESTIVAL TEAM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

MARKETING COORDINATORS

FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHER

Andrew Connors

Emilie Gibeau

Erik Pinkerton

Selene Vakharia CO-PROGRAMMER Vivian Belik

PROJECTIONIST SOCIAL MEDIA

Dylan MacNeil

Brittnee Seely ASSOCIATE PROGRAMMER + INDUSTRY PRODUCER

MULTIMEDIA CURATORS

Siku Allooloo

Katie Newman

2021 ALFF PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Gabriel Bullen Angelune Drouin Brian Eaton

Rebecca Manias VIRTUAL BOX OFFICE AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT Bran Ramsey

Genesee Keevil

VIRTUAL EVENTS COORDINATOR

Jin Lee

Dylan MacNeil

PRODUCER

ALFF TRAILER

Selene Vakharia

Alexandra Knowles

SPONSORSHIP &

WEBSITE DESIGN

YFS ADMINISTRATION

& MANAGEMENT

Karen Baltgailis

Christopher Griffiths

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR,

ALFF PITCH EVENT COORDINATOR

PROJECTIONIST / PRINT TRAFFIC

Naomi Mark

Takashi Simon-Sakurai GRAPHIC DESIGN Guiniveve Lalena Michelle Zieske

6

YUKON FILM SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Aileen Horler Victoria Kennedy Leo Lane Noel Sinclair Carol Geddes Jessica Hall Moriah MacMillan Jon Gelinas Cindy Allen Neil Macdonald

THANK YOU! ALFF 2021 THANK YOU’S Andrew Seymour, Aviam Soudack, Brenda Pilatzke-Vanier, Casey Prescott, CFYT 106.9 FM, CINE Collective, Coast Mountain Sport, Corina Zumer, Dan Sokolowski, Dylan Soo, Emmanuelle Petrakis, Fawn Fritzen, Greg Karais, Guin Lalena, Hot Docs Film Festival, Jeanine George, Jennifer Heffernan, Jérôme Casanova, Jiah Dzentu, Josh Jansen, Katherine Kellner, Klondike Institute of Art and Culture, Leila Lohonyai, Mac’s Fireweed Books, Mary Bradshaw, Matthew Sarty, Melaina Sheldon, Michele Emslie, Mike Gravitis, Natalie Sumner, Patrick Matheson, Rachel Travis, Reid Vanier, Ross Burnett, Scott Maynard, Shadelle Chambers, Suki Wellman, Susie Nick, Telefilm Canada, Well Read Books, Yellowknife International Film Festival All the festival volunteers, sponsors, supporters, guests and audiences over the last 19 years.

YUKON FILM SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Aileen Horler, Victoria Kennedy, Leo Lane, Noel Sinclair, Carol Geddes, Jessica Hall, Moriah MacMillan, Jon Gelinas, Cindy Allen, Neil Macdonald

24 FPS

REC

02:02:10:19

4K

Thank you to the Available Light Film Festival for its enduring tradition of presenting the best of northern, Canadian and international film.

We're proud to be a long-standing sponsor of this festival.

Together we are the power of Yukon. yukonenergy.ca

FESTIVAL INFORMATION Virtual Screenings are through ALFF Online at ALFF.EVENTIVE.ORG All In-Cinema Screenings are at the YUKON ARTS CENTRE unless otherwise noted Like most things in the past 12 months, ALFF 2021 is a little bit different. We like to think it’s a bit better now that there are more ways to enjoy films and more viewers can enjoy the festival from across Yukon, Northwest Territories and Canada!

We are fortunate to present ALFF 2021 as a hybrid festival taking place virtually and with select In-Cinema screenings and events.

Masks are mandatory at all in-cinema and in-person events.

Thank you and enjoy the festival!

TICKETS FOR IN-CINEMA SCREENINGS In-Cinema Screenings are by ticket purchase only.

There are no In-Cinema Film Passes this year.

Screenings at the Yukon Arts Centre: Tickets for In-Cinema Screenings can be purchased at yukontickets.com and will be sent electronically. You can either print them off or present them on your phone. Tickets for In-Cinema Screenings must be purchased in advance. THERE WILL BE NO WALK UP / RUSH TICKETS AVAILABLE. Seating will be assigned to maximize our restricted seating capacity and ensure proper distancing in accordance with Government of Yukon COVID-19 protocols. YOU MUST sit in the correct row and seat numbers assigned to you.

If you are sick or exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19, please stay home. DO NOT attend the performance if you are ill.

Screenings at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (KDCC): Tickets for the screenings at the KDCC are free, but must be reserved in advance. They can be reserved at watch.eventive.org/alff under the In-Cinema programming section.

There may be seats available at the door, but we can not guarantee this.

If you are sick or exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19, please stay home. DO NOT attend the performance if you are ill.

START TIMES FOR IN-CINEMA SCREENINGS Screenings at the Yukon Arts Centre: Doors will only open 20 mins before the screening, at which time you will be guided to your designated entrance and assigned seats (based on the Zone number). If you forget or misplace your tickets, simply provide your name at the door and we will be able to assist you.

VENUES

Yukon Arts Centre: 300 College Drive 8

Screenings at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (KDCC): Doors will only open 15 mins before the screening. If you forget or misplace your tickets, simply provide your name at the door and we will be able to assist you.

Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre: 1171 Front Street

Online: watch.eventive.org/alff

ALFF TICKETS & PASSES

Individual Tickets (for In-Cinema Screenings): $15 / $13 for YFS Members, All-Access Online Pass Holders, and Seniors / $10 Youth under 16 All Access Online Pass: $100 Single Tickets (for Online Screenings): $11* *$1 from every purchase is donated to Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (LAWS)

To purchase single tickets for online screenings: 1. Visit the Film Catalog at watch.eventive.org/alff 2. Select the film you are interested in viewing 3. After selecting it, simply click the “unlock now” button to purchase access to that session.

Indigenous Short Films and Open Air Cinema events at KDCC are FREE, but seats must be reserved in advance.

WHERE TO BUY FESTIVAL TICKETS AND PASSES In-Cinema Screenings: Purchase online at www.yukontickets.com or call: (867) 667-8574 or e-mail: BoxOffice@yac.ca

ALFF INDUSTRY TICKETS & PASSES

ALFF 2021 Industry is entirely virtual. Please see the online program for detailed schedule, event info, and to register!

ALFF Industry Passes: $75 / $50 for YFS Production Members Grants access to all ALFF Industry events, including: panels, workshops, master classes, and one-on-one meetings with industry decision-makers and public funders.

Pre-registration for one-on-one meetings is required — email siku@yukonfilmsociety.com to confirm your registration.

GENERAL FESTIVAL INFO

All-Access Online Passes do not guarantee a virtual seat — you must redeem for individual tickets to online events. Space in some online screenings will be limited.

Virtual passes and tickets for online screenings and tickets for KDCC screenings: Purchase online at alff.eventive.org

Individual Workshop Tickets: Individually priced. See the ALFF Industry Schedule of Events at watch.eventive.org/alff for more details Please note: One-on-One Meetings with Industry decision-makers and public funders are for pass holders only. Pre-registration is required.

ALFF Industry Passes and Individual Workshop Tickets are available for purchase online at alff.eventive.org

Please turn off cell phones. No recording devices allowed.

Masks are mandatory for all in-person events.

No food or drink allowed in the Yukon Arts Centre theatre.

9

As Yukon’s Minister of Tourism and Culture it is my honour to welcome you to the 2021 Available Light Film Festival.

The festival looks a bit different this year, but through an innovative mix of in-person and online screenings and events, audiences have even more ways to take in the quality films and programming for which Available Light is known.

Featuring over 60 feature length and short films, live virtual events, artist talks, Q&As, and more, film enthusiasts across the north and across the nation have front row seats to what is fast becoming the preeminent showcase of film and arts in the North.

The Government of Yukon is proud to continue our support of the Yukon Film Society and ALFF through the Arts Operating Funds.

Our thanks to all the organizers and volunteers for their dedication in putting together this wonderful event, and to all the artists and presenters for sharing their gifts and experiences.

Enjoy the festival!

Jeanie McLean Minister of Tourism and Culture

On behalf of Whitehorse City Council, I would like to congratulate and thank the Yukon Film Society and all of the organizers and volunteers for this year’s festival.

This City is proud to support this event through the Festival and Special Event Grant. We are very excited that our contribution is helping to foster community engagement with new forms of media art, build community partnerships, and reach an even wider audience this year. We wish everyone a wonderful festival and hope all will enjoy the extraordinary selection of Northern, Canadian and international cinema, as well as the media art and live music performances.

Sincerely, Mayor Dan Curtis City of Whitehorse

Telefilm Canada is proud to continue our support of Available Light Film Festival especially now as we navigate these extraordinary circumstances. In these new frontiers of digital participation, we must all work together to continue to discover, watch, and celebrate Canadian content creators and the distinct voices that they bring to our screens.

Canadian filmmakers share a remarkable range of stories and characters that surprise, touch and entertain us all, as well as make us laugh and think. Their

stories resonate worldwide. Telefilm Canada remains committed to creating Message from the Executive Director, Telefilm Canada opportunities for Canadian talent to connect and collaborate with their peers, both Telefilm Canada proud to ourofsupport Available Light Film Festival especially now as we at home and is abroad.

Ascontinue a partner choice,ofTelefilm Canada is increasing our navigate these extraordinary circumstances. In these new frontiers of digital participation, we must all commitment diversity inclusion, soand that the stories beingcontent told oncreators screen and the distinct work together toto continue toand discover, watch, celebrate Canadian voices that theywe bring screens. reflect who areto asour a nation.

Canadian filmmakers share a remarkable range of stories and characters that surprise, touch and entertain us all, well asCanada, make us Ilaugh think. Their stories resonate Light worldwide.

Telefilm Canada On behalf of as Telefilm wantand to congratulate The Available Film Festival remains committed to creating opportunities for Canadian talent to connect and collaborate with their for your resilience and creativity in finding new and exciting ways to showcase peers, both at home and abroad. As a partner of choice, Telefilm Canada is increasing our commitment celebrate Canadian to all Canadians who continue to demonstrate to and diversity and inclusion, so talent. that theAnd stories being told on screen reflect who we are as a nation.

appetite and Canada, supportI for our work,Light you Film haveFestival our for your resilience Onyour behalf of Telefilm want tofilmmakers congratulateand Thetheir Available and creativity in finding new and exciting ways to showcase and celebrate Canadian talent. And to all heartfelt thanks!

Canadians who continue to demonstrate your appetite and support for our filmmakers and their work, you have our heartfelt thanks!

Continue watching Canadian films wherever they are available and tell others to do Continue watching Canadian films wherever they are available and tell others to do the same! the same!

Christa Dickenson Christa Dickenson

Executive Director, Telefilm Canada Executive Director, Telefilm Canada

MADE IN THE NORTH AWARD MADE IN THE NORTH AWARD Presented by Canada Goose Available Light Film Festival is thrilled to announce that this year, made possible through the support of Canada Goose, we are able to award cash prizes to the three best films by underrepresented filmmakers in our lineup. Canada Goose embraces diversity in all its forms and definitions, including technique and passion that transports storytelling to screen.

Eligibility is open to all feature films and short films in Official Selection by Black, Indigenous, people of colour, and LGBTQ2S+ filmmakers in Canada. Each winner will receive a cash award in celebration of their excellent contribution to Canadian cinema. Here are the eligible films in each category.

MADE IN THE NORTH - BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM SCOPE: Canada-wide | PRIZE: $5,000 ELIGIBLE FILMS: Akilla’s Escape

Beans

Fauna

Call Me Human

Shiva Baby

Monkey Beach

The Forbidden Reel

No Visible Trauma

by Charles Officer

by Emma Seligman

by Tracey Deer

by Loretta Todd

by Kim O’Bomsawin

by Nicolás Pereda

by Ariel Nasr

by Robinder Uppal and Marc Serpa-Francoeur

MADE IN THE NORTH - BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM SCOPE: Canada-wide | PRIZE: $2,500 ELIGIBLE FILMS: Nuxalk Radio

Délia 9 to 5

Spirit Bear and Children Make History

Katinngak (Together)

by Banchi Hanuse

by Amanda Strong

Lichen

by Lisa Jackson

The Fourfold

by Alisi Telengut

Êmîcêtôsêt: Many bloodlines

by Theola Ross

Skate Break

by Peatr Thomas 12

by Délia Gunn

by Glenn Gear

Becoming Nakuset

by Victoria Anderson-Gardner

Solidification ᒪᔥᑲᐗᒋ 凝

by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson & Sammy Chien of Chimerik似不像

Until Further Notice

by Tiffany Hsiung

Sing Me a Lullaby

by Tiffany Hsiung

It’s Me Landon

by Landon Moise

(w/ Wapikoni Collective)

The Fake Calendar

by Meky Ottawa

Ego of a Nation

by Wes Day (Anishinaabe) & Janet Rogers (Mohawk/ Tuscarora)

Audrey’s Story

by Michelle Derosier

A Golden Voice

by Patrick Shannon

MADE IN THE NORTH - BEST NORTHERN SHORT FILM SCOPE: Yukon, Northwest Territories & Nunavut | PRIZE: $2,500 ELIGIBLE FILMS: K’i Tah Amongst the Birch

Boys

Smash

The Kick

The Salt River Water Walk

Tlatsini

by Melaw Nakehk’o (NT)

by Douglas Joe (YT)

by Krista Davis (YT)

by Vinnie Karetak (NU)

by Inuksuk Mackay & Candace Lys (NT)

by Mike Rudyk (YT)

SELECTION JURY SELECTION JURY Milena Salazar, Vancouver, BC Carol Geddes, Teslin, YT Tyler Hagan, BC Award winners will be announced on February 17, 2021

13

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS CAST YOUR BALLOT TO INDICATE YOUR RATING FROM 1 (ABYSMAL) TO 10 (EXCELLENT) IN-CINEMA SCREENINGS: After attending an in-cinema screening, you will receive an email with a link to a website where you can submit your rating for the film.

The results of this balloting will determine the awards for:

VIRTUAL SCREENINGS: Once you finish watching a virtual film that is eligible for audience awards, you will be able to cast a vote on the film page.

+ Best Canadian Feature Fiction

+ Best Canadian Documentary

+ Best Feature Film Overall Sponsored by Northwestel Community Television We want to know what you think about the films — rate every eligible film you see!

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS: IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY:

BEST FEATURE FILM OVERALL: 499

No Visible Trauma

First We Eat

Akilla’s Escape

Picture My Face

Magnitude of All Things

Another Round

Prayer for a Lost Mitten

No Visible Trauma

Beans

Shiva Baby

Picture My Face

Call Me Human

Softie

Prayer for a Lost Mitten

Changin’ Times of Ike White

Stray

Softie

Crock of Gold

The Arctics

The Arctics

Driveways

The Earth is as Blue

The Forbidden Reel

Father

The Forbidden Reel

The New Corporation

Fauna

The New Corporation

First We Eat

The Painter and the Thief

Gaza Mon Amor

The Pencil

Akilla’s Escape

Keyboard Fantasies

The Reason I Jump

Beans

Little Orphans

Truffle Hunters

Fauna

Magnitude of All Things

Little Orphans

Mayor

Monkey Beach

Monkey Beach

My Salinger Year

My Donkey, My Lover and I

Nadia, Butterfly

My Salinger Year

Shiva Baby

Nadia, Butterfly

Call Me Human

BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FICTION:

14

NEW SHOP LOCATION

Tuesday – Friday 12:00pm – 5:30pm

Corner of 2nd & Steele St. (Across from City Hall) Our merchandise is also available at North End Gallery in Horwood’s Mall and Fuel Yukon on the Alaska Highway

CANADIAN FILMS

telefilm.ca/en/seeitall 16

EVERY STORY STARTS WITH A SPARK. We’re here to foster Canadian voices. Our narratives.

Our ideas. We’re here to spark courage.

cmf-fmc.ca

17

MEDIA ART FEBRUARY 5>28

Curated by Rebecca Manias and Katie Newman ALFF provides festival goers with a closer look at some of the incredible visual-arts based films and new media work being created locally. This includes short artistic films of a more abstract and non-linear nature. The video pieces that we have chosen for ALFF 2021 surround themes of choreographed movement and creation. The artists share through their quiet observational lenses, affected by the isolation of the pandemic, during these unique and unusual times.

INSENSATE DIR. SADIE SEGRIFF 3 MIN 19 SEC MUSIC: THANK YOU BY FLORIST

The name of the film is Insensate, which means “lacking physical sensation”. Currently, we are ingrained with the fear of touch due to Covid-19, and it will stay with us for generations to come.

This piece explores human expression without physical connection using the gestures we learn and use on a daily basis. These gestures spread throughout our community and generations. It is important to share this because dance is in everything we do. A body is just as it is: a piece of art, beautiful and everything it needs to be in that moment. Insensate will dive into knowing who we are as humans, where we have come from and how we connect to others.

BIO:

Sadie Segriff is an artist raised and based in Whitehorse, Yukon, the traditional Territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. She is a white queer cis woman and identifies as a postcolonial Canadian settler. Her work is influenced by her northern upbringing, environmentalism and advocating for human rights. Sadie’s practice is to research human identity and expression that explores her connection to people and the natural environment around her.

Website: sadiesegriff.com

18

Insensate

SEARCH THOUGH WE MIGHT: CHAPTER 5: 13 VIEWS: DIR. DAVID CURTIS 4 MIN 25 SEC

“13 Views:” is one of an ongoing series of short films/ chapters making up a work titled “Search Though We Might, We May Never See What Lies Beyond the Horizons of Our Imagination”.

The project, totaling 7 films to date, is a reflection on our psychological and phenomenological interrelationships with the environment and non-human beings during this pandemic. These films are part of an ongoing exploration of the existential limits of human consciousness, vis-a-vis language, both visual and verbal, to encapsulate and express the intimacies and paradoxes of our lived experiences of the lands, flora and fauna we dwell amongst.

BIO:

David Curtis is an off-grid dwelling commercial fisher, carpenter and artist who has had the honour and privilege of living in Dawson City, within the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Traditional Territories, Yukon for the past 22 years.

In all aspects of his life, he nurtures a close relationship to nature, kairos and laughter.

David’s media work focuses on interweaving poetic and associative possibilities through form, subject and meaning, especially in relation to our lived experiences of happenstance, kairos and chance. The open-ended interpretative outcomes of his films are predicated on the idea that poetry, passion and humility are not only important to being human, but essential to our survival.

19

MEDIA ART FEBRUARY 7>13

4 INSTALLATIONS > 4 DOWNTOWN STORE WINDOWS Well Read Books, Mac’s Fireweed Books, Yukon North of Ordinary & Coast Mountain Sport

GLOW DIR. CALLA PALECZNY, 4 MIN 36 SEC

Glow is a short visual piece that explores the interplay between a maker’s hands, hot glass and light.

BIO:

Calla Paleczny is an interdisciplinary artist who works primarily with music, poetry and the moving image. Her work explores the human experience and the balance between mysticism and the material world. Paleczny is currently a student of film making and music composition at Simon Fraser University where she began working with film for the first time this fall. Previous work includes indie album ‘Dreamer’s Sea’, which Paleczny released in 2018 and received radio play on CBC North and radio stations across Canada.

RÉCITS DIR. MARK MARTEN AND CHAMMY JUNE

Mark Marten and Chammy June are experimental artists who live on the traditional territory of Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and Kwanlin Dün First Nation. They have collaborated to create three short video sequences: one for nature, one for the global community and the last for the mystical unknown.

THE SYSTEM IS DEGRADING DIR. JESSICA HALL 4 MIN 13 SEC

By progressively degrading a section of 8mm video shot during a political art demonstration called “Under the Volcano” 20 years prior, The System is Degrading illustrates the degradation of the medium and the message over generations. We forget and then we repeat.

BIO:

Jessica Hall is a local Whitehorse filmmaker, producer and video editor. The System Is Degrading was created during her very lonely Jenni House residency when the city was locked down.

20

Glow

Récits

The Icehouse Architect

THE ICEHOUSE ARCHITECT (PART 1: THE BODY CAN HOLD WHAT WE NEED TO REBUILD) DIR. KRISTA DAVIS | PARADISE BOYS COLLECTIVE, 3 MIN 22 SEC

The Icehouse Architect (Part 1: The body can hold what we need to rebuild) tells a story of an individual who has discovered a new method of re-building after the permafrost, the hummocks, the sea ice, and the glaciers have melted. It is Subtraction-Method: rather than creating something new to build with, the building happens when she takes something away.

She travels waterways collecting the heat in her body, and as she does so, the ice formations begin to rebuild.

BIO:

Krista Davis is a visual artist and filmmaker whose work engages with the messiness of human and non-human coexistence in an age of ecological crisis. She seeks to make imaginative and sometimes fantastical propositions that plant seeds towards a larger ideological shift needed for a more sustainable world.

CURATORS TALK – FREE EVENT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13 | 12PM ALFF ONLINE (LIVE STREAMED) Join Multimedia Curators Rebecca Manias and Katie Newman for a discussion of the works programmed for the 2021 Available Light Film Festival.

Presented with support from Government of Yukon.

21

YUKON MUSIC SHOWCASE SERIES > 3 LIVE-STREAMED PERFORMANCES Presented with Music Yukon | Live streamed on ALFF Online

JEREMY PARKIN

ERICA MAH

JOEY O’NEIL

Jeremy Parkin is a 23-year-old music producer from the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in Whitehorse, YT. In 2017, Jeremy released his debut solo album titled “Black Dog” and has since been collaborating with artists from all corners of Canada. In addition he is currently working on finishing the debut album from his hip hop duo “LOCAL BOY” (@whoislocalboy) which is expected to be released early 2021.

Erica Mah is a multiinstrumental songwriter whose projects have a sharp lyrical focus. Her songs transport listeners across oceans and back again, to the wild expanse of mountains and rivers she calls home.

She is currently writing songs on the guzheng, a harp-like traditional Chinese instrument.

PRESENTED WITH THE KLONDIKE INSTITUTE OF ART AND CULTURE (KIAC) AND MUSIC YUKON

22

From Joey’s Klondike cabin wafts folk-country Canadiana and wood smoke. Making the yearly schlep between her Yukon and Ontarian homes with canine sidekick, Oblio, she’s shared Canadian stages with the likes of Julie Doiron, Basia Bulat, and Jennifer Castle.

PROUD FESTIVAL SPONSOR Available Light Film Festival 2021

nvdlp.com

Take a break from your world… and experience ours!

Proud sponsor of the 2021 Available Light Film Festival

1171 Front Street, Whitehorse, Yukon www.kdcc.ca 867-456-5322 info@kdcc.ca

Proud sponsors CYFN is proud to support the work of artists and filmmakers who are committed to bringing First Nations stories that matter to a wider audience.

It’s our pleasure to be a presenting sponsor for the screenings of Spirit Bear and Children Make History and Lichen at this year’s 2021 Available Light Film Festival.

ALFFjordonAD-5x3.875.indd 1

2021-01-12 1:46 PM

INDIGENOUS SHORT FILMS AND FEBRUARY 6 AT KDCC

IN-PERSON EVENTS, FREE February 6 | Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre Presented in partnership with Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and the Council of Yukon First Nations (see schedule for details)

AUDREY’S STORY DIR. MICHELLE DEROSIER (ANISHINAABE), 2019, CANADA, 22 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON ABORIGINAL WOMEN’S COUNCIL

This short doc honours the life of Audrey Anderson, while revealing the injustices of a flawed judicial system.

For forty-seven years, Audrey’s family wondered about the circumstances of her death and the rigour of the investigation by Ontario Provincial Police and Chief Coroner — who had deemed that her death in 1972 was ‘accidental’. With the help of the Family Information Liaison Unit, Audrey’s family managed to have the investigation reopened and the cause of Audrey’s death reclassified to ‘undetermined’. Set in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, this important film is an expression of compassion and accountability in a nation-wide crisis, with many key voices working together to obtain the truth and respond appropriately.

This film is dedicated to Audrey Anderson, and to all families with murdered and missing loved ones.

This special event will open with a prayer by Kwanlin Dün First Nation Elder Diane Smith.

The screening will be followed by a women’s warrior song by the Rising Sun Singers and a presentation by the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council.

26

OPEN AIR CINEMA AT KDCC OPEN AIR CINEMA A double screening of Lichen by Lisa Jackson and Insensate by Sadie Segriff at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre Fire Pit.

LICHEN DIR. LISA JACKSON 11 MINUTES

This otherworldly large-format short film takes a deep dive into lichen, a species that confounds scientists to this day. Shot in macro 3D, Lichen offers us a look at this remarkable life form and asks what we might learn from it. Ancient and diverse, both an individual and a community, lichens can live in the most extreme environments, including outer space. This meditative film bridges science and philosophy, and the words of lichenologist Trevor Goward illuminate the terrain in poetic and thought-provoking ways.

INSENSATE DIR. SADIE SEGRIFF 3 MINUTES 19 SECONDS MUSIC: THANK YOU BY FLORIST

The name of the film is Insensate, which means “lacking physical sensation”. Currently, we are ingrained with the fear of touch due to COVID-19, and it will stay with us for generations to come. This piece explores human expression without physical connection using the gestures we learn and use on a daily basis. These gestures spread throughout our community and generations. It is important to share this because dance is in everything we do. A body is just as it is: a piece of art, beautiful and everything it needs to be in that moment. Insensate will dive into knowing who we are as humans, where we have come from and how we connect to others.

SPIRIT BEAR AND CHILDREN MAKE HISTORY DIR. AMANDA STRONG , 2020, CANADA, 26 MINUTES

A gorgeous short animation by Michif filmmaker Amanda Strong, in partnership with Gitxsan child rights activist Cindy Blackstock that tells the true story of a landmark human rights case for First Nations children, known as Jordan’s Principle. This short film shows Spirit Bear’s journey to Ottawa and banding together with children and animals alike to help end injustice against First Nations children and make Jordan’s Principle a reality.

This is the first of three short film adaptations of The Caring Society’s Spirit Bear books, which honour the true story of Jordan River Anderson and the child-first Principle named in his memory that ensures First Nations children receive the public services they need when they need them.

Suitable for all ages and important viewing for everyone, this special screening is followed by a short presentation by Shadelle Chambers, Executive Director of the Council of Yukon First Nations, on Jordan’s Principle programming led in the Yukon.

27

RESEARCH & ADVOCACY

OUTREACH PREVENTION & HEALING

PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council (YAWC) is a non-profit society located in Whitehorse, Yukon, that supports leadership and advancement for and by Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse peoples in the Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia.

Thank you to our continued partners at YAWC

yawc.ca

867-667-6162

Empowering Indigenous Women, Advocating for Change, Celebrating Success

We appreciate a great tale.

We’re proud to help bring some of the best stories from around the world to the Yukon by supporting the Available Light Film Festival.

We invite you to sit back, relax, and let the festival carry you to new destinations.

flyairnorth.com 29

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS TIME

5:45 PM 6:05 PM

4:00 PM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5

Available Light Cabaret: Jeremy Parkin*

VENUE

PG

YAC + ALFF Online

22

ALFF 2021 Opening Film: Beans

YAC + ALFF Online

34

Another Round

ALFF Online

33

Call Me Human

ALFF Online

35

Nadia, Butterfly

ALFF Online

44

Audrey’s Story

KDCC + ALFF Online

27

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6

6:30 PM

Open Air Cinema

KDCC (fire pit)

27

6:45 PM

Spirit Bear and Children Making History

KDCC

27

Father

ALFF Online

37

Mayor

ALFF Online

42

Shiva Baby

ALFF Online

48

Softie

ALFF Online

48

Video Art Crawl Opens*

Various

20

3:00 PM

Indigenous Short Film Program: Spirit, Heart, Mind, Body p

YAC

5:30 PM

The Arctics

YAC

49

8:00 PM

The New Corporation

YAC + ALFF Online

51

Gaza Mon Amor

ALFF Online

38

Indigenous Shorts – Family Program

ALFF Online

40

Indigenous Shorts – Mature Program

ALFF Online

39

The Magnitude of All Things

ALFF Online

51

Until Further Notice + Sing Me a Lullaby

ALFF Online

54

Driveways

ALFF Online

36

No Visible Trauma

ALFF Online

45

Prayer for a Lost Mitten

ALFF Online

47

The Earth is as Blue as an Orange

ALFF Online

50

The Forbidden Reel

ALFF Online

50

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9

12:00 PM Artist Talk: Indigenous Short Films* p

ALFF Online

6:00 PM

ALFF Pitch Event*

ALFF Online

56

Crock of Gold - A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan

ALFF Online

36

Akilla's Escape

ALFF Online

33

Changin’ Times of Ike White

ALFF Online

34

North by North: Short Films from YT and NWT

ALFF Online

45

Picture My Face: The Story of Teenage Head

ALFF Online

47

30

TIME

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10

VENUE

5:30 PM

The Pencil

YAC + ALFF Online

52

8:15 PM

The Painter and the Thief

YAC + ALFF Online

52

Fauna

ALFF Online

37

Little Orphans

ALFF Online

42

Tlatsini + The Last Fishermen + A Golden Voice

ALFF Online

53

Artist Talk* p

ALFF Online

Artist Talk* p

ALFF Online

5:30 PM

My Salinger Year

YAC + ALFF Online

44

8:30 PM

499

YAC + ALFF Online

32

First We Eat

ALFF Online

38

Keyboard Fantasies

ALFF Online

41

Monkey Beach

ALFF Online

43

My Donkey, My Lover and I

ALFF Online

43

Stray

ALFF Online

49

The Reason I Jump

ALFF Online

53

12:00 PM Panel Discussion* p

1:00 PM 5:30 PM

PG

ALFF Online

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12

12:00 PM Artist Talk* p 5:30 PM

Available Light Cabaret: Erica Mah*

YAC + ALFF Online

22

6:00 PM

My Donkey, My Lover and I

YAC

43

8:45 PM

Crock of Gold - A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan

YAC

36

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13

12:00 PM Artist Talk: Media Art Curators*

21

3:00 PM

The Reason I Jump

YAC

53

5:30 PM

The Truffle Hunters

YAC

54

Monkey Beach

YAC

43

8:00 PM 1:00 PM

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14 Stray

YAC

49

3:30 PM

Keyboard Fantasies

YAC

41

5:45 PM

First We Eat

YAC

38

Available Light Cabaret: Joey O'Neil*

ALFF Online

22

Northwestel live screening: Nyēn nzhän* p

ALFF Online

Panel Discussion*

ALFF Online

Live Cooking Class with Chef Luke Donato*

ALFF Online

8:00 PM 7:00 PM 7:35 PM 6:00 PM

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18

LEGEND

YAC

Yukon Arts Centre Theatre

*

KDCC

Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre

p See website for program description

Free Screening/Event

ALFF Online watch.eventive.org/alff 31

499

Lichen

499

LICHEN

DIR. RODRIGO REYES, 2020, MEXICO, 88 MINUTES

DIR. LISA JACKSON (ANISHINAABE), 2020, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 11 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: NORTHERN COUNCIL FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION

Five centuries since CortĂŠs conquered the Aztec Empire, award-winning director Rodrigo Reyes brings to the screen one of the most powerful examinations of the systemic effects of colonialism in Mexico.

Blending fictionalized elements with documentary, 499 follows a conquistador who embarks on a journey to retrace the destructive route the Spanish army took from the shores of Veracruz to TenochtitlĂĄn (modern-day Mexico City). As past collides with present, he bears witness to his actions and hears the poignant stories of real people, getting to the root of the wave of violence that is overtaking contemporary Mexico. Told with outstanding cinematography and sound design, 499 leads audiences to confront the haunting echoes of colonization. What is the true impact of history in our lives today? And how can we stop the cycle of violence and right the wrongs of the past? - Hot Docs In Spanish with English subtitles.

Content advisory: descriptions of graphic physical and sexual violence, mature themes.

SCREENS IN-CINEMA WITH: LICHEN

32

This otherworldly large-format short film takes a deep dive into lichen, a species that confounds scientists to this day. Shot in macro 3D, Lichen offers us a look at this remarkable life form and asks what we might learn from it. Ancient and diverse, both an individual and a community, lichens can live in the most extreme environments, including outer space.

This meditative film bridges science and philosophy, and the words of lichenologist Trevor Goward illuminate the terrain in poetic and thought-provoking ways.

Akilla’s Escape

Another Round (Druk)

AKILLA’S ESCAPE

ANOTHER ROUND (DRUK)

DIR. CHARLES OFFICER, 2020, ONTARIO, 90 MINUTES

DIR. THOMAS VINTERBERG, 2020, DENMARK, 116 MINUTES

During what is supposed to be a simple, routine handoff, 40-year-old drug trader Akilla Brown is suddenly caught in the middle of a violent robbery. Narrowly making it out alive, he captures one of the thieves, a teenaged Jamaican boy named Sheppard. Under the pressure of the criminals who hired him, Akilla must set things right and retrieve the stolen goods over the course of one arduous night.

When Akilla discovers that Sheppard’s gang has ties to the same crime organization he fell into as a child, he has to confront his own traumatic origins and becomes compelled to help the boy survive — and possibly even make the escape that he never could. Set in parallel timelines in present-day Toronto and 1990s Brooklyn, Akilla’s Escape illustrates how the oppressive cycle of violence manifests in different generations and just how difficult it is to break. - Toronto International Film Festival

SCREENING SPONSOR: CHINOOK BOOKKEEPING SERVICES

Content advisory for strong language and violence.

Four friends, all teachers at various stages of middle age, are stuck in a rut. Unable to share their passions either at school or at home, they embark on an audacious experiment from an obscure philosopher: to see if a constant level of alcohol in their blood will help them find greater freedom and happiness. At first, they each find a newfound zest, but as the gang pushes their experiment further, issues that have been simmering for years come to a head and the men are faced with a choice: reckon with their behavior or continue on the same course.

Underscored by delicate and affecting camerawork, director Thomas Vinterberg’s spry script uses this bold premise to explore the euphoria and pain of an unbridled life. Playing a once brilliant but now world-weary shell of a man, the ever surprising Mads Mikkelsen delivers a fierce and touching performance.

Winner of 4 European Film Awards.

Content advisory for strong language, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

33

Audrey’s Story

Beans

AUDREY’S STORY

BEANS

DIR. MICHELLE DEROSIER (ANISHINAABE), 2019, ONTARIO, 22 MINUTES

DIR. TRACEY DEER, 2020, KAHNAWAKE/ QUEBEC, 92 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON ABORIGINAL WOMEN’S COUNCIL

OPENING FILM CO-SPONSORS: TELEFILM CANADA, CANADA MEDIA FUND

This short doc honours the life of Audrey Anderson, while revealing the injustices of a flawed judicial system. For forty-seven years, Audrey’s family wondered about the circumstances of her death and the rigour of the investigation by Ontario Provincial Police and Chief Coroner — who had deemed that her death in 1972 was ‘accidental’. With the help of the Family Information Liaison Unit, Audrey’s family managed to have the investigation reopened and the cause of Audrey’s death reclassified to ‘undetermined’.

Set in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, this important film is an expression of compassion and accountability in a nation-wide crisis, with many key voices working together to obtain the truth and respond appropriately.

This event will be followed by a live, virtual Q&A with the writer/director, Tracey Deer that will be hosted by filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers.

This film is dedicated to Audrey Anderson, and to all families with murdered and missing loved ones.

Twelve-year-old Beans is on the edge: torn between innocent childhood and reckless adolescence; forced to grow up fast and become the tough Mohawk warrior she needs to be during the Oka Crisis, the turbulent Indigenous uprising that tore Quebec and Canada apart for 78 tense days in the summer of 1990.

Beans skillfully navigates the nuances of this friction to deliver a compelling, important message on self-identity in a broad societal context. Similar to how Alanis Obomsawin blazed a trail for authentic Indigenous onscreen narratives with Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Deer forges her own creative path to explore the harrowing events at Kahnawá:ke that are rooted in her own experience as a teenager coming of age during the Oka Crisis.

“With its sensitive portrayal of internal and community conflicts gleaned from lived experience, Deer’s film blazes a new trail for the next generation of Indigenous filmmakers.” - Ravi Srinivasan, TIFF Content advisories: racialized violence, implied sexual violence.

Winner of Best Canadian Feature at VIFF 2020 Selected one of TIFF Top Ten Canadian films for 2020 Second Runner-up, TIFF People’s Choice Award

34

Call Me Human (Je M’appelle Humain)

Changin’ Times of Ike White

CALL ME HUMAN (JE M’APPELLE HUMAIN)

CHANGIN’ TIMES OF IKE WHITE

DIR. KIM O’BOMSAWIN, 2020, QUEBEC, 78 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

Innu writer Joséphine Bacon leads a charge against the loss of her language, culture and traditions. Taking inspiration from the land that nurtured her, Bacon delves thousands of years back into the history of her ancestors. At 74-years-old Bacon is luminous, shifting deftly between her homeland near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and the city of Montreal which launched her career as a writer. In French and Innu with English subtitles. « Sauvage » dit Joséphine Bacon, « ça veut dire être libre entièrement. » Lorsque les anciens nous quittent, un lien avec le passé disparaît avec eux. La femme de lettres innue Joséphine Bacon incarne cette génération témoin d’une époque bientôt révolue. Avec charisme et sensibilité, elle mène un combat contre l’oubli et la disparition d’une langue, d’une culture et de ses traditions. Sur les traces de Papakassik, le maître du caribou, Je m’appelle humain propose une incursion dans l’Histoire d’un Peuple multimillénaires aux côtés d’une femme libre qui a consacré sa vie à transmettre son savoir et ce lui de ses ancêtres. Dans sa langue, innu veut dire « humain ».

DIR. DANIEL VERNON, 2019, UNITED KINGDOM, 78 MINUTES

Serving a life sentence for murder in the early 1970s, music prodigy Ike White had plenty of time to perfect his musical talent, but no hope of putting it to use in the outside world. Ike’s skills were exceptional enough, though, that his story captured the media’s attention. From this notoriety, he was able to record an album inside the prison with big-time producer Jerry Goldstein (War, Sly and the Family Stone).

Superstar Stevie Wonder lobbied successfully for Ike’s early release from prison. With an acclaimed album under his belt and the support of Wonder and others in the industry, Ike was poised for stardom. But, instead, he went off the grid for over 40 years. Daniel Vernon’s mesmerizing new documentary is unpredictable and moving, echoing the strange journey of Ike White.

Content advisory for mature themes and language.

Best Canadian Documentary, VIFF 2020 Best Canadian Documentary and People’s Choice Award, CIFF 2020

35

Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan

Driveways

CROCK OF GOLD: A FEW ROUNDS WITH SHANE MACGOWAN

DRIVEWAYS

DIR. JULIEN TEMPLE, 2020, UNITED KINGDOM, 124 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: SOLVEST INC.

Crock of Gold dives into the history of the Irish diaspora in London and the life of the tortured Irish vocalist, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of the Pogues, who famously combined traditional Irish music and literature with the visceral energy of punk rock.

Featuring unseen archival footage from the band and MacGowan’s family, as well as animation from legendary illustrator Ralph Steadman, Julien Temple’s rollicking love letter spotlights the iconic frontman up to his 60th birthday celebration, where singers, movie stars and rock ’n’ roll outlaws gather to celebrate the man and his legacy.

“Crock of Gold is a riotous piece of storytelling... “ - Jonathan Romney, Screen International Content advisory for strong language and sexual scenes.

36

DIR. ANDREW AHN, 2019, UNITED STATES, 87 MINUTES

Kathy, a single mother, travels with her shy eight-year-old son Cody to Kathy’s late sister’s house which they plan to clean and sell. As Kathy realizes how little she knew about her sister, Cody develops an unlikely friendship with Del (Golden Globe and Tony winner, Brian Dennehy), the Korean War vet and widower who lives next door. Over the course of a summer, and with Del’s encouragement, Cody develops the courage to come out of his shell and, along with his mother, finds a new place to call home. “[This] gentle and sweetly endearing...tale of a lonely eight-year-old boy who befriends the elderly Korean War vet next door is defiantly positive; a big wet kiss on the lips of a world that normalizes cynicism and celebrates conflict” - Saturday Evening Post

Father (Otac)

Fauna

FATHER (OTAC)

FAUNA

DIR. SRDAN GOLUBOVIĆ, 2020, SERBIA/FRANCE/ GERMANY/CROATIA/SLOVENIA/BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 120 MINUTES

DIR. NICOLÁS PEREDA, 2020, MEXICO/CANADA, 70 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: MEADIA SOLUTIONS

Nikola, a Serbian day laborer and father of two, is ordered to give up his children to social services after poverty and hunger drive his wife to commit a desperate act.

Until he can provide adequate conditions for their upbringing, the children will be placed in foster care. Despite Nikola’s best efforts and several appeals, the head of the social services centre refuses to return his children and his situation seems hopeless. But when Nikola discovers the local administration may be corrupt, he decides to travel across Serbia on foot and take his case directly to the national ministry in Belgrade. Against all odds and driven by love and despair, this father refuses to give up on justice and his right to raise his children. Based on a true story.

Luisa and Gabino visit their parents in a mining town in the north of Mexico.

Their father’s only interest in them is sparked

by Luisa’s actor boyfriend when he acts out the role of a narco kingpin. To cope with family tensions, Gabino imagines a parallel reality of detectives and organized crime.

The latest feature from Mexican-Canadian auteur Nicolás Pereda is a sly, comedic take on how violence in Mexico has infiltrated popular imagination.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Selected one of TIFF Top Ten Canadian films for 2020.

“An epic cross-country journey.” – Variety Content advisory for mature themes.

In Serbian with English subtitles.

37

First We Eat

Gaza Mon Amor

FIRST WE EAT

GAZA MON AMOR

DIR. SUZANNE CROCKER, 2020, YUKON, 103 MINUTES

DIR. ARAB NASSER, TARZAN NASSER, 2020, PALESTINE/ FRANCE/GERMANY/PORTUGAL/QATAR, 87 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: NORTHWESTEL COMMUNITY TELEVISION

Putting food security and her family to the test in the far North of Canada — filmmaker Suzanne Crocker removes absolutely all grocery store food from her house.

For one year, she feeds her family of five, only food that can be hunted, fished, gathered, grown or raised around Dawson City, Yukon.

Add three skeptical teenagers, one reluctant husband, no salt, no caffeine, no sugar and -40 temperatures. Ultimately the story becomes a celebration of community and the surprising bounty of food that even a tiny community in the far North can provide.

Top twenty audience favourite, Hot Docs 2020 Winner of Best in Future Watch, Docedge Film Festival, Auckland

Gaza Mon Amour is a love story between Issa, a fisherman and Sahim, a tailor. Stoic and settled into bachelor living, Issa has been ignoring his sister’s ceaseless pushes for him to find a fiancé. However, through stolen glances and awkward pauses, it’s clear he carries a secret torch for Siham. One night while out fishing — within the limited radius Gazans are restricted to sailing under the Israeli occupation — Issa brings in an unexpected haul. Instead of the usual fish, his net emerges from the Mediterranean with a statue of Apollo. A statue that is very anatomical and in a very, er, excited state. Under the cover of darkness, Issa takes the statue home. But when a certain aforementioned protruding part is broken off, it sparks a series of comic events that force Issa out of his shell while also casting light on the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of life under the Occupation and, above all, on love.

In Arabic with English subtitles.

Palestine’s submission for the 2021 Oscars.

38

ÊMÎCÊTÔSÊT: Many Bloodlines

Eatnanvulos Lottit Maan Sisällä Linnut (Birds in the Earth)

INDIGENOUS SHORTS: MATURE PROGRAM

SUODJI (SHELTER)

SCREENING SPONSOR: COUNCIL OF YUKON FIRST NATIONS

Filmmaker Marja Helander decides to fool Death, just as her relative Ovllá-Ivvár Helander did in 1918 to survive the Influenza epidemic in Utsjoki, Sápmi.

TOTAL RUNTIME: 85 MINUTES PROGRAMMED BY SIKU ALLOOLOO, ALFF ASSOCIATE PROGRAMMER

A cinematic celebration of Indigenous connections to earth and spirit world, family love, political resistance, and movement — by diverse and talented filmmakers from across Turtle Island, Aotearoa, and Sápmi.

Main themes include generational continuity, survival tactics, reclamation, and renewal.

THE FOURFOLD

BY ALISI TELENGUT (MONGOLIA/TELENGUT), 2020, QC, 7 MINUTES

A beautiful flowing portrait of animism and shamanic rituals connecting humans to nature in Mongolia and Siberia, through oil pastels mixed with plants.

ÊMÎCÊTÔSÊT: MANY BLOODLINES

BY THEOLA ROSS (PIMICHIKAMAK CREE NATION), 2020, MB, 11 MINUTES

A queer, bi-racial couple navigates having a child through the fertility treatment process, while exploring their dynamics of race, culture, class, gender roles in this heartwarming short.

NUXALK RADIO

BY BANCHI HANUSE (NUXALK), 2020, BC, 3 MINUTES

A day in the life of Nuxalk Radio 91.1 FM (Bella Coola). A radio station built to help keep the Nuxalkmc language alive and broadcast the laws of the lands and waters.

BY MARJA HELANDER (SÁMI), 2020, FIN, 4 MINUTES

KOTIRO (DADDY’S GIRL)

BY CIAN ELYSE WHITE (MĀORI), 2020, AOTEAROA/NZL, 12 MINUTES

A powerful story of the love between a father and daughter and the ability of that bond to remain, even when all else seems lost.

THE FAKE CALENDAR

BY MEKY OTTAWA (ATIKAMEKW), 2020, QC, 2 MINUTES

A neon glimpse into the sheer joy of missing out.

BECOMING NAKUSET

BY VICTORIA ANDERSON-GARDNER (OJIBWE), 2020, QC, 13 MINUTES

The extraordinary life journey of one of Montreal’s most powerful Indigenous advocates, from the ’60s Scoop to selfactualization as a leader, guided by a grandmother’s love.

EATNANVULOS LOTTIT MAAN SISÄLLÄ LINNUT (BIRDS IN THE EARTH)

BY MARJA HELANDER (SÁMI), 2018, FIN, 11 MINUTES

Two sisters dance across urban and rural landscapes to examine Sámi rights and ownership of land in today´s Finland in this gorgeous experimental short.

39

Ego of a Nation

Katinngak (Together)

INDIGENOUS SHORTS: MATURE PROGRAM (CONTINUED)

INDIGENOUS SHORTS: FAMILY PROGRAM

SOLIDIFICATION ᒪᔥᑲᐗᒋ 凝

BY LEANNE BETASAMOSAKE SIMPSON (MICHI SAAGIIG NISHNAABEG), SAMMY CHIEN OF CHIMERIK似不像, 2020, ON, 7 MINUTES

An ethereal, audiovisual excerpt from Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s new novel, “Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies”, set to a wintery soundscape.

EGO OF A NATION

BY WES DAY (ANISHINAABE) & JANET ROGERS (MOHAWK/TUSCARORA), 2020, ON, 3 MINUTES

A powerful audiovisual poem by Janet Rogers addressing injustice in the Canadian court systems — in particular, the acquittal of Colten Boushie’s murderer Gerald Stanley.

SCREENING SPONSOR: SHAUNAGH STIKEMAN BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR TOTAL RUNTIME: 67 MINUTES PROGRAMMED BY SIKU ALLOOLOO, ALFF ASSOCIATE PROGRAMMER

A sweet and moving series of glimpses into Indigenous life, through the lenses of family, fun, connections held in the land, and hard work shared by all. Featuring several films made by or with children, and by Indigenous filmmakers from across Turtle Island, Greenland, and Hawai’i.

KATINNGAK (TOGETHER)

BY GLENN GEAR (INUIT), 2020, QC, 2 MINUTES

Animal characters throat sing against a backdrop of kaleidoscopic beadwork.

TE WAO NUI

IT’S ME, LANDON

BY NGĀRIKI NGATAE (MĀORI), 2020, AOTEAROA/NZL, 11 MINUTES

BY LANDON MOISE (DENE) WITH WAPIKONI COLLECTIVE, 2018, SK, 4 MINUTES

A Māori healer uses traditional medicine to save the last of Aotearoa’s sacred Kauri trees in this beautiful, moving short film connecting spirit to earth.

Eight-year-old nature enthusiast Landon Moise takes us on a tour of his favourite forest spots in Clearwater River Dene Nation (SK).

NAJA (LITTLE SISTER)

BY MARC FUSSING ROSBACH (INUIT), 2020, GRL, 5 MINUTES

Naja flees to the land, where she is joined by two small spirits who help her move on as she transforms into the Northern Lights.

KAPAEMAHU

BY HINALEIMOANA WONG-KALU (KANAKA), 2020, AOTEAROA/NZL, 9 MINUTES

The true story of how the healing arts were brought from Tahiti to Hawaii and imbued into four stones that still stand on Waikiki Beach.

40

Spirit Bear and Children Make History

Keyboard Fantasies

THE KICK

KEYBOARD FANTASIES

BY INUKSUK MACKAY (INUIT) & CANDICE LYS (MÉTIS), 2017, NWT, 1 MINUTES

DIR. POSEY DIXON, 2020, UNITED KINGDOM, 63 MINUTES

A robot, an alien, and a zombie walk into an iglu...

As a sci-fi obsessed person living in near isolation, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote and self-released Keyboard Fantasies in Huntsville, Ontario back in 1986. Recorded in an Ataripowered home studio, the cassette featured seven tracks of a curious folk-electronica hybrid, a sound realised far before its time.

Three decades on the musician – now Glenn Copeland – began to receive emails from people across the world, thanking him for the music they’d recently discovered. Courtesy of a rare-record collector in Japan, a reissue of Keyboard Fantasies and subsequent plays

by Four Tet, Caribou and more, the music had finally found its audience two generations down the line. This compelling character documentary sees the protagonist commit his life and music to screen for the first time - an intimate coming of age story spinning pain and the suffering of prejudice into rhythm, hope and joy.

DÉLIA 9 TO 5

BY DÉLIA GUNN (ANICINAPE), 2018, MB, 4 MINUTES

An unvarnished, tender portrait of a day in the life of director Délia Gunn at Réservoir-Dozois in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (MB) while she was eight months pregnant.

SKATE BREAK

BY PEATR THOMAS (CREE), 2019, ON, 5 MINUTES

A young man takes break from work to skateboard along the streets of Winnipeg and see his favourite murals.

K’I TAH AMONGST THE BIRCH

BY MELAW NAKEHK’O (DENE), 2020, NWT, 11 MINUTES

Filmmaker Melaw Nakehk’o and family spend the pandemic at their camp in the Deh Cho (NT), “getting wood, listening to the wind, staying warm and dry, and watching the sun move across the sky.”

SPIRIT BEAR AND CHILDREN MAKE HISTORY

BY AMANDA STRONG (MICHIF), 2020, BC, 26 MINUTES

Spirit Bear journeys to Ottawa to help lead a landmark human rights case for First Nations children and make Jordan’s Principle a reality across Canada.

Top 20 audience favourite, Hot Docs 2020

SCREENS IN-CINEMA WITH: MADAME DISHRAGS DIR. CARMEN POLLARD, 2020, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 3 MINUTES

A portrait of The Dishrags—Western Canada’s first all-girl punk band.

41

Little Orphans

Mayor

LITTLE ORPHANS

MAYOR

DIR. RUTH LAWRENCE, 2020, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, 80 MINUTES

DIR. DAVID OSIT, 2020, UNITED KINGDOM/ UNITED STATES, 89 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: WINTERLONG BREWING CO.

This documentary is a real-life political saga following Musa Hadid, the Christian mayor of Ramallah, during his second term in office.

Surrounded on all sides by Israeli settlements and soldiers, most people in Ramallah will never have the chance to travel more than a few miles outside their home, which is why Mayor Hadid is determined to make the city a beautiful and dignified place to live. His immediate goals: repave the sidewalks, attract more tourism, and plan the city’s Christmas celebrations. His ultimate mission: to end the occupation of Palestine. Mayor offers a portrait of dignity amidst the madness of endless occupation while posing a question: How do you run a city when you don’t have a country?”

This indie charmer from St John’s boasts a cast and crew of over 50% women and is in the running for greatest number of awkward human moments of any film at ALFF 2021.

Little Orphans is a black comedy that tells the story of three twenty-something sisters who come home for a wedding — and subsequently become entangled in a complicated web of family secrets.

In English with closed captioned available.

Recommended ages 15+.

Content warning: Mature themes and language.

Winner of the Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature at 2020 Whistler Film Festival.

42

“There have been countless documentaries made about the West Bank experience...

Mayor offers a striking new perspective on that struggle, with a personal on-the-ground quality matched by grand tonal ambitions that makes it the best of its subgenre.” - Indiewire

Monkey Beach

My Donkey, My Lover and I (Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes)

MONKEY BEACH

MY DONKEY, MY LOVER AND I (ANTOINETTE DANS LES CÉVENNES)

DIR. LORETTA SARAH TODD, 2020, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 105 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSORS: KAREN WALKER, WAYNE TUCK, DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA | BC

In bringing Eden Robinson’s beloved novel to the screen, Loretta Sarah Todd offers us a modern epic underpinned by themes that have long defined heroic journeys.

Waking up in her East Van apartment nursing another hangover, Lisa (Grace Dove) is served notice by her cousin’s ghost (Sera-Lys McArthur), “Your family needs you.” Reunited with her Haisla kin in Kitamaat Village, she realizes that she’s meant to save her brother (Joel Oulette) from a tragic fate she’s foreseen since childhood. Of course, there’s also the matter of contending with the mystical creatures lurking in the nearby woods. And so begins a captivating allegory about learning to coexist with both the ghosts that haunt us and spirits who might enlighten us.

Loretta Todd’s first feature narrative unfolds through a thrilling array of temporal shifts and stylistic flourishes. A film about reconnection with the land, its denizens and the secrets it holds, Monkey Beach is also a testament to Indigenous women’s ability to not just endure trials but emerge from them empowered. – VIFF In Haisla and English with English subtitles.

DIR. CAROLINE VIGNAL, 2020, FRANCE/BELGIUM, 97 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSORS: ORDISH & ORDISH, ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE, GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

The “I” in this smart and funny film is Antoinette (Laure Calamy), an elementary school teacher, passionately involved with the (married) father of one of her students…

When her lover cancels their plans for a romantic tryst to vacation with his wife on a multi-day hike in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson’s pioneering memoir “Travels With a Donkey” in the Cevennes, Antoinette makes a rash decision: she will make her own way to the mountains and surprise him on the trail.

What could possibly go wrong?

Des mois qu’Antoinette attend l’été et la promesse d’une semaine en amoureux avec son amant, Vladimir. Mais, au dernier moment, il annule : sa femme a réservé une randonnée en famille dans les Cévennes avec un âne ! Abandonnée, Antoinette décide sur un coup de tête de partir, elle aussi, sur le chemin de Stevenson. À son arrivée, pas de Vladimir, mais un certain Patrick — un âne (personne n’est parfait !) récalcitrant — qui va l’accompagner dans son singulier périple...

In French with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 12+. Some mature subject matter, language, drinking and smoking.

43

My Salinger Year

Nadia, Butterfly

MY SALINGER YEAR

NADIA, BUTTERFLY

DIR. PHILIPPE FALARDEAU, 2020, IRELAND/CANADA, 101 MINUTES

DIR. PASCAL PLANTE, 2020, QUEBEC, 107 MINUTES

In New York City in the 1990s, Joanna (Margaret Qualley) is a young aspiring writer who lands a day job at J.D. Salinger’s literary agency. While her eccentric, old-fashioned boss Margaret (Sigourney Weaver) assigns her to answer Salinger’s voluminous fan mail, Joanna struggles to find her own voice.

This charming coming of age drama features excellent performances by Qualley and Weaver and is a satisfying tale about literary aspirations and fleeting contact with the famously reclusive Salinger.

SCREENING SPONSORS: NORTHERN VISION DEVELOPMENT, ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

Nadia, an Olympic swimmer, faces the challenges of her imminent retirement. At 23 she’s decided this will be her last competition however she’s still not sure what comes next. The dizzying experience of the Tokyo Olympics punctuates her search for identity outside the world of swimming.

Nadia, 23 ans, prend la décision controversée de se retirer de la natation professionnelle après les Jeux olympiques; afin de fuir une vie de sacrifice. Après sa dernière course, Nadia dérape dans les nuits d’excès, mais cet étourdissement transitoire ne peut toutefois pas occulter sa réelle quête intérieure: définir son identité en dehors du monde du sport de haut niveau.

In English and French with English subtitles.

Selected one of TIFF Top Ten Canadian films for 2020

44

No Visible Drama

Ëdhä Dädhëcha̧ / Moosehide Slide

NO VISIBLE TRAUMA

NORTH BY NORTH: SHORT FILMS FROM YUKON AND NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

DIR. MARC SERPA FRANCOEUR, ROBINDER UPPAL, 2020, ONTARIO, 95 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: MOLOTOV AND BRICKS

In the midst of a global uprising against police brutality and systemic racism, No Visible Trauma examines a deeply troubled police department and reveals the devastating consequences of unchecked police brutality.

Despite its relatively low crime rates, recent years have seen the Calgary Police Service shoot and kill more people than officers in any other Canadian city, and more than either the New York or Chicago police departments in 2018. Five years in the making, the film unravels the intertwined stories of three individuals who were the victims of extreme violence at the hands of police officers. From the kidnapping and beating of a young immigrant from Ghana, to the fatal shooting of an unarmed man during a “wellness check”, the film exposes a criminal justice system that fails to hold police officers accountable for their actions.

Content advisory for scenes of physical violence.

SCREENING SPONSOR: NORTHWESTEL COMMUNITY TELEVISION TOTAL RUNTIME: 80 MINUTES

HOPE FOR THE BEST BULLEN BROTHERS, 2021, YT, 4 MINUTES

A new Paris Pick music video! World premiere.

ËDHÄ DÄDHËCHĄ / MOOSEHIDE SLIDE DAN SOKOLOWKSI, 2020, YT, 4 MINUTES

A study on the legendary Moosehide Slide in the north end of Dawson City, Yukon made in collaboration with Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizens and elders. World premiere.

PANDEMIC AT THE END OF THE WORLD ALLAN CODE, 2020, YT, 13 MINUTES

The COVID pandemic strikes a tragically familiar chord for the Inuvialuit of the Mackenzie River Delta. In the early 19th century John Franklin and his crew infected their ancestors with deadly smallpox. Other devastating epidemics would follow. Historian Randal Pokiak returns to the ancient site of Kitigaaruk, a community abandoned after the great flu epidemic of 1918, to deliver a vivid cautionary tale. Co-produced by Whitehorse filmmaker Code along with his family members Angela Code (writing) and Michael Code (camera) in support.

45

Pandemic at the End of the World

NORTH BY NORTH: SHORT FILMS FROM YUKON AND NORTHWEST TERRITORIES (CONTINUED)

THE SALT RIVER WATER WALK KRISTA DAVIS AND JENNY ZANDER, 2020, YT/US, 12 MINUTES

Nibi (Water) walks are Indigenous-led, extended ceremonies to pray for the water. Every step is taken in prayer and gratitude for water, our life giving force. In February 2020, Sharon Day (Ojibwe) led a group of Water Walkers through the Arizona desert to walk for the Salt River.

Through animation and live-action footage, this documentary travels with the Salt River Water Walkers, describing this Indigenous-led ceremony as it creates community and builds relationships with the earth through the shared goal to care for the water.

Family Routes

RESUSITATE JULIET DI CARLO, 2020, YT, 2 MINUTES

Smart phones were not designed to be used in winter cold. Taking a photo of a moose is usually the last straw.

MILK AND PICKLE BENNIE ALLAIN, JARED KLOK AND JONNY KYLNKRAMER, 2020, YT, 5 MINUTES

An absurd conversation between two strangers in a bar. A Yukon48 short.

OFF THE RECORD YASMINE RENAUD, 2020, YT, 5 MINUTES

A report from Dawson City about the disappearance of ‘genuine thinker’ and aspirer to the Guiness Book of World Records, Steven Henderson.

THE IBEXA-LATION

Viewer discretion advised for strong language.

MARIE HAMMJE, 2020, YT, 1 MINUTE

FAMILY ROUTES

Pandemic isolation in a Yukon cabin in the Ibex Valley in April 2020.

KEITH MALCOLMSON, 2020, NWT, 30 MINUTES

SMASH DOUGLAS JOE, 2020, YT, 4 MINUTES

Small town Tinder date expectations collide in this funny mockumentary.

46

Leanne Robinson paddled across the NWT’s barren lands on a summer-long canoe trip with her partner Dwayne Wohlgemuth and their two sons: four-year-old Emile, and one-year-old Aleksi. Together they faced the challenges of living off the land and criticism back home.

Picture My Face: the Story of Teenage Head

Prayer for a Lost Mitten

PICTURE MY FACE: THE STORY OF TEENAGE HEAD

PRAYER FOR A LOST MITTEN (PRIÈRE POUR UNE MITAINE PERDUE)

DIR. DOUGLAS ARROWSMITH, 2020, ONTARIO, 86 MINUTES

DIR. JEAN-FRANCOIS LESAGE, 2020, QUBEC, 79 MINUTES

Legendary Canadian glamour-punk band “Teenage Head” from Hamilton, Ontario is determined to enter the limelight once again some 40 years after causing the notorious punk rock riots during the summer of 1980 in Toronto. But first they need to save the band’s founding member and chief songwriter from a debilitating depression. This music documentary goes beyond a biopic for fans and delves into how friends and family have banded together to support Gord Lewis whose mental health challenges keep him from finding joy in the things that give his life purpose and meaning. Featuring interviews with members of The Ramones and The Tragically Hip.

Prayer for a Lost Mitten takes us to snowy Montreal, where transit riders file into the metro system’s lost and found center to rummage for lost hand-knit toques and missing house keys, or inquire after photos of departed loved ones tucked into missing bus pass sleeves.

“Deep, real, true and touching.”

-The Toronto Sun

SCREENS ONLINE WITH: MADAME DISHRAGS DIR. CARMEN POLLARD, 2020, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 3 MINUTES

A portrait of The Dishrags who formed in 1977 on Vancouver Island—Western Canada’s first all-girl punk band. Part of a series on the history of music in BC produced for Knowledge Network.

SCREENING SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

Lesage’s interviews prompt these Montrealers to reflect on their deepest losses, including a loss of career whilst contending with chronic illness, families being displaced and torn apart by the Haiti earthquake, or an artist’s loss of his home, job, and lover to the AIDS crisis.

Through crisp black-and-white photography and a jazzy, clarinet-infused soundtrack, Lesage paints a nostalgic picture of Montreal, detailing lives moved not only by sorrow, but also by longing and joy. An empathetic community portrait to warm us through the coming winter.

- Vancouver International Film Festival La nuit tombe. Il neige sur Montréal. Des gens font la file au bureau des objets perdus de la société des transports. Tous ont perdu un objet qui, quand on s’y attarde, devient le symbole d’une perte plus profonde. Prière pour une mitaine perdue est un documentaire de création — par moment mélancolique, par moment festif, toujours amoureux — qui aide à traverser l’hiver.

Winner of Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2020

SCREENS WITH: THE BOYS DIR. VINNIE KARETAK, 2021, NUNAVUT, 9 MINUTES

World Premiere.

A beautiful, stylistic short drama about loss and remembrance, set in Iqaluit, NU. Inuktitut with English Subtitles.

47

Shiva Baby

Softie

SHIVA BABY

SOFTIE

DIR. EMMA SELIGMAN, 2020, UNITED STATES/CANADA, 77 MINUTES

DIR. SAM SOKO, 2020, KENYA/CANADA, 96 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: CKRW

Boniface “Softie” Mwangi has long fought injustices in his country as a political activist and photographer. Now he’s taking the next step by running for office in a regional Kenyan election where democracy is a burgeoning concept and campaigning politicians have long paid citizens to vote for them. Boniface faces the challenge with optimism but running a clean campaign against corrupt opponents becomes increasingly harder to combat with idealism alone. He soon finds that challenging strong political dynasties is putting his family at risk. As the election day nears and threats to his safety accumulate, he’s forced to choose whether he should continue putting his country before his family as he has so often done.

Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby focuses on twentysomething Danielle, a perennial student who’s been lying to her supportive but overbearing parents about her faltering academic career. Then again, she has a lot of secrets she’s keeping, including her relationship with an older man, Max who also gives her money. Hauled off to a shiva by her parents, she’s mortified to encounter her embittered ex Maya (Molly Gordon from Booksmart), followed by other people who make things increasingly more awkward for Danielle. Much to her chagrin, she finds out that many of them have secrets of their own.

Shiva Baby is a caustically affectionate comedy about tightly knit families and communities, and the comfort and anguish they’re often responsible for. Seligman expertly structures the film, as Danielle lurches from one potentially catastrophic encounter to another — each one threatening to expose her multiple fabrications — while navigating spilled drinks, wailing babies, and an endless string of friends and relations anxious to give Danielle advice.

Seligman’s stellar ensemble cast is spot-on.

- Toronto International Film Festival Content advisory for mature themes and nudity.

48

“Kenyan docmaker Sam Soko’s tight, wellmade Sundance prizewinner follows the political and personal rough-and-tumble of an idealistic candidate’s electoral campaign…

Eye-opening as “Softie” is as an immediate account of toxic Kenyan politics, it’s an equally moving marriage story, unsentimental but generously sympathetic in its study of a family brought to the brink of collapse for a greater good cause.” - Guy Lodge, Variety In English and Kiswahili/Kikuyu with English subtitles.

Stray

The Arctics

STRAY

THE ARCTICS

DIR. ELIZABETH LO, 2020, U.S./TURKEY, 73 MINUTES

DIR. NAOMI MARK, MARTY O’BRIEN, 2020, YUKON, 57 MINUTES

SCREENING SPONSOR: WHAT’S UP YUKON

Stray explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, following three strays — Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal — as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society that allow us an unvarnished portrait of human life — and their own canine culture. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds companions in the security guards who care for her.

The disparate lives of these canines intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians who share the streets with them. Whether they lead us into bustling streets or decrepit ruins, the gaze of these strays acts as a window into the overlooked corners of society: women in loveless marriages, protesters without arms, refugees without sanctuary. Stray is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.

In Turkish with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 8+.

Best International Documentary, Hot Docs 2020

SCREENS WITH: A SONG FOR HAIDA

A one of a kind look at the history and impacts of the Arctic Winter Games that celebrates the spirit of sport across the circumpolar North focusing on its power to inspire Northern athletes.

This documentary — filmed by Whitehorse filmmakers in several countries in the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of the games — follows the stories of characters from across the 9 contingents that make up the international competition as they prepare for the 2020 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse. From first time athletes in the Sapmi region of Norway to the experienced sledge jumpers of Yamal Russia to the Arctic Winter Games alumni of Nunavut who’ve gone on to become professional athletes and the coaches who’ve made all the difference along the way The Arctics will look at the spirit of sport across the North and its power to inspire, transform and elevate.

SCREENS WITH: KING COVID DIR. LULU KEATING, YUKON, 2020, 10 MINUTES.

What does the current pandemic look like from the point of view of the COVID-19 virus?

In this provocative and whimsical animated film, the virus voices his mission — to save the planet!

DIR. CARMEN POLLARD, 2020, BC, 5 MINUTES

At Sealand on Vancouver Island in the 1970s, a killer whale named Haida has stopped eating after the death of a mate. Musician Paul Horn starts to spend time playing his flute for Haida and empathizing with the whale’s grief — earning Haida’s trust so he will resume eating.

49

The Earth is Blue as an Orange

The Forbidden Reel

THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE

THE FORBIDDEN REEL

DIR. IRYNA TSILYK, 2020, UKRAINE/LITHUANIA, 73 MINUTES

DIR. ARIEL NASR, 2020, CANADA/AFGHANISTAN, 119 MINUTES

Single mother Anna and her four children live in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine.

While the outside world is made up of bombings and chaos, the family is managing to keep their home as a safe haven, full of life and full of light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war. The creative process raises the question of what kind of power the magical world of cinema could have during times of disaster. How to picture war through fiction?

For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human.

“Iryna Tsilyk offers an intimate and surprisingly playful family’s eye view of life in the Ukraine warzone” - Amber Wilkinson, Screendaily In Ukrainian and Russian with English subtitles.

Winner of the Best World Documentary Cinema Award, Sundance

Nothing about the bullet-scarred building — one of hundreds in central Kabul — indicates the astonishing story that unfolded within the walls of Afghan Film. It was here that an impassioned clique of filmmakers, often working across enemy lines, gave birth to a progressive national cinema in one of the most underdeveloped societies on Earth.

In an episode worthy of a spy thriller a clandestine network of cinephiles conspired to protect this precious legacy from the iconoclastic fanatics who destroyed the great Buddhas of Bamiyan. Unearthing surprising new details of the story, Afghan-Canadian director Ariel Nasr works his own cinematic magic to bring this epic history to shimmering life, juxtaposing dramatic insider testimony from “Engineer” Latif Ahmadi, Siddiq Barmak and other key players with freshly restored images from Afghan Film’s extraordinary archive. Marvelling in all the mysterious and fragile power of movies, he crafts a visually absorbing and utterly original story of modern Afghanistan.

In Dari with English subtitles.

50

The Magnetude of All Things

THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS DIR. JENNIFER ABBOTT, 2020, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 85 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSORS: YUKON CONSERVATION SOCIETY, FRIENDS OF MCINTYRE CREEK, DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA | BC

When Jennifer Abbott lost her sister to cancer, her sorrow opened her up to the profound gravity of climate breakdown.

Abbott’s new documentary The Magnitude of All Things draws intimate parallels between the experiences of grief—both personal and planetary. Stories from the frontlines of climate change merge with recollections from the filmmaker’s childhood on Ontario’s Georgian Bay. What do these stories have in common?

The answer, surprisingly, is everything.

For the people featured, climate change is not happening in the distant future: it is kicking down the front door. Battles waged, lamentations of loss, and raw testimony coalesce into an extraordinary tapestry, woven together with raw emotion and staggering beauty that transform darkness into light, grief into action.

“Harnesses a new emotion that films about climate change have yet to experience: grief.

The Magnitude of All Things moves with the unshakeable sensation of grief and loss” - Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL DIR. JENNIFER ABBOTT, JOEL BAKAN, 2020, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 106 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA | BC

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel reveals how the corporate takeover of society is being justified by the sly rebranding of corporations as socially conscious entities.

From gatherings of corporate elites in Davos, to climate change and spiralling inequality; the rise of ultra-right leaders to COVID-19 and racial injustice, the film looks at corporations’ devastating power. Countering this is a groundswell of resistance worldwide as people take to the streets in pursuit of justice and the planet’s future.

“Cutting together searing interviews with cleverly edited imagery, the film (Canadian but often focusing on the U.S.) is right up to the minute, deftly including COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter.” – Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail

51

The Painter and the Thief (Kunstneren og tyven)

The Pencil (Prostoi Karandash)

THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF (KUNSTNEREN OG TYVEN)

THE PENCIL (PROSTOI KARANDASH)

DIR. BENJAMIN REE, 2020, NORWAY, 106 MINUTES

Antonina, a smart and forceful artist (the radiant Nadezhda Gorelova) finds herself teaching art at the local school in a northern town in the taiga, home to a massive pencil-making factory, so she can be near her husband who has been wrongfully imprisoned.

Desperate for answers about the theft of her two paintings, a Czech artist seeks out and befriends the career criminal who stole them.

After inviting her thief to sit for a portrait, the two form an improbable relationship and an inextricable bond that will forever link these lonely souls.

“Filmed over three years and full of twists and turns, Benjamin Ree’s documentary skillfully plays with chronology and perspectives to build an edge-of-your-seat narrative worthy of the best fiction scripts. Constantly challenging our perceptions, his psychological study of this vulnerable and compelling duo shows that sometimes the complexity of human nature can only be grasped through art.”

- Charlotte Selb, Hot Docs “Fascinating, confounding and continually surprising.” – Wendy Ide, The Observer UK In English and Norwegian with English subtitles.

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award winner, Sundance Film Festival, 2020

DIR. NATALYA NAZAROVA, 2019, RUSSIA, 92 MINUTES

Resisting her husband’s pleas to go home to Saint Petersburg and forget about him, Antonina is making inroads with some of her students. However, she is actively opposed by 12-year-old bully Misha, the younger brother of a local gangster, and, more surprisingly, by the town residents and even her fellow teachers.

As things escalate, Antonina comes to realize she is up against a society broken to the core.

“Writer-director Natalya Nazarova counterpoints her biting critique of contemporary Russian society with the region’s luminous light and the faded beauty of its wooden buildings, structures that hint at better times in the past. And behind it all looms the forest and the huge factory that transforms the towering trees into the simple tool that an artist can use to express so much…” - Vancouver Intl Film Festival In Russian with English subtitles.

Content advisory: graphic physical violence, mature themes.

52

The Reason I Jump

THE REASON I JUMP DIR. JERRY ROTHWELL, 2020, UNITED KINGDOM, 82 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON NEWS

In 2007, Naoki Higashida, a non-speaking autistic 13-year-old in Japan, released the bestselling memoir “The Reason I Jump.”

Taking this ground-breaking first-person account of a child’s experience of autism as his guide, award-winning filmmaker Jerry Rothwell (How to Change the World) dramatizes Higashida’s prose via an alter ego who shares what is in his mind and insights into his behaviour.

These imaginative sequences are woven with chronicles of five other young non-verbal people with autism and their families, from India, Sierra Leone, the UK and USA. Amrit expresses her complex interior life through her drawings, while Ben is able to declare the infringement of his civil rights using an alphabet board. Taken together, these impressionistic and firsthand experiences powerfully communicate the frustrations and enormous challenges of living inside a body that cannot speak.

- Myrocia Watamaniuk, Hot Docs “It’s as emotionally piercing as it is beautiful to behold... “ – Guy Lodge, Variety In English and Krio with English subtitles.

TLATSINI + THE LAST FISHERMEN + A GOLDEN VOICE A GOLDEN VOICE DIR. PATRICK SHANNON, JENN STROMM, 2021, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 6 MIN

World premiere.

An imaginative take on the origin story of one of the most iconic Haida artists, Bill Reid.

TLATSINI DIR. MIKE RUDYK, 2020, YUKON, 23 MINUTES CANADIAN DIGITAL PREMIERE

Available for the first time in Canada, ALFF is pleased to present a new version of an audience favourite from the in-cinema screenings at ALFF 2020. This documentary by Champagne and Ashihik citizen and filmmaker, Mike Rudyk is about a homecoming journey on the Taku River.

Master carver Wayne Carlick has long dreamed to see the routes his ancestors travelled along the Taku watershed and inland. In 2018, Carlick realized that dream when he and a group of Taku River Tlingit First Nations set off down the Taku River in a Traditional Tlingit ocean-going canoe.

THE LAST FISHERMEN DIR. RYAN MCMAHON, 2021, ONTARIO/MANITOBA, 22 MINUTES

ALFF 2020 guest, Ryan McMahon, has had a very busy year producing the CanadaLand podcast ‘Thunder Bay’ and now a 4-part doc series for CBC Documentary: Stories From the Land. Rainy Lake near Fort Frances, Ontario is home to Anishinaabe people who have made a life around harvesting from the lake for millenia. This story illustrates the lives of the last two commercial Indigenous fishermen, now in their 70s, and their families on Rainy Lake.

53

The Truffle Hunters

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS DIR. MICHAEL DWECK, GREGORY KERSHAW, 2020, ITALY/GREECE/UNITED STATES, 84 MINUTES SCREENING SPONSOR: KLONDIKE KETTLE CORN

Deep in the forests of Northern Italy resides the prized white Alba truffle. Desired by the wealthiest patrons in the world, it remains a pungent but rarified mystery. It cannot be cultivated or found, even by the most resourceful of modern excavators. The only souls on Earth who know how to dig it up are a tiny circle of canines and their silver-haired human companions — Italian elders with walking sticks and devilish senses of humour — who only scour for the truffle at night so as not to leave any clues for others.

Still, this small enclave of hunters induces a feverish buying market that spans the globe.

With unprecedented access to the elusive truffle hunters, filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw follow this maddening cycle from the forest floor to the pristine restaurant plate. With a wily and absurdist flare, The Truffle Hunters is a beautiful documentary that captures a precarious ritual constantly threatened by greed and outside influences but still somehow protected by those clever, tight-lipped few who know how to unearth the magic within nature.

“It’s a film to leave you with a smile on your face.” - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian In Italian with English subtitles.

54

Sing Me a Lullaby

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE + SING ME A LULLABY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DIR. TIFFANY TSUING, 2021, ONTARIO, 28 MINUTES

World Premiere.

After losing his job to the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto chef, Luke Donato, decided to teach weekly cooking classes over Zoom in the summer of 2020. A great diversity of people signed up. This humourous slice of pandemic Canadian life cleverly cuts between cooking classes on Zoom and the teacher and his students reflecting upon how their lives have changed and getting back to basics like cooking good food in season in their own homes with the virtual company of friends.

SING ME A LULLABY DIR. TIFFANY HSIUNG, 2020, ONTARIO, 29 MINUTES

In an act of love and determination, director Tiffany Hsiung embarks on a journey to Taipei to uncover the missing pieces of her mother’s fragmented past. This documentary weaves a tender, personal story about unexpected familial healing and connection.

In English and Mandarin with English subtitles.

Selected one of TIFF Top Ten Canadian short films for 2020

We’re proud of our partnership with Yukon Film Society and the Available Light Film Festival Thank You To Our Yukon Readers, Artists, Writers, Photographers, Cartoonists, Advertisers & Supporters.

For 15 years of Sharing Your Stories!

Follow us...

whatsupyukon.com 55

ALFF INDUSTRY SERIES 2021

A L FF

Hot Docs is partnering with ALFF to co-present three ‘Doc-Ignite’ seminars: $15 YFS PM / $20 non-PM > International Teaser Trailer Creation > Grant-writing for Documentary Filmmakers Virtual sessions will also include: > A LFFi Panel: Connecting Cinema with Community - FREE With Niki Little (Artistic Director, imagineNATIVE) and filmmaker Amanda Strong. > ALFFi Filmmaker Roundtable: Filmmaking from a Northern POV - FREE With Melaw Nakehk’o (Director of K’i Tah Amongst the Birch - NWT), Krista Davis (YT), Carol Geddes (YT), Naomi Mark (YT), and Pablo Saravanja (NWT), moderated by Sarah Spring, Executive Director of DOC National.

Partner: DOC BC-YT-NT

FEBRUARY 5>9

> Artist Talk: Working with Actors - Free With Tracey Deer (Director, Beans) > Masterclass: Writing and Directing for Documentary with Jennifer Abbot (Director, The Magnitude of All Things) – $15 YFS Production Members / $20 non-Production Members / Free for ALFFi Pass Holders Partner: DOC BC-YT-NT > Industry Presentations by decisionmakers and public funders - $25 / $30 > One-to-one Networking with Industry Representatives and Decision-makers* (including CBC Docs, Indigenous Screen Office, Crave/Bell Media, Telefilm Canada, National Film Board, Northwestel Community Television, Yukon Media Development and Canada Media Fund) – Free for ALFFi Pass Holders > ALFF Short Film Pitch Event - FREE Pitch Prize Sponsor: Northwestel Community TV

* One-to-One Networking meetings are for pass holders only. Pre-registration is required — please contact siku@yukonfilmsociety.com.

56

Four days of virtual industry sessions including master classes, panel discussions, decision-maker and funder presentations and the ALFF Short Film Pitch event.

Professional development activities during ALFF Industry focus on connecting industry leaders and decision-makers from across Canada and abroad with filmmakers and content producers in the Yukon, NWT and BC.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS For a detailed schedule of events please visit: yukonfilmsociety.com/alff/workshops

PASSES AND REGISTRATION ALFF Industry Passes $75 / $50 YFS Production Members – available for purchase online at alff.eventive.org/passes/buy *FREE for BIPOC, Queer or low-income creatives in the Yukon, NWT & BC (thanks to our wonderful sponsor Canada Media Fund). *FREE for Northern creatives with films screening in ALFF 2021.

Eligible registrants can contact boxoffice@yukonfilmsociety.com to collect your pass.

Individual Tickets for ALFF Industry events $15/$20 YFS Production Members, except where noted.

ALFF Industry is made possible with the support of: Canada Media Fund, DOC BC-YT-NT, Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival, Telefilm Canada

57

ALFF 2021 PRESENTERS

P R E M I E R PA R T N E R S

MAJOR SPONSOR

FESTIVAL SPONSORS

YFS ANNUAL SUPPORT

SCREENING SPONSORS