Available Light Film Festival 2020

Available Light film festival programme alff.ca 80+ films performances exhibitions ALFF Industry Yukon Arts Centre Kwanlin DĂźn Cultural Centre Old Fire Hall

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WELCOME TO ALFF 2020 Welcome to the 18th Available Light Film Festival! (We are happy to see all of you) The ALFF 2020 Opening Gala Film, Red Snow, will be presented with writer and director Marie Clements and lead actor, Asivak Koostachin in attendance. This award-winning drama set in the Northwest Territories and Afghanistan, boasts one of the most diverse casts of any Canadian feature film this year and was filmed in four languages.

Canadian films and media art take centre stage at ALFF. Our partnership with La Tournée Québec Cinéma has increased to co-presenting six feature films from Quebec this year. Several of these films were selected for TIFF’s Top Ten films of 2019 and make up three of the eight TIFF Top Ten films we’re presenting at ALFF 2020; including Zacharias Kunuk’s latest film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, and films such as Anne at 13,000 ft., Murmur, The Twentieth Century and White Lie. The Yukon Film Society is honoured to host many talented story-tellers at ALFF: star of stage and screen, Michael Greyeyes, Anishanaabe comedian and media-maker, Ryan McMahon, TIFF 2019 Rising Star, actor Kacey Rohl, Canadian filmmakers: Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kazik Radwanksi, Louise Archambault, Charles Wilkinson, Matthew Rankin, John Price, John Walker, Jonathan Frantz and Aaron Zeghers to name a few (see the full list on page 51). This year we’re hosting 40+ filmmakers, industry representatives, performing and visual artists from NWT, Yukon, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

We’re also happy to announce that more than 50% of the films we’re presenting are femaleled and directed productions. A commitment to gender equity in film needs to happen in the cinema and not just on set. There will be 71 films screened at ALFF, 12 of which will be world premieres.

The 2020 ALFF Program includes live performances in the Old Fire Hall and our late night venue – ALFF Space – in the Edgewater Hotel. Another special activity at ALFF 2020 is a day of free screenings of salient Indigenous cinema in partnership with the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre on Saturday, February 1st.

We could not present this multi-faceted nine-day festival without the generous support of our festival partners Yukon Energy and Best Western Gold Rush Inn. Thank you to Government of Yukon, Yukon Media Development, the presenting partner of the adjacent ALFF Industry conference (the 11th annual!) This support enables YFS to host decision-makers and industry delegates and to present workshops and master classes with creators who have honed their craft over many decades of filmmaking. 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 2020 possible.

Shäw níthän, Gunalchîsh, Mahsi cho, merci, gracias, chi miigwech, Salamat and thank you for coming to Available Light and making this a special community event every Yukon winter.

Vivian Belik, Co-programmer + Industry Programmer Andrew Connors, Festival Director 7

FESTIVAL TEAM Andrew Connors

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Vivian Belik

CO-PROGRAMMER

Kerry Barber

GUEST CURATOR

Angelune Drouin, Brian Eaton, Chelsea Jeffery Genesee Keevil, Jin Lee

Conor Curtis

MEDIA COORDINATOR SOCIAL MEDIA

Victoria Kennedy SOCIAL MEDIA

Kaori Torigai HOSPITALITY

Angelune Drouin

ALFF INDUSTRY ASSISTANT

Erik Pinkerton

FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHER

Sam Finton, Shawn Jo David Curtis PROJECTIONISTS

Katie Newman, Rebecca Manias

Takashi Simon-Sakurai

PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE

MULTIMEDIA CURATORS

Elyssia Sasaki

Bran Ramsey

Jona Barr Something Shows

PRODUCER

Karen Baltgailis

GUEST SERVICES PRODUCTION SUPPORT

SPONSORSHIP YFS ADMINISTRATION

Pauline Gallinat

Guiniveve Lalena

Vivian Belik

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Martina Tejmlova

TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR

ALFF TRAILER

ALFF INDUSTRY PROGRAMMER

Nèle Pigeon

ALFF INDUSTRY PRODUCER PITCH EVENT COORDINATOR

PROJECTIONIST PRINT TRAFFIC

ALFF SPACE

Kerry Barber, Tiffani Fraser Carol Geddes, Jon Gelinas Jessica Hall, Aileen Horler Victoria Kennedy, Leo Lane Moriah MacMillan, Noel Sinclair YFS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

THANK YOU! Kasey-Rae Anderson, Patrick Amyotte, Kimberley Ball, Jona Barr, Mary Bradshaw, Tanya Boone, Ross Burnett, Canada Media Fund, Shadelle Chambers, Nancy Chapelle, CINE Collective, Samuel Cohn-Cousineau, Henry Connors, Erin Corbett, David Curtis, Christa Dickenson, Louisa Di Tullio, Michele Emslie, Gimli Film Festival, Mike Gravitis, Virginie Hamel, Kanina Holmes, Hot Docs Film Festival, Independent Media Arts Alliance, Josh Jansen, Grand Chief Peter Johnston, Willow Lacosse, Larrikin Entertainment, La Tournée Québec Cinéma, François Lemieux, Camilla MacEachern, Mac’s Fireweed Books, Patrick Matheson, Scott Maynard, Katherine McCallum, Courtney McKiel, Kyle McKinnon, Iris Merritt, Metro Cinema at The Garneau, Wray Morrell, National Film Board of Canada, Tara Nickelychuk, Emmanuelle Petrakis, Brenda Pilatzke-Vanier, Casey Prescott, Road Dogs Music Supply, Screen Production Yukon Association, Andrew Seymour, Melaina Sheldon, Dan Sokolowski, Something Shows, Dylan Soo, Telefilm Canada, Stéphane Thibeault, Mike Thomas, Sophie Tremblay-Morissette, TIFF, Andrew Umbrich, Reid Vanier, VIFF, Suki Wellman, Western Arctic Moving Pictures, Courtney Wheelton, Winnipeg Film Group, Yellowknife International Film Festival.

All the festival volunteers, sponsors, supporters, guests and audiences over the last 17 years.

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FESTIVAL INFORMATION VENUES Yukon Arts Centre: 300 College Dr Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre: 1171 Front St

Old Fire Hall: 1105 Front St ALFF Space: 101 Main St (Edgewater Hotel)

All Screenings are at the Yukon Arts Centre unless noted otherwise.

FESTIVAL FRIENDS...

We encourage you to pick up your tickets before the festival or at less busy times during the festival. This enables us to start the films at their scheduled time, which makes everyone happy. Plus, breezing into the theatre, tickets already in-hand, feels pretty great.

Thank you and enjoy the festival!

TICKETS AND FILM PASSES Individual Screening Tickets: $15/$13 YFS Member or Senior $10 Youth under 16 Five Film Pass: $62.50 Ten Film Pass: $115 ALFF After Hours: $10 Cash/Credit at the door. Film Passes accepted.

ALFF Kick-Off Event – Ryan McMahon: $20. Film Passes not accepted.

ALFF Special Event – Pearle Harbour’s Agit-Pop!: $20. Film Passes not accepted.

All screenings at KDCC are free to the public. First come, first served.

WHERE TO BUY TICKETS AND PASSES Online: www.yukontickets.com Call: Yukon Arts Centre Box Office (867) 667-8574, Mon to Fri, 11am to 4pm Email: BoxOffice@yac.ca During the Festival: Box Office opens one hour before scheduled screenings.

ALFF INDUSTRY TICKETS & PASSES ALFF Industry Passes: $175/$150 YFS Production Members Individual ALFF Industry Workshop Tickets: $25/$20 YFS Production Members ALFF Industry Passes are available in person at YFS (212 Lambert St above Ordish & Ordish Accounting facing 3rd Ave) or by phone (867) 393-3456, at the door (cash and credit card) and online at ALFF.ca.

Registration gives you access to all ALFF Industry events: panels, workshops, master classes, networking events and receptions. Pre-register for individual workshops by contacting alffi@ yukonfilmsociety.com. Payment accepted: cash and credit card.

GENERAL FESTIVAL INFO ALFF Film Passes do not guarantee a seat, you must redeem for individual tickets.

All seating is General Admission.

No food or drink allowed in the Yukon Arts Centre theatre, unless in authorized YAC cups.

Please turn off cell phones. No recording devices allowed.

trailers : alff.ca

YukonFilmSociety 9

As Yukon’s Minister of Tourism and Culture it is my honour to welcome you to the 2020 Available Light Film Festival.

Now in its 18th year, the ALFF has become a treasured midwinter celebration of film and arts. Organizers have once again put together a compelling and diverse array of films, performances, Q&As and workshops, showcasing the voices, stories and creative vision of local, international and Indigenous artists. There truly is something for everyone to enjoy and experience.

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

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

Enjoy the festival!

Jeanie Dendys Minister of Tourism and Culture

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Festivals play a vital role in ensuring that Canadian films from all corners of our country are discovered and enjoyed, and that Canadian talent is in the spotlight.

The Available Light Film Festival provides a unique opportunity to do just that!

Canadian films are brought to the screen by vibrant teams that care deeply about creating the best possible product and reaching audiences at home and abroad.

As a partner of choice, Telefilm Canada is committed to seeing even bigger; and are supported in this endeavour by a growing number of public and private partners, both Canadian and foreign. With a pan-Canadian Board, we want to ensure that every corner of our country is represented and heard. We are also counting on your commitment so that our talent and their stories may take their rightful place.

Our focus remains on diversity and inclusion, so that our screens reflect who we are as a nation. We encourage the next generation to dare to make their first feature films. Indigenous filmmakers now enjoy more support, and our industry has come together to support the shared goal of gender parity. These voices are revitalizing Canada’s rich cultural heritage and ensure its bright future.

I would like to thank and congratulate all those who work to bring our diversity to the screen. And thank you, the audience, for supporting Available Light which is central to the success of our Canadian films and talent.

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

Christa Dickenson Executive Director, Telefilm Canada

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Council of Yukon First Nations is proud to support the Available Light Film Festival!

Please join us for the following events:

Saturday, Feb 1 at 11:30am Kwanlin DĂźn Cultural Centre Free stew and bannock, followed by an afternoon of Indigenous programming.

Free screenings at 12pm, 1:30pm, 3pm

Saturday, Feb 8 at 12:30pm Yukon Arts Centre The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open See page 43 for film description.

CAFÉ | OUTDOOR PATIO LOCAL BEER & SPIRITS LIVE SHOWS | YUKON SWAG Follow our events: NorthofOrdinary.com Fully licensed • Family friendly 4201 4th Avenue, Downtown Whitehorse 867-322-0359 14

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS Tear your ballot to indicate your rating from 1 (abysmal) to 10 (excellent).

Voting will end 30 minutes after the eligible screening.

Go with your gut.

The results of this balloting will determine the awards for: Canadian Documentary + Best Canadian Feature Fiction + Best + Best International Film

We want to know what you think about the films – rate every eligible film you see! Films are listed to the right in chronological order. The Ballot Box is in the Yukon Arts Centre Lobby.

Sponsored by Super Channel.

Canadian Documentary Beyond Human Power Jordan River Anderson: The Messenger The Whale and the Raven Sovereign Soil Aurora Love Nahanni: River of Forgiveness Willie Assholes: A Theory Danny Wintopia A Place of Tide and Time Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band Haida Modern The Hottest August Canadian Feature Fiction Red Snow Blood Quantum One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk L.A. Tea Time The Twentieth Century Kuessipan And The Birds Rained Down Antigone Murmur James vs His Future Self The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Anne at 13,000 ft White Lie International Films Sorry We Missed You 2040 Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin Maxima Martha: A Picture Story Martin Eden One Man Dies a Million Times For Sama Portrait of a Lady on Fire Bacurau The Seer and the Unseen Wik vs Queensland Les Miserables And Then We Danced

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MULTIMEDIA

JAN 31 - FEB 24

HWEI KI GONG

STAINED GLASS VIDEO IMPRESSIONS

Curated by Rebecca Manias and Katie Newman.

YUKON ARTS CENTRE COMMUNITY GALLERY

Hwei Ki Gong ERIN CHAM CORBETT (YUKON)

Video, joss paper, incense and canned food.

How does one partake in the rituals of a culture that is inherent, yet distant?

Stumbling through the repetitious acts of Chinese cultural rules and rituals, artist Erin Corbett honours her family. As a half-Chinese woman, affectionately called Hwai Ki Gong by her grandmother, she (mis)interprets these rules.

Through multiplicity, Corbett examines how culture is reproduction and intent: reproducing what we learn from the past, and adapting to modern lifestyle and technology. While the rituals may not be perfectly enacted, culture ultimately evolves with modern times in surprising ways.

Stained Glass Video Impressions JON GELINAS (YUKON)

Single-channel video installation This installation project explores video through an impressionist lens. Using a light diffusing screen over an undescribed video, sectioned off “stained glass” areas will capture colours and movement to express the depiction of light in its changing qualities over time. Through this effect, the viewer gets to understand the emotion, colour palette and flow of the video while never knowing the source images.

A lover of the intersection between art and technology, Jon Gelinas’ creations seek to connect with viewers on an emotional level, skewing perception to take people out of their current moment and transport them somewhere magical.

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POP-UP VIDEO GALLERY

TIME TOGETHER

JAN 31 - FEB 9

HONG KONG 1979

Featuring four short films by Yukon artists.

YUKON ARTS CENTRE LOBBY

Downtowners DIR. CHELSEA JEFFERY, 5 MIN 14 SEC

In Downtowners, long, still shots focus on specific plants in downtown Whitehorse.

What does each plant experience during its life, lived anchored to one place? What sounds, vibrations, lights, substances, other animals does it encounter in its environment, both above and below the ground?

Time Together DIR. PAULINE GALLINAT, 2 MIN 2 SEC

“Babe? … Are you listening?” Enjoy the main character’s attempt to garner their partner’s attention. Their bedtime conversation gives you a glimpse into each of their needs in that very moment. The concept of this short film evolved together with the creation of its characters. It was made for the 2019 48 Hour Film Challenge.

Hong Kong 1979 DIR. JESSICA HALL, 6 MIN 26 SEC

After removing the ‘home movie’ elements from her father’s recently digitized Super-8 film, re-editing and adding a soundtrack to direct tone, filmmaker Jessica Hall has changed this footage from her early childhood in Hong Kong into something new: a horror film, an expressionist art

film, an anthropological commentary on the permissiveness of ’70s culture, a public service announcement on what not to do in traffic… it all depends on what you see when you watch it.

Everything is Fine DIR. DEATH SHEPHERD, 4 MIN

Destroy Earth And Then HELLO Shepherd A stranger walks through seemingly abandoned streets, where the only evidence of human life is a mysterious song playing in empty vehicles that spontaneously start as the stranger passes.

Curator’s Talk MONDAY, FEB 3, 5PM YUKON ARTS CENTRE LOBBY FREE EVENT

Join Multimedia Curators Rebecca Manias and Katie Newman for a discussion of the works programmed for the 2020 Available Light Film Festival.

Presented with support from Government of Yukon, Arts Fund.

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THU JAN 30

FRI JAN 31

RYAN MCMAHON

RED SNOW

7pm Ryan McMahon: Red Man Laughing

6pm Red Snow (Opening Film)

YUKON ARTS CENTRE

DIR. MARIE CLEMENTS, 2019, BC/NWT, 100 MIN

TICKETS: $20. FILM PASSES NOT ACCEPTED.

Kick off ALFF 2020 with a live taping of Ryan McMahon’s comedy podcast Red Man Laughing – an Indigenous arts and culture podcast rooted squarely at the intersection of the good, the bad and the ugly between Indian Country and the mainstream.

Embracing McMahon’s live performance strengths, Red Man Laughing - LIVE is a live variety show complete with comedy, music, interviews and recurring segments/bits that fans, friends and followers alike have come to love!

Ryan McMahon is an Anishinaabe creative who talks, yells and writes for a living.

McMahon is originally from Couchiching First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory and was born and raised in Fort Frances, ON. He’s based out of Winnipeg, MB. Guests for this show: Plains Cree actor and director based in Toronto, Michael Greyeyes.

Métis playwright and filmmaker based on Gabriola Island, Marie Clements.

Kwanlin Dün musician and producer, based in Toronto, Jeremy Parkin.

GALA EVENT CO-SPONSORS: TELEFILM CANADA + CANADA MEDIA FUND

Dylan, a Gwich’in soldier from the Canadian Arctic, is caught in an ambush in Kandahar, Afghanistan. His capture and interrogation by a Taliban Commander releases a cache of memories connected to the love and death of his Inuit cousin, Asana, and binds him closer to a Pashtun family as they escape across treacherous landscapes and through a blizzard that becomes their key to survival.

Filmed on location in Canada’s Northwest Territories and the desert interior region of British Columbia, Red Snow paints the story of a Gwich’in man who must contend with his past in order to find his way to freedom.

A story told in three languages – Gwich’in, Inuvialuktun and Pashtun – Red Snow binds two distant cultures together in this fastpaced thriller.

Winner of the Best Canadian Feature prize at the Edmonton Film Festival and nominated Best Film at the American Indian Film Festival.

Director Marie Clements and actor Asivak Koostachin in attendance.

Opening remarks by Yukon and visiting dignitaries.

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FRI JAN 31

SAT FEB 1

BLOOD QUANTUM

BEYOND HUMAN POWER

9pm Blood Quantum

Indigenous Cinema at KDCC

DIR. JEFF BARNABY, 2019, QC, 91 MIN

Presented in partnership with Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre.

SCREENING SPONSOR: SHAUNAGH STIKEMAN BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR

The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are immune to the zombie plague. In this future cult hit, Rhymes for Young Ghouls director Jeff Barnaby returns with a visceral zombie film that is whip-smart.

In the film, Traylor (Michael Greyeyes), the tribal sheriff, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and reserve riff raff from the hordes of walking white corpses. The film speaks volumes about colonialism and Indigenous erasure calling to mind the 1990 Oka Crisis in Quebec.

As the outbreak spreads, people rush to the Mi’qmaq reserve in search of a cure.

Meanwhile the community must reckon whether to let the outsiders in risking the extinction of not only their nation, but all of humanity.

Actor Michael Greyeyes and producer John Christou in attendance.

Recommended for ages 18+ for gore, graphic violence and strong language considered unsuitable for younger audiences.

KWANLIN DÜN CULTURAL CENTRE

11:30am Stew and bannock lunch Provided by Council of Yukon First Nations.

Join us for an afternoon of Indigenous cinema and community sharing.

12pm CBC Docs: NiiSoTeWak + Beyond Human Power SCREENING SPONSOR: CBC DOCS, KWANLIN DÜN CULTURAL CENTRE. FREE EVENT

NiiSoTeWak: Two Bodies One Heart JULES KOOSTACHIN, 2017, BC, 16 MIN

Ten-year-old identical twin brothers discover what it means to be a twin in their Cree culture. A CBC Short Docs film.

Beyond Human Power GORDON LOVERIN, 2019, BC, 43 MIN

Canada once jailed Indigenous peoples for dancing, but today new generations are finding inner balance through their dance cultures. Featuring the Yukon’s Kwanlin Daghalhaan k’e dance group and the Dakhká Khwáan Dancers with DJ Dash. A CBC Absolutely Canadian film.

Filmmakers Gordon Loverin, Pamela Jones, dancers in Beyond Human Power, subject Asivak Koostachin, Lesley Birchard (CBC Docs) in attendance.

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SAT FEB 1

ELDERS

RIBADIT (PULLING IN THE BELT)

1:30pm International Indigenous Shorts

What If DIR. DANIEL KING (INDIGENOUS

FREE EVENT SCREENING SPONSOR: KWANLIN DÜN CULTURAL CENTRE

Short films by Indigenous filmmakers from around the world. Curated by Tr’ondek Hwech’in filmmaker, Kerry Barber.

Lake DIR. ALEXANDRA LAZ AROWICH (CREE), 2019, AB, 5 MIN

Cree director Alexandra Lazarowich riffs off classic vérité cinema to craft a contemporary portrait of Métis women net fishing in Northern Alberta.

Elders DIR. TONY BRIGGS (YORTA YORTA/ WURUNJERI), 2019, AUS, 10 MIN

Two Elders feel that their grandson is old enough to start learning vitally important lessons that will equip him with the necessary tools to maintain the future survival of his culture. His classroom is the expansive country of his ancestors.

Now is the Time DIR. CHRISTOPHER AUCHTER (HAIDA), 2019, BC, 16 MIN

When internationally renowned Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old, he was instrumental in changing the history of his people forever. With help from his elders and his brother Reg, Davidson committed to carving the first new totem pole in Old Massett in almost a century.

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AUSTRALIAN), 2019, AUS, 8 MIN

Floating in a timeless space, five Victorian community members contemplate what if a treaty was signed in 1788?

Moloka’I Bound DIR. ALIKA MAIKAU (HAWAIIAN), 2019, USA, 9 MIN

A wayward young man, recently released from prison, struggles to reconnect with his son and Hawaiian heritage.

Tawaw? DIR. TRISTIN GREYEYES

(MUSKEG LAKE CREE NATION), SK, 3 MIN

A young Indigenous couple moves into their new house. While unpacking, the nosey neighbourhood welcoming committee pops by with friendly chit-chat and food with a side of racism.

Ribadit (Pulling in the Belt) DIR. ELLE SOFE SARA (SAMI), 2019, NOR, 10 MIN

Ribadit/Pulling in the belt was a tradition in Sápmi. In this film we meet two elders who orchestrate this ancient tradition to life with energetic young people and dancers.

Presented with the support of Government of Yukon, Arts Fund.

SAT FEB 1

JORDAN RIVER ANDERSON: THE MESSENGER

ALFF PITCH EVENT

3pm Jordan River Anderson: The Messenger

5pm ALFF Pitch Event

DIR. ALANIS OBOMSAWIM, 2019, QC, 66 MIN

Six Yukon creative teams pitch their film projects to a guest panel in front of an audience, vying for two production prizes, each worth $5000 in cash and $5000 in services. Come out and support your friends and family competing in the ALFF Pitch Event!

FREE EVENT SCREENING SPONSOR: KWANLIN DÜN CULTURAL CENTRE

In her latest film, celebrated Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Jordan River Anderson, whose short life led to thousands of Indigenous children receiving the same standard of social, health and education services as the rest of Canadians.

While the governments of Canada and Manitoba argued over who was responsible for paying for Jordan’s care, Jordan was deprived of the appropriate medical attention he needed. This eventually initiated a battle between Jordan’s family and the government which led to the creation of Jordan’s Principle in Canada.

FREE EVENT

Prize funder: Yukon Media Development.

Prize sponsor: Northwestel Community Television.

In-kind services provided by Yukon Film Society, Screen Production Yukon Association and Northwestel Community Television.

Host: Melaina Sheldon, Inland Tlingit performer and producer based in Teslin.

The very timely Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger completes, on an optimistic note, the film cycle devoted to the rights of Indigenous children and peoples that began with The People of the Kattawapiskak River.

Opening remarks by Shadelle Chambers, Executive Director, Council of Yukon First Nations.

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SUN FEB 2

THE WHALE AND THE RAVEN

THE PROVIDER

11am The Whale and the Raven

1:30pm North by Northwest: Yukon Short Films

DIR. MIRJAM LEUZE, 2019, GER/CAN, 101 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: FRIENDS OF MCINTYRE CREEK

The imminent construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporting plant in the community of Kitimat, BC, promises to bring increasing tanker traffic and noise, with unknown consequences. The many issues around this development have drawn scientists, the Gitga’at First Nation, and the Government of British Columbia into a complex conflict. Filled with animated storytelling, stunning footage, and a soundscape composed of recordings of the natural world, The Whale and the Raven is a portrait of a remarkable marine ecosystem.

Screens with: Shadow Trap

DIR. VARIOUS, 2019, YT, 60 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: NORTHWESTEL COMMUNITY TELEVISION

Filmmakers and subjects in attendance: Mike Rudyk, Wayne Carlick, Annie Kearns, Lulu Keating, Aud Fischer, Jayden Soroka and Gary Sidney.

The Provider DIR. JAYDEN SOROKA, 2020, YT, 6 MIN

Brings to life the experience of a man’s first hunt at the age of 33, 18 years later than tradition holds, an event that would define his place in his community and open his eyes to where he belongs. Co-written and produced by Gary Sidney. World premiere.

DIR. MICHAEL BOURQUIN, DAMIEN GILLIS, 2019, BC, 16 MIN

Picnic at Guggieville

Gitxan traditional territory, 1908: Indigenous businessman Simon Gunanoot – labelled a “terrible savage” for allegedly killing two white men – is in hiding during a brutally cold winter. Meanwhile, in Hazelton, a failed prospector decides to head deep into the Skeena Mountains in pursuit of Gunanoot and the $1,000 bounty on his head.

The hoity-toity Guggenheim clan enjoy a picnic in Guggieville – once the setting of their profitable gold-dredging operation.

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DIR. ANNIE KIERANS, 2019, YT, 10 MIN

Midas and Amara are Absolutely no good for the Film Project DIR. AUD FISCHER, 2020, YT, 4 MIN

When working with animals, things do not always go as planned. Midas and Amara, two mice, become far too enthusiastic during their film shoot. World premiere.

SUN FEB 2

TLATSINI

ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF NOAH PIUGATTUK

Compassion For the Hungry

3:15pm One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

DIR. LULU KEATING, 2020, YT, 6 MIN

A woman prospector, alone in the Yukon wilderness; a man crazed with hunger.

What will happen when they meet?

World premiere.

Tlatsini DIR. MIKE RUDYK, 2020, YT, 30 MIN

This documentary by Champagne and Ashihik member and filmmaker Mike Rudyk is about a homecoming journey on the Taku River. Master carver Wayne Carlick has long dreamed of seeing 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. World premiere.

DIR: Z ACHARIAS KUNUK, 2019, NU, 113 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: MUKTUK ADVENTURES

In Kapuivik, north Baffin Island in 1961, Noah’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dog team as his ancestors did when he was born in 1900. When a white man known as Boss arrives at Piugattuk’s hunting camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change. Boss is an agent of the government, assigned to get Piugattuk to move his band to settlement housing and send his children to school so they can get jobs and make money. But Kapuivik is Piugattuk’s homeland. He takes no part in the Canadian experience; and cannot imagine what his children would do with money. In Inuktitut with English subtitles.

Producer/cinematographer, Jonathan Frantz in attendance.

Zacharias Kunuk will participate in Q&A by video connection.

Recommended for general audiences.

Selected for the TIFF Top Ten Canadian films of 2019

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SUN FEB 2

SOVEREIGN SOIL

AURORA LOVE

6:30pm Sovereign Soil

8:45pm Aurora Love

DIR. DAVID CURTIS, 2019, YT, 91 MIN

DIR. FRITZ MUELLER, 2019, YT, 52 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: WAYFARER OYSTER HOUSE

SCREENING SPONSOR: NORTHERN TALES TRAVEL SERVICES INC.

At the far-flung edge of Canada’s boreal forest, outside Dawson City, Yukon, a handful of unlikely farmers are growing everything from snow-covered Brussels sprouts to apples. These modern-day agrarians have carved out small patches of fertile soil in an otherwise unforgiving expanse of isolated wilderness to make a living and a life.

The neon lights of downtown Tokyo are a world away from the darkness and cold of the Canadian North. But for many Japanese the opportunity to see the aurora borealis is a once in a lifetime trip. Whitehorsebased filmmakers Teresa Earle and Fritz Mueller follow three different groups of people who travel to Yellowknife in search of the elusive phenomena. Amongst the tourist expeditions and sight-seeing trips, something mysterious begins to happen. The North, in all its silence and expanse, strips away the superficial stuff, revealing more elemental needs and desires. Be it hope, connection or transcendence, the aurora provides different things to each person. In Japanese and English with English subtitles.

Over the course of a year, Dawson filmmaker David Curtis follows these resilient, unassuming farmers – including a German immigrant, a young family that taps birch trees for syrup, First Nations youth who have learned how to farm and raise livestock, and a matriarch who can shoot and quarter a moose – exploring life, death, and time through the simple, rich dayto-day of people deeply tied to the wilds.

Sovereign Soil is an ode to the beauty of this ferocious, remote land and the wisdom of those who’ve chosen to call it home.

Director David Curtis, cinematographer John Price, editor Graham Withers, producers Andrew Connors and Shirley Vercruysse and cast and crew in attendance.

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Director Fritz Mueller and producer Teresa Earle in attendance.

“Beautifully filmed, a visual treat. Helps to amplify the appeal of the aurora and the transcendental depths it evokes among many. Wonderful work, from Yukon talent and highly recommended.” ~Brian Eaton, ALFF Programming Committee Member Presented in Partnership with Northwestel Community Television.

SUN FEB 2

MON FEB 3

STORIES FOR THE ARCTIC REFUGE

SORRY WE MISSED YOU

Screens with: Stories for the Arctic Refuge

12pm Sorry We Missed You

DIR. KRISTA DAVIS, 2020, YT, 15 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: CINE COLLECTIVE

Follows a group who are hiking through Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in hopes of meeting the Porcupine Caribou Herd. The narrator, admitting to a perverse desire to be close to everything, wants nothing but to spoon a caribou. Dawsonbased Davis uses video art to intercut the documentary scenes with vignettes that propose exercises for restructuring our relationship to animals, land and the resources we pull from it. In Japanese and English with English subtitles.

Hoping that self-employment through gig economy can solve their financial woes, a UK delivery driver and his wife struggling to raise a family that end up trapped in the vicious circle of this modern-day form of labour exploitation. Social realism from legendary English director Ken Loach (i, Daniel Blake, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Angel’s Share).

DIR. KEN LOACH, 2019, UK/FRA/BEL, 101 MIN

Presented in partnership with Northwestel Community Television.

“It’s fierce, open and angry, unironised and unadorned, about a vital contemporary issue whose implications you somehow don’t hear on the news.” ~Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

9:30pm ALFF After Hours: Stand-Up Comedy

Recommended for ages 12+ for strong language and themes.

EDGEWATER HOTEL TICKETS: $10 AT THE DOOR FILM PASSES ACCEPTED

Winnipeg-based Anishinaabe comedian and creative Ryan McMahon performs live at the ALFF Space. Whitehorse’s own comedy genius, Jenny Hamilton will open – hot on the heels of her new recording, Kegels Champion.

Presented in partnership with Something Shows.

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MON FEB 3

NAHANNI: RIVER OF FORGIVENESS

WILLIE

2:30pm Nahanni: River of Forgiveness

6pm Willie

DIR. GEOFF BOWIE, 2019, ON/NWT, 94 MIN

DIR. LAURENCE MATHIEU-LÉGER, 2019, USA/ CAN, 89 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: ORDISH AND ORDISH CHARTERED PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS

The Nahanni River runs through one of the wildest and most fascinating landscapes in the world. Celebrated as Canada’s Grand Canyon, the Na’ha Dehé (Nahanni) is within the traditional Indigenous territory of the Dehcho Dene.

In 2017 a group of Dene led by Grand Chief Herb Norwegian reconnect with the spirit of their ancestors on an epic journey through their most sacred land. High in the mountains near the headwaters of the Nahanni, the Dene build a 45-foot long boat of moose skins stretched over a spruce wood frame. No boat of this size or construction has been seen on the Nahanni in a hundred years. The Dene set off on a wild 500km river ride in a boat whose safety is in doubt.

Recommended for ages 10+.

SCREENING SPONSOR: DRIVING FORCE

Willie O’Ree changed hockey forever on Jan. 18, 1958. In the midst of America’s tumultuous fight to end Jim Crow and the birth of the civil rights movement, Willie – the descendant of escaped slaves – became the first black player to skate in a National Hockey League game. He was blind in one eye – an extraordinary secret that only his sister knew.

He played 45 games in the NHL and then 22 years of minor league hockey. When he was asked to become the NHL’s diversity ambassador in 1994, he was 60 years old.

He took the job, and he has never stopped.

Now, 60 years after Willie broke the NHL’s color barrier, a grassroots movement is working to get him into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Director Laurence Mathieu-Léger in attendance.

Willie O’Ree will participate in Q&A by video connection.

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MON FEB 3

L.A. TEA TIME

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

6:30pm L.A. Tea Time

stunning retelling of how William Lyon Mackenzie King became Prime Minister – and all the seals he had to club along the way. King seems destined to earn Canada’s crown, but just how much debasement and degradation must an ambitious young politician endure in such a noble pursuit?

Quite a lot, it seems. Particularly when the affection of an unattainable woman becomes his priority. Along his epic journey, King will encounter devastating heartbreak, fascistic corruption, hilarious diversions to the outsider cities of Vancouver and Winnipeg, and…kinky boot sniffing.

OLD FIRE HALL DIR. SOPHIE BÉDARD MARCOTTE, 2019, QC, 82 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

Enduring the bleakness of another Montreal winter, filmmaker Sophie Bédard Marcotte writes an email to her idol, Miranda July, with the hope of setting up a meeting in Los Angeles. Growing tired of waiting for a reply, Sophie and her director of photography set off for California. During the course of their travels, unexpected encounters with colourful characters and inspirational forays across unfamiliar landscapes instil Sophie with a renewed sense of purpose. Cinéma vérité with both meditative and whimsical twists.

Director Sophie Bédard Marcotte in attendance.

Presented in partnership with La Tournée Québéc Cinéma.

8:30pm The Twentieth Century DIR. MATTHEW RANKIN, 2019, QC, 90 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: WHAT’S UP YUKON

An incendiary send-up of Canadian identity, history, and politics, Winnipeg-born Matthew Rankin’s insanely brilliant feature debut is a hilariously irreverent, visually

Visually dazzling, Rankin’s expressionist sets and 16mm aesthetic give the film an artisanal look and feel that place the film out of both contemporary and historical time.

In its own mischievous myth-making, The Twentieth Century skewers the formation and perpetuation of national narratives. ~Vancouver International Film Festival Recommended for ages 14+. Contains mature subject matter.

Director Matthew Rankin in attendance.

Selected for the TIFF Top Ten Canadian films of 2019.

Presented in partnership with La Tournée Québéc Cinéma.

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MON FEB 3

TUES FEB 4

JEREMY PARKIN

2040

9:30pm ALFF After Hours: Jeremy Parkin

9:30am 2040 (ALFF for schools)

EDGEWATER HOTEL TICKETS: $10 AT THE DOOR FILM PASSES ACCEPTED

Jeremy Parkin is a music producer, born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon. At the age of 11 his love of music began by learning to play the guitar. After moving into music production a few years later Jeremy has spent the majority of his time producing electronic music and hip hop. Jeremy utilizes everyday found sounds and samples to create a blend of ambient, lo-fi, instrumental hip hop and downtempo music. Parkin performs an electronic and guitar score as accompaniment to archival films.

This performance is presented with support from Music Yukon.

Presented in partnership with Something Shows.

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DIR. DAMON GAMEAU, 2019, AUS, 90 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON CONSERVATION SOCIETY

2040 looks to the future, with interviews from around the world focusing on climate, economics, technology, civil society, agriculture and sustainability. Structured as a visual letter to his 4-year-old daughter, director Damon Gameau embarks on a multi-country journey to explore what the future would look like by the year 2040, if we simply embraced the best solutions to the climate crisis already available to us.

Grades 5 and up. Discount tickets available for educators! Contact alffproducer@ yukonfilmsociety.com for more info.

There are a limited number of tickets available to the general public for this screening. Seating in the balcony.

TUES FEB 4

KUESSIPAN

THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS

12pm Kuessipan

12pm Analog Film Panel

DIR. MYRIAM VERREAULT, 2019, QC, 117 MIN

OLD FIRE HALL FREE EVENT

SCREENING SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

Old is the new young! Many of the films at ALFF 2020 were shot on actual celluloid film. Analog Avant-garde filmmakers John Price and Aaron Zeghers talk about shooting and projecting with physical analog media: 8mm, 16mm and 35mm.

Moderated by Dan Sokolowski, filmmaker and Dawson City International Short Film Festival programmer.

Adapted from Naomi Fontaine’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name, this compelling drama follows two girls growing up as best friends in a Quebec Innu community. While Mikuan (Sharon Fontaine-Ishpatao) has a loving family and is destined for a promising life outside of her hometown, Shaniss (Yamie Grégoire) is picking up the pieces of her shattered childhood. As children, they promised each other they’d stick together no matter what.

But as they grow older, issues of race and class boil to the surface and Shaniss begins to feel abandoned when Mikuan falls for a white boy and starts to dream of a life beyond the one they know. In French and Innu with English subtitles.

Actor Sharon Fontaine-Ishpatao in attendance.

Recommended for ages 13+. Strong language and mature content.

Presented in partnership with La Tournée Québéc Cinéma.

2:30pm ALFF Redux: The Company of Strangers DIR. CYNTHIA SCOTT, 1990, QC, 101 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON NEWS

A bus breaks down in the wilderness. Eight elderly women and a young bus driver are stranded at a deserted farmhouse. They have only their wits, their memories, and eventually some roasted frogs’ legs, to sustain them. Through the long days and nights this remarkable group of strangers share their life stories and exchange intimate thoughts; turning the crisis into a magical time of humour and spirit. Featuring non-professional actors and spontaneous dialogue, this memorable film dissolves the barrier between fiction and reality, weaving a heartwarming tale of friendship and courage.

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80+ films performances exhibitions ALFF Industry TIME

THURSDAY, JAN 30

VENUE

PAGE

7pm

Red Man Laughing – live podcast taping**

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Gallery Lobby Lobby YAC YAC

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Gallery YAC YAC YAC YAC YAC EDW

49 22 22-23 23 24 24-25 25

YAC YAC Lobby YAC OFH YAC EDW

25 26 16-17 26 27 27 28

YAC OFH YAC YAC YAC YAC OFH

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FRIDAY, JAN 31

5pm 5pm 5-6pm 6pm 9pm

Multimedia Exhibitions open* Pop-Up Video Gallery opens* Opening Gala reception* Opening Film: Red Snow Blood Quantum SATURDAY, FEB 1

11:30am 12pm 1:30pm 3pm 5pm

Stew and bannock lunch* Beyond Human Power + NiiSoTeWak* International Indigenous Shorts* Jordan River Anderson: The Messenger* ALFF Pitch Event* SUNDAY, FEB 2

11am 11am 1:30pm 3:15pm 6:30pm 8:45pm 9:30pm

Northern Sights VR opens* The Whale and the Raven North by Northwest: Yukon Short Films (World premieres) One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk Sovereign Soil Aurora Love (+ Stories for the Arctic Refuge) ALFF After Hours: Stand-up Comedy MONDAY, FEB 3

12pm 2:30pm 5pm 6pm 6:30pm 8:30pm 9:30pm

Sorry We Missed You Nahanni: River of Forgiveness Curator’s Talk: Multimedia + Pop-Up Video Gallery Willie L.A. Tea Time The Twentieth Century ALFF After Hours: Jeremy Parkin TUESDAY, FEB 4

9:30am 12pm 12pm 2:30pm 5:30pm 8:30pm 8:30pm

2040 (ALFF For Schools) Lunch Artist Talk: Analog Film* Kuessipan ALFF Redux: The Company of Strangers And the Birds Rained Down Antigone Analog Avant-Garde: 16mm Film Performances

TIME

WEDNESDAY, FEB 5

VENUE

PAGE

12pm 12pm 2pm 5:45pm 6pm

Artist Talk: Documentary Film Panel* Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin ALFF Redux: Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment Assholes: A Theory Murmur

OFH YAC YAC YAC OFH

34 34 34 35 35

8pm 8:15pm 9:30pm

Danny (+ Monolith) Maxima ALFF After Hours: Owen Steel

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THURSDAY, FEB 6

12pm 2pm 5:45pm 8:15pm 9:30pm

Martha: A Picture Story (+ All it Gives) Martin Eden Wintopia James vs His Future Self ALFF After Hours: with NÀHGĄ FRIDAY, FEB 7

12pm 2:30pm 5:15pm 7:30pm 9:30pm 10pm

A Place of Tide and Time One Man Dies a Million Times For Sama Portrait of a Lady on Fire ALFF After Hours: Something Shows Takeover Bacurau (+ The Changeling) SATURDAY, FEB 8

10:30am 12:30pm

The Seer and the Unseen (+ Ecology of Perception) The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (+ Cedar Tree of Life)

YAC YAC

42 43

2:30pm 3pm 6pm 8:30pm 9pm

Northern Sights – VR Artist Talk with Casey Koyczan Anne at 13,000 ft.

White Lie Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band ALFF Special Event: Pearle Harbour: Agit-Pop!**

Lobby YAC YAC YAC OFH

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SUNDAY, FEB 9

10:30am 12:15pm 2:30pm 5pm 7pm

Wik vs Queensland Les Miserables Haida Modern The Hottest August And Then We Danced (+ By Your Side) FESTIVAL VENUES

YAC KDCC OFH Lobby

Yukon Arts Centre Theatre Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre Old Fire Hall YAC Lobby

Gallery EDW * **

YAC Community Gallery ALFF Space (Edgewater) Free Screening/Event Special Event (Film Passes not accepted)

TUES FEB 4

AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN

ANTIGONE

5:30pm And The Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux)

8:30pm Antigone

DIR. LOUISE ARCHAMBAULT, 2019, QC, 126 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

SCREENING SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION FRANCO-YUKONNAISE

Three elderly hermits live deep in the woods, cut off from the rest of the world. While wildfires threaten the region, their quiet life is about to be shaken by the arrival of two women... A luminous older woman unjustly institutionalized her whole life, and a young photographer charged with interviewing survivors of the region’s deadliest forest fire.

A story of intertwined destinies, where love can happen at any age.

In French with English subtitles.

Director Louise Archambault in attendance.

“Touching, heartbreaking and dangerously thought-provoking, And the Birds Rained Down will force you to re-examine your relationship with yourself, the world around you and the people you love. All while daring you to assess the walls you’ve built, lest they’ve trapped you in a life you fell into.” ~The Globe and Mail Selected for the TIFF Top Ten Canadian films of 2019.

Presented in partnership with La Tournée Québéc Cinéma.

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DIR. SOPHIE DERASPE, 2019, QC, 109 MIN

A modern-day retelling of the Greek classic Antigone, acclaimed filmmaker Sophie Deraspe (The Amina Profile) digs into the psyche of an immigrant family in Montreal whose lives are turned upside down when a family member is killed by the police.

Fleeing to Canada as toddlers following the murder of their parents, Antigone and her three siblings build a modest life for themselves under their grandmother’s care.

But tragedy strikes when Antigone’s brother Étéocle is wrongfully killed by the police and her other brother Polynice is jailed and threatened with deportation. A tenacious teenager and straight-A student, Antigone hatches a plan to break Polynice out of jail.

In French with English subtitles.

Winner of Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“The film is an incisive critique of the power imbalance between citizens and immigrants and the hypocrisy of an unjust justice system. It jolts the viewer out of complacency.” ~Now Magazine Presented in partnership with La Tournée Québéc Cinéma.

TUES FEB 4

JOHN PRICE FILM WORKS

HOLLAND, MAN.

8:30pm Analog Avant-Garde: A Double Feature of 16mm performances

Preceded by: Holland, Man.

OLD FIRE HALL

Multi-screen projection using 3 x 16mm projectors, 1 x Super8 projector, 1 x video projector with digital audio, violin and banjo.

SCREENING SPONSOR: WINTERLONG BREWING COMPANY

John Price Film Works DIR. JOHN PRICE, ON, 60 MIN

A live 16mm performance with accompanying music from Toronto-based sound artist, Greg Jones, that utilizes analog methods of image making to explore narratives of family, therapy, community, urban strife and wildlife. John’s work has been produced with support from the National Film Board of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council, and has been exhibited at festivals and galleries internationally. He has also produced film projections for opera and dance and is presently working on a featurelength series of hand-processed, handprinted 35mm films.

DIR. AARON ZEGHERS, 2015, MB, 21 MIN

As two growing years pass, Don Zeghers – a farmer from Holland, Manitoba – phases out his multi-generational family farm.

His son Aaron Zeghers follows this life change and the dissolution of the family farm – perhaps a microcosm of the modern industrialized world. Nature is contrasted with industrial might in this sentimental and existential portrait of one’s own family.

Presented with support of Government of Yukon, Arts Fund.

Works shown include: Detroit 2010-2016 “Speaks to guns and

chickens ... urban transport ... people on the move ... film reels and field recordings.”

Dispersal Area 2019 “Toronto parade day” Seven 2019 “Portraits of my father and my

son ... indoor and outdoor ... galaxies and stars ... ”

33

WED FEB 5

NOMAD

CINÉMA VÉRITÉ: DEFINING THE MOMENT

12pm Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin

12pm Documentary Film Panel

DIR. WERNER HERZOG, UK, 81 MIN

Mira Burt-Wintonick (Wintopia), John Walker (Assholes: A Theory), David Curtis (Sovereign Soil), Fritz Mueller (Aurora Love). Moderated by Aaron Zeghers, filmmaker and festival programmer from Manitoba. A wide ranging discussion about contemporary documentary filmmaking.

SCREENING SPONSOR: MIDNIGHT SUN COFFEE ROASTERS

When British writer and adventurer Bruce Chatwin was dying of AIDS, he gave his friend Werner Herzog the rucksack that he carried on all of his adventures around the world. Now, three decades later, carrying the rucksack, Herzog sets out on his own journey inspired by Chatwin’s passion for the nomadic life. From Patagonia, to the gorgeous landscape of Wales, to the Australian outback, Nomad offers a fitting and thought-provoking tribute to a man whose work explores human restlessness and wandering, borders and exile, and art and objects.

Told in Werner Herzog’s distinctive style, Nomad is a portrait of one of the 20th century’s most charismatic writers, full of memorable characters and encounters.

OLD FIRE HALL FREE EVENT

2pm ALFF Redux: Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment DIR. PETER WINTONICK, 1999, QC, 102 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA

Crisis, Lonely Boy, Chronicle of a Summer.

You may not know these films, but you see their influences every day – in everything from TV news to music videos to webcams.

The cinéma vérité (or direct cinema) movement of the ’50s and ’60s was driven by a group of rebel filmmakers tired of stilted documentaries. They wanted to show life as it really is: raw, gritty, dramatic. Rich in excerpts from vérité classics, Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment is the first film to capture all the excitement of a revolution that changed movie-making forever.

Directed and narrated by Peter Wintonick, whose co-directed film Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is one of the bestselling documentaries of all time.

34

WED FEB 5

ASSHOLES: A THEORY

MURMUR

5:45pm Assholes: A Theory

6pm Murmur

DIR. JOHN WALKER, NS, 81 MIN

DIR. HEATHER YOUNG, NS, 84 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: MOLOTOV AND BRICKS TATTOO

OLD FIRE HALL

With rampant narcissism threatening to trash civilization as we know it, the time has come for Assholes: A Theory, an entertaining and oh-so-timely new doc from acclaimed director John Walker. Built around a lively conversation with Aaron James, author of the New York Times bestseller of the same name, this Hot Docs 2019 favourite investigates the breeding grounds of contemporary ‘asshole culture,’ from Ivy League frat clubs and Silicon Valley to Wall Street and beyond. Why do assholes thrive in certain environments? What explains their perverse appeal and success? Monty Python’s John Cleese, LGBTQ activist Vladimir Luxuria, former RCMP officer Sherry Lee Benson Podolchuk and more weigh in on the rise of asshole-dom. In English and Italian with English subtitles Director John Walker in attendance.

Recommended for ages 12+ for mild language.

Screening preceded with a music set by Yukon-based artist Selina Heyligers-Hare at 5:20pm.

SCREENING SPONSOR: ES ARTS

After an impaired-driving charge, Donna (Shan MacDonald), a lonely woman in her 60s, fulfills a community service sentence at a local animal shelter. Estranged from a daughter who won’t return her messages, Donna finds a source of desperately needed companionship when she takes home an ailing dog named Charlie about to be euthanized. Soon, she violates regulations and fills her apartment with more and more pets as she tries in vain to fill a chasmic emotional void.

In her heartbreaking and pointedly unsentimental debut feature, Heather Young squarely looks at her protagonist’s inner world with compassion without shying away from the selfishness of projected love and care, and its potential to become a blinding and consuming force.

Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival Discovery Prize.

Recommended for ages 14+.

Presented with support from Music Yukon.

35

WED FEB 5

DANNY

MAXIMA

8pm Danny

8:15pm Maxima

DIR. AARON ZEGHERS AND LEWIS BENNETT, 2019, MB/BC, 50 MIN

DIR: CLAUDIA SPARROW, 2019, USA, 88 MIN

OLD FIRE HALL

After being diagnosed with leukemia in 1993, Danny picks up a camcorder and creates a film with himself as the central character. The lo-fi Vancouver cityscape reflects back an alienated existentialism as Danny grapples with his personal demons, spurred on in the face of his own mortality.

Danny – as himself – is impressive, funny, and intelligent enough to have built his own sailboat, but also neurotic and full of regret.

What comes forth is a sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartbreaking documentary about disease, mental illness, manhood, and the meaning of life.

Director Aaron Zeghers in attendance.

Screens with: Monolith DIR. GABRIEL BULLEN, 2018, YT, 3 MIN

Examines U.S. artist Richard Serra’s enigmatic installation, East-West/West-East, located deep in the desert of Qatar.

Director Gabriel Bullen in attendance.

36

SCREENING SPONSOR: NORTHERN COUNCIL FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION

This inspiring and harrowing documentary is named for an Indigenous woman from the Peruvian Andes who cannot read or write, but stands up to one of the largest gold producers in the world, US-based Newmont Mining Corporation, who has claimed ownership of her land in order to expand its multi-billion dollar gold mine. The mining company terrorizes Maxima’s livestock and destroys her crops in an effort to lay claim to her land. In this David vs Goliath story we witness Máxima’s courage as she fights back to protect the one thing worth more than gold: the land and its ability to sustain her and her community.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

WED FEB 5

THU FEB 6

OWEN STEEL

MARTHA: A PICTURE STORY

9:30pm ALFF After Hours: Owen Steel

12pm Martha: A Picture Story

EDGEWATER HOTEL

SCREENING SPONSOR: KLONDIKE KETTLE CORN

TICKETS: $10 AT THE DOOR FILM PASSES ACCEPTED

Owen Steel was raised between a farmhouse in rural PEI and a rambling, seaside hostel in small town New Brunswick. Since 2008 he has toured sporadically in support of numerous releases (as well as with bands The Belle Comedians, Mike Trask’s Precious Memories, and Dana Sipos) from Newfoundland to the Yukon, Texas to Sweden, and points in between. From Folk Festivals to Freak Festivals; basement bars to soft seat theatres; by thumb, band van, boat and train; in the process making his way under the radar and into the ears of a small yet mighty group of listeners.

Presented in partnership with Something Shows and made possible with the support of the Dawson City Music Festival songwriter-in-residence.

DIR. SELINA MILES, 2019, AUS, 82 MIN

This lively documentary profiles Martha Cooper, the photographer whose pictures of hip-hop graffiti helped spread the art form across the globe. It was the late ’70s when she discovered graffiti art in the Bronx, amid poverty and blight; from this initial point of fascination came a focus on subway ‘writing,’ which led to a co-authored book on the subject. Subway Art sold few copies but, thanks to shoplifted and photocopied editions, became internationally influential.

Valuable for its history as for its visuals; besides graffiti, it also shines a light on breakdancing and other urban folk arts.

“Joyous… Eighty of the happiest minutes documentary-lovers are likely to spend in a theater this year.” ~John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter Screens with: All it Gives DIR. TALIA WOODLAND, 2019, ON, 15 MIN

Showcasing one of Toronto’s best up and coming hip-hop dancing stars, follows the story of Kosi Eze, a Nigerian immigrant who moved to Canada when she was 14.

She was immediately hooked by the region’s vibrant hip-hop scene. Directed by Yukonraised member of the Borealis Soul, Talia Woodland.

37

THU FEB 6

MARTIN EDEN

WINTOPIA

2pm Martin Eden

5:45pm Wintopia

DIR. PIETRO MARCELLO, ITA/FRA/GER, 129 MIN

DIR. MIRA BURT-WINTONICK, 2019, QC, 88 MIN

Based on the 1909 novel by Jack London, this stunning film follows a sailor trying to remake himself as a writer, in a passionate and timeless story of class consciousness and failed ideals. Martin (played by the marvellously committed Luca Marinelli) is a dissatisfied blue-collar worker with artistic aspirations who hopes that his dreams of becoming a writer will help him rise above his station and marry a wealthy young university student (Jessica Cressy); the twinned dissatisfactions of working-class toil and bourgeois success lead to political reawakening and destructive anxiety.

SCREENING SPONSOR: ARCTIC STAR PRINTING

“Martin Eden does what few artists or commentators care to do: attempt to grasp, rather than capitalize on, the fraught humanity and circumstances that lead to self-defeating political ideologies.” ~Kevin Ritchie, Now Magazine In Italian, Neapolitan and French with English subtitles Recommended for ages 13+.

A box of video tapes, a lifelong obsession with finding Utopia and a daughter’s attempt to complete her father’s final film, this poetic doc traces the enigmatic footsteps of renowned Canadian filmmaker Peter Wintonick (Manufacturing Consent, Cinema Verite) through the lens of his daughter, Mira. The result is a fascinating collage of footage from the Utopia collection, home movies from the family archive, scenes from earlier films, and telephone conversations with colleagues and family members. In voice-over, Mira takes us along on her journey. She molds all these elements into a story about the grieving process, a daughter’s attempt to understand the father she lost too soon, and a tribute to a restless and original spirit on a quest to find an ideal world.

Canadian premiere.

Director Mira Burt-Wintonick in attendance.

Screening preceded with a music set by Faro-based artist Elijah Bekk at 5:20pm.

Presented with support from Music Yukon.

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THU FEB 6

JAMES VS. HIS FUTURE SELF

NÀHGĄ

8:15pm James vs. His Future Self

9:30pm ALFF After Hours: NÀHGĄ

DIR. JEREMY LALONDE, ON, 94 MIN

EDGEWATER HOTEL

SCREENING SPONSOR: THE CHOCOLATE CLAIM

TICKETS: $10 AT THE DOOR FILM PASSES ACCEPTED

A scientist who invented time travel goes back in time to convince himself to never invent it in the first place. James is an uptight time-travelling obsessed young scientist, with a lifelong secret crush on his best friend, and a younger sister, who is stuck looking after him since their parents died. James’s tunnel vision determination to become the world’s first time traveller has taken over every aspect of his life, and the only two people who care about him at all are almost ready to give up on him. When James is visited by Jimmy (the excellent Daniel Stern), his nihilistic future self, he’s told that he needs to give up his dream of becoming the world’s first time traveller, or else suffer the unimaginably lonely consequences in this smart and grounded romantic comedy.

NÀHGĄ (Casey Koyczan) is a Tlicho Dene interdisciplinary musician that utilizes a variation of effects with his instruments and voice to create dynamic layered compositions that house anecdotes of electronica, hip-hop, and metal/industrial music; he also plays atmospheric livelooping music that’s perfect for gatherings and events. NÀHGĄ creates an enveloping atmosphere with his live performances and strives to reclaim his culture through music and art; inspired by technology, culture, and northern legends.

Director Jeremy LaLonde in attendance.

Recommended for ages 14+. Contains profanity.

Presented in partnership with Super Channel.

“NÀHGĄ” is the Tlicho/Dogrib word for “bushman”, which is known in legend as the spirit of the woods in the NWT; which serves as a reminder to respect the land, water, and all their inhabitants. The beaded eye-cover that is worn is a visual representation of the obscurity and mystery of what this spirit is, and also to pay respect to our traditional artists and craft-makers with a sci-fi influence.

NÀHGĄ appears with support from Government of Yukon, Arts Fund.

Presented in partnership with Something Shows.

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FRI FEB 7

A PLACE OF TIDE AND TIME

ONE MAN DIES A MILLION TIMES

12pm A Place of Tide and Time

2:30pm One Man Dies a Million Times

DIR. AUDE LEROUX-LÉVESQUE, SÉBASTIEN RIST, 2019, QC 78 MIN

DIR. JESSICA ORECK, 2019, USA, 92 MIN

At the eastern edge of Canada, in the French-speaking province of Quebec, English communities scatter the Gulf of St Lawrence. Isolated and remote, with no links culturally or physically to the rest of Quebec, the villages of the Lower North Shore have been dependent on the fishing industry for centuries. That’s until the 1992 cod moratorium devastated their economy, halting all cod fishing overnight.

The personal journeys of those who call themselves the ‘forgotten people’ offer a unique and nuanced glimpse into a reality shared by many remote regions across the world. As the characters sway between uncertainty and hope through the recurring cycles of seasons, we are transported into their world and witness a deeply intimate and personal conversation between young and old about identity, opportunity and ultimately happiness.

In English and French with English subtitles.

Presented in partnership with La Tournée Québéc Cinéma.

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Audaciously transposing the true story of the protection of the world’s largest seed bank during the almost 900-day Siege of Leningrad in WWII into a speculative dystopian near future, Jessica Oreck (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo) delivers a harrowing but deeply humane story of unthinkable sacrifice in the interest of the greater good.

With food shortages rampant and famine taking hold due to Nazi blockades, botanists Alyssa (Alyssa Lozovskaya) and Maksim (Maksim Blinov) strive to protect the seeds and grains they’ve stowed away for future generations.

A stirring piece of science-fiction that’s lent a haunting beauty by the immaculate black-and-white cinematography and eerie narration drawing from texts written during the siege, this is truly vital viewing at a time when self-interest rules.

In Russian with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 14+. Mature content.

FRI FEB 7

FOR SAMA

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

5:15pm For Sama

7:30pm Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu)

DIR. WAAD AL-KATEAB AND EDWARD WATTS, UK/US/SYRIA, 90 MIN

DIR. CÉLINE SCIAMMA, 2019, FRA, 119 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, WHITEHORSE CHAPTER

SCREENING SPONSOR: KOBAYASHI AND ZEDDA ARCHITECTS

For Sama is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war.

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her.

Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice – whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

Set against the backdrop of 18th-century Brittany, a forbidden love stirs between two young women, a painter and her reluctant subject. Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to paint Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) the beautiful daughter of a noblewoman. Upon her arrival, Marianne discovers that the previous artist failed, and that Héloïse refuses to pose in protest of being showcased for an unwanted marriage.

Ostensibly hired as a ladies’ companion, Marianne takes daily walks with Héloïse, observing her closely yet discreetly, without letting on she’s secretly working on a portrait when they’re apart. As she struggles to make progress on the painting, she finds herself growing more and more attracted to Héloïse.

In Syrian with English subtitles.

Nominated for an Oscar. The film is the first feature documentary by Emmy awardwinning filmmakers Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts.

Recommended for ages 18+. Content warning for graphic imagery surrounding war-torn Syria.

Made in an elegantly classical style, director Céline Sciamma’s (Girlhood) romance turns into a remarkable work of suspense, as tension slowly builds over transient glances and pauses - rendered beautifully by Merlant and Haenel’s passionate performances.

In French and Italian with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 16+ for sexual scenes, nudity and language.

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FRI FEB 7

SAT FEB 8

BACURAU

THE SEER AND THE UNSEEN

9:30pm ALFF After Hours: Something Shows Takeover

10:30am The Seer and The Unseen

EDGEWATER HOTEL

SCREENING SPONSOR: BULLET HOLE BAGELS

Something Shows screens the beloved Yukon indie-rock film Beneath the Broadcast and makes exciting announcements about their future.

Amid Iceland’s majestic wilderness, a lava field of ecological importance is about to be demolished by the largest bulldozer in the country. Standing in front of that bulldozer is Ragga, environmentalist and celebrated ‘seer’ into the invisible realms. She’s been called on by the community for her ability to communicate directly with a parallel realm of elves who she says inhabit the lava fields. Her goal is to stop a road – one of the government’s make-work projects launched after the country’s economic collapse in 2008 – from being built directly through the elves’ homes. This documentary explores the invisible forces – be they elves or capitalism – that shape our visible worlds and transform our natural landscapes.

10pm Bacurau DIR. KLEBER MEDONÇA FILHO, JULIANO DORNELLES, 2019, BRA/FRA, 130 MIN SCREENING SPONSOR: MEADIA SOLUTIONS

In the near future a small village in the Brazilian outback mourns the loss of its matriarch. Days later, they notice that their village has literally vanished from maps, a UFO-shaped drone flies overhead and a band of armed American mercenaries led by Udo Kier are picking off the inhabitants one by one. A fierce confrontation takes place when the townspeople turn the tables on the villainous outsiders in this Sci-fi western.

In English and Portuguese with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 17+.

Screens with: The Changeling DIR. DAVID HAMELIN, NEIL MACDONALD, 2019, YT, 5 MIN

A mother returns home to find her babysitter murdered and baby daughter missing. Filmmakers in attendance.

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DIR. SARA DOSA, 2019, ISL/USA, 80 MIN

In Icelandic with English subtitles.

Screens with: Remote Sensibility – The Ecology of Perception DIR. MARTEN BERKMAN, 2019, YT, 5 MIN

In the Yukon’s Peel watershed voices are given a safe place to be heard speaking about the land and our connection to it. Yet as the fate of the watershed is determined, this new paradigm is threatened by the old, igniting a dialogue where one did not previously exist.

SAT FEB 8

THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN

CEDAR TREE OF LIFE

12:30pm The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

Screens with: Cedar Tree of Life

DIR. ELLE-MÁIJÁ TAILFEATHERS, KATHLEEN HEPBURN, 2019, BC/NOR, 105 MIN

Expressionist documentary, exploring the relationship between Cedar and three Indigenous women who work with it, weave with it, and live with it. Three Salish women hold knowledge of Cedar passed down from their grandmothers and mothers.

They commune with this sacred tree as they practice and share their culture and art in both traditional and contemporary contexts.

SCREENING SPONSOR: COUNCIL OF YUKON FIRST NATIONS

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open is a brilliant, poignant collaboration between two of Canada’s brightest – and boldest – filmmakers. Tailfeathers, a member of the Kainai First Nation as well as Sámi from Norway, triples as lead, co-writer, and co-director. She shares writing and directing with Kathleen Hepburn, whose 2017 film Never Steady, Never Still was named to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten. Using 16mm and presenting their narrative in ‘real time,’ the filmmakers craft a delicate intimacy, which lends emotion to this remarkable story of two women’s resilience, strength, and mutual support.

DIR. ODESSA SHUQUAYA, 2018, BC, 10 MIN

Odessa Shuquaya is an Indigenous filmmaker from the Kluane First Nation in Yukon and has been making her home in the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples in Vancouver, BC for the last 20 years.

Taking its title from an essay by Indigenous poet Billy-Ray Belcourt, and based on a watershed moment in Tailfeathers’ life, this story of a chance encounter between two women – living in the same Vancouver neighbourhood, but coming from distinct worlds of class and lived experience – reveals the necessity for Indigenous people to look out for each other in a society that’s too often indifferent to their existence. ~Toronto International Film Festival Recommended for ages 12+, mature themes.

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SAT FEB 8

ANNE AT 13,000 FT

WHITE LIE

3pm Anne at 13,000 ft

6pm White Lie

DIR. KAZIK RADWANSKI, 2019, ON, 75 MIN

DIR. CALVIN THOMAS, YONAH LEWIS, ON, 96 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: AIR NORTH

Deragh Campbell delivers a knockout performance in Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 ft. Twenty seven-year-old Anne works at a Toronto daycare. Her best friend Sarah is getting married and they go skydiving for the bachelorette party. At the wedding, Anne meets Matt (Matt Johnson) and the two quickly fall into a relationship.

Her grasp on things becomes tenuous and we watch her navigate her work and ultimately her independence. A quick, lean and intimate character study, Anne at 13,000 ft presents a moving portrait of a young woman who may be losing her grasp on reality. ~Calgary International Film Festival Director Kazik Radwanski in attendance.

“There is simply no one else today experimenting with form and character, and succeeding on both fronts, like Radwanski.” ~The Globe and Mail TIFF Top Ten Canadian Film, 2019.

Recommended for ages 14+.

Mature content.

SCREENING SPONSOR: DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Katie (Kacey Rohl), a young woman has become a poster child on her university campus: recently diagnosed with cancer, she’s the focal point of an online funding campaign for both herself and other cancerrelated causes. The only problem is, it’s all built on a lie: Katie isn’t sick, and never has been. And as her story slowly begins to unravel, she disastrously decides to double down, unable to give up the real-life fantasy world she’s constructed for herself. While the film has much to say about social media’s impact on contemporary culture, where compassion and hatred can both burst forth in tsunami-like waves, and where manipulation and falsehood have become the norm, its chief virtue is its insistence that we look at, and empathize with, a protagonist who does the unthinkable.

Actor Kacey Rohl in attendance.

“Accomplishes an incredible high wire act where every ‘white lie’ sets off a chain reaction. Morally repulsive yet exhilarating to watch in equal measure.” ~ALFF Programming Committee Member, Jin Lee Recommended for ages 14+. Mature content.

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SAT FEB 8

ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND

PEARLE HARBOUR, AGIT POP!

8:30pm Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band

9pm YAC Presents: Pearle Harbour, Agit Pop!

DIR. DANIEL ROHER, 2019, ON, 100 MIN

OLD FIRE HALL

SCREENING SPONSOR: SOLVEST INC.

TICKETS: $20. FILM PASSES NOT ACCEPTED.

Take a load off and explore the storied life and career of Toronto rock legend Robbie Robertson, from his early days on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve to the formation of roots-rock superstars, The Band. Executive produced by close friend Martin Scorsese – who appears on screen here and of course directed The Last Waltz – this confessional doc digs into Robertson’s personal ups and downs while offering rare archival images and unprecedented access into a glorious chapter in music history.

Award-winning drag tragicomedienne Pearle Harbour presents her cabaret spectacular Agit-Pop! – musical meditations for the pre-post-apocalypse. Developed over five years of live performance, Agit Pop! is an ever-changing collection of Pearle’s favourite, best, and most heart-wrenchingly hilarious short acts. With accompaniment by musical director Steven Conway, Pearle serenades audiences with new arrangements of old classics and little-known gems by David Bowie, Judy Garland, Tom Waits, and more.

Featuring Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and more, Once Were Brothers blends stunning archival footage and revealing interviews in a moving account of friendship, fame and the trials therein.

Weaving her signature acid wit and demented storytelling through the day’s headlines, Pearle takes on the world, from our mounting ecological anxiety, to nuclear tensions (past, present, future), from the well-trod tactics of strongmen, to digital escapism.

Opening night film of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Recommended for ages 12+.

Mature themes.

“Pearle is a wise, frank dispenser of truths.

She’s like Greek tragedy’s Cassandra, as played by Eve Arden... in only two fulllength shows, Pearle has emerged as one of the most engaging, thoughtful performance artists around. True to this show’s title, she agitates us – in a good and necessary way.” ~Critic’s Pick, NOW Magazine 45

SUN FEB 9

WIK VS QUEENSLAND

LES MISÉRABLES

10:30am Wik vs Queensland

12:15pm Les Misérables

DIR. DEAN GIBSON, 2018, AUS, 83 MIN

DIR. LADJ LY, FRA, 103 MIN

A powerful insight into the High Court’s decision to grant native title to the Wik people in 1996, and the dramatic political and cultural fallout that followed. With unique access to never-before screened archival footage, this uncompromising feature documentary forensically explores the racism, fearmongering and political manoeuvring that occurred in the lead up to the case, and its aftermath. Told from the very personal Wik Peoples’ perspective.

SCREENING SPONSOR: WAYNE TUCK AND KAREN WALKER

Selected and introduced by guest curator, Kerry Barber.

Presented with support from Government of Yukon, Arts Fund.

This Cannes Special Prize-winning feature is an intense dramatic look into police culture and the young, hopeless malaise of a generation growing up on the brink.

When three cops of varying lawfulness cross paths with local toughs, the Montfermeil district of Paris violently descends into chaos. Thematic threads of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece are woven into an explosive contemporary narrative spotlighting France as a place of seismic political and social change.

In French with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 16+. Language throughout, some disturbing and violent content.

Nominated for Best International Feature Film, 2020 Oscars.

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SUN FEB 9

HAIDA MODERN

THE HOTTEST AUGUST

2:30pm Haida Modern

5pm The Hottest August

DIR. CHARLES WILKINSON , 2019, BC, 88 MIN

DIR. BRETT STORY, 2019, CAN/USA, 95 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON, NORTH OF ORDINARY

ALFF documentary favourite, Charles Wilkinson (Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World, Oil Sands Karaoke) returns with the inspiring and beautiful story of famed Haida artist Robert Davidson. Born to a ‘vanishing race’, Robert became a key figure in the fight for survival of his people, a fight that deeply impacted Western culture.

Future generations will ask this question: What were we doing while the planet burned? The Hottest August attempts to answer the question during one sweltering month in 2017, New York City’s hottest August in recorded history. A portrait of collective anxiety, the film seeks out New Yorkers from each of the boroughs recording conversations on everything but climate change: skyrocketing rents, homelessness, violence, corruption, the economy and Trump. The city’s people yearn for security in an increasingly uncertain world and see threats arising from everywhere other than a warming planet.

Charles Wilkinson brings his trademark inquisitiveness and craftsmanship to this revealing portrait of an unassuming living legend. Weaving together engaging interviews with the artist’s offspring and a host of admirers from all walks of life, Haida Modern leaves you inclined to believe Davidson when he surmises that art may just possess the power to save us from ourselves.

Director Charles Wilkinson in attendance.

Most Popular Canadian Documentary, VIFF 2019

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SUN FEB 9

FREE WORKSHOPS

AND THEN WE DANCED

ALFF INDUSTRY

7pm And Then We Danced

ALFF INDUSTRY Jan 31 - Feb 3

DIR. LEVAN AKIN, 2019, GEO/SWE, 106 MIN

Now in its 11th year, ALFF Industry brings filmmakers, funders, distributors and broadcasters together. We are proud to host the following free events.

SCREENING SPONSOR: CHINOOK BOOKKEEPING SERVICES

A passionate tale of love and liberation set amidst the conservative confines of modern Georgian society, And Then We Danced follows Merab, a devoted dancer who has been training for years with his partner Mary for a spot in the National Georgian Ensemble. The arrival of another male dancer, Irakli – gifted with perfect form and equipped with a rebellious streak – throws Merab off balance, sparking both an intense rivalry and romantic desire that may cause him to risk his future in dance as well as his relationships with Mary and his family.

In Georgian with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 13+. Moderate profanity, sex and nudity.

Screens with: By Your Side DIR. THOMAS BULLEN, 2019, YT, 4 MIN

The official music video for Paris Pick’s By Your Side. When a young woman falls asleep during an ordinary night at the laundromat, she awakes into a magical world of fantasy.

SATURDAY, FEB 1 KDCC ARTIST STUDIO

1:45pm Hot Docs Ignite: Making Local Stories Global

With Olena Decock, Hot Docs 3:30pm Distributing Your Film and Video Art

With Jacquelyn Hébert, VUCAVU SUNDAY, FEB 2 OLD FIRE HALL

2:30pm Up Close with National Film Board of Canada

Led by John Christou, National Film Board of Canada 3:30pm Up Close with CBC Creator Network & Absolutely Canadian

Led by Doug Holmes and Robin Summerfield, CBC Creator Network The ALFF Industry is presented in partnership with Government of Yukon, Yukon Media Development.

For full workshop descriptions, and all the other ALFF Industry sessions, times and registration information, please visit the ALFF Industry page at alff.ca.

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VIRTUAL REALITY

CHANGES

FEB 2 - 9

FISH EYES

YUKON ARTS CENTRE GLASS ROOM (NEXT TO THE GALLERY)

Northern Sights

Dancing Polar Bear Carving

In the face of geographical isolation from audiences, Northern Sights is a virtual reality (VR) project that uses new technology to broaden the reach of Northern Artists.

DERRALD TAYLOR, NWT, 4 MIN 17 SEC

Changes

BAM!: Giant Mine

Inuit sculptor and visual artist Derrald Taylor creates a snow sculpture of the North’s most iconic animal, a polar bear.

CARMEN BRADEN, NWT, 4 MIN

7 MIN 49 SEC

Composer Carmen Braden performs an original piece on an acoustic piano that has been sunk and frozen into the Great Slave Lake.

Led by artist Terry Pamplin, BAM combines live painting with musical performances near the historic Giant Mine Site.

Fish Eyes

Interdisciplinary Artist Talk with Casey Koyczan

CASEY KOYCZ AN / NÀHGĄ, NWT, 4 MIN 30 SEC

Interdisciplinary artist Casey Koyczan creates an installation that serves multiple purposes, including as a stage, for Koyczan’s brand of interdisciplinary music as his artist persona NÀHGĄ.

Tu Dze (Water Heart) LEELA GILDAY, NWT, 6 MIN 22 SEC

Juno-award-winning Leela Gilday travels to her home community of Deline to write and perform a song in celebration of Deline’s sacred connection with the Sahtu (Great Bear Lake).

SATURDAY, FEB 8, 2:30PM YUKON ARTS CENTRE LOBBY FREE EVENT

Hear from interdisciplinary artist Casey Koyczan (NWT) about his practice, virtual reality, and the Northern Sites 360° project.

Northern Sights is produced by Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP) with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Presented at ALFF with support from Government of Yukon, Arts Fund.

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FESTIVAL GUESTS Louise Archambault

Olena Decock

Annie Kierans

Marten Berkman

Teresa Earle Fritz Mueller

Casey Koyczan

AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN

ECOLOGY OF PERCEPTION

Lesley Birchard CBC DOCS

Sophie Bédard Marcotte L.A. TEA TIME

Elijah Bekk Selina Heyligers-Hare Jeremy Parkin Owen Steel MUSICIANS

Gabriel Bullen Thomas Bullen MONOLITH

BY YOUR SIDE

Mira Burt-Wintonick WINTOPIA

John Christou Shirley Vercruysse

NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA

Nathalie Clermont

CANADA MEDIA FUND

Marie Clements Asivak Koostachin RED SNOW

Andrew Connors David Curtis John Price Graham Withers SOVEREIGN SOIL

Erin Cham Corbett HWEI KI GONG

Alice Cote François Lemieux Marc-Antoine Levesque LA TOURNÉE QUÉBÉC CINÉMA

HOT DOCS

AURORA LOVE

Aud Fischer

A PICNIC IN GUGGIEVILLE

NÀGHĄ, NORTHERN SIGHTS

Jeremy LaLonde

JAMES VS. HIS FUTURE SELF

MIDAS AND AMARA ARE ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD FOR THE FILM PROJECT

Laurence Mathieu-Léger

Sharon Fontaine-Ishpatao

Courtney McKiel

KUESSIPAN

Jonathan Frantz ISUMA TV

Pauline Gallinat TIME TOGETHER

Jon Gelinas

STAINED GLASS VIDEO IMPRESSIONS

WILLIE

WESTERN ARCTIC MOVING PICTURES

Michele McMahon BELL MEDIA

Deborah Osborne APTN

Kazik Radwanski

ANNE AT 13,000 FT

Michael Greyeyes

Matthew Rankin

BLOOD QUANTUM

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Jessica Hall

Kacey Rohl

HONG KONG 1979

WHITE LIE

Dave Hamelin Neil Macdonald

Mike Rudyk Wayne Carlick

THE CHANGELING

TLATSINI

Jacquelyn Hébert

Gary Sidney Jayden Soroka

VUCAVU

Doug Holmes Robin Summerfield

CBC’S CREATOR NETWORK

Greg Jones John Price

THE PROVIDER

Dan Sokolowski

DAWSON CITY INT’L SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

John Walker

ANALOG AVANT-GARDE

ASSHOLES: A THEORY

Pamela Jones Gordon Loverin

Charles Wilkinson

BEYOND HUMAN POWER

Lulu Keating

COMPASSION FOR THE HUNGRY

HAIDA MODERN

Aaron Zeghers

HOLLAND, MAN. DANNY

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The Jenni House Artist Residency provides artists with a studio in an historic log and timber frame building in Whitehorse, Yukon. The studio is located on the banks of the Yukon River in Shipyards Park just downstream of the Kwanlin Dün Culture Centre and is situated in the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. Residencies are open to all practices.

Find us on Facebook for the application link.

/JenniHouseArtistResidency

The Jenni House Artist Residency has two deadlines annually: January 25 and August 11.

S U I T E 2 0 1 A , 1 7 0 T I TA N I U M WAY WHITEHORSE, YUKON PHONE: 867-668-6484

ALFF & ALFF INDUSTRY PRESENTING PARTNERS

YFS ANNUAL SUPPORT

PREMIER SPONSORS

MAJOR SPONSORS

FESTIVAL SPONSORS

SCREENING SPONSORS

WAYNE TUCK & KAREN WALKER

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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.

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

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