Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising

Director Shane Belcourt (Métis)
Year 2025
Run Time 90min
Genre Documentary
This stirring historical film depicts a 1974 Indigenous youth occupation in Kenora, focusing on Louie Cameron: the leader of the Ojibway Warrior Society.

Director

Shane Belcourt (Métis)

Belcourt is a producer, writer, and filmmaker whose directing credits include numerous shorts such as Pookums, Boxed In, and Say Yes, as well as the features Tkaronto, Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier (which won the Alanis Obomsawin Award at imagineNATIVE), Red Rover, Beautiful Scars of Tom Wilson, Warrior Song and Ni Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising, which premiered at TIFF. He also directed episodes of Urban Native Girl, CBC Docs POV, and Amplify.

Writers

Shane Belcourt (Métis), Tanya Talaga (Anishinaabe)

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Biography, History, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Levers

Director Rhayne Vermette (Métis)
Year 2025
Run Time 95min
Genre Drama
After an explosion causes a complete blackout, residents of a Manitoba community struggle to maintain their composure and connections as darkness tests their resilience.

Director

Rhayne Vermette (Métis)

Writer

Rhayne Vermette (Métis)

Cast

Will George, Andrina Turenne, Val Vint

Producer

Rhayne Vermette (Métis)

Genre

Drama

Interests

Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Languages

English, French

Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man

Director Sinakson Trevor Solway (Blackfoot)
Year 2025
Run Time 77min
Genre Documentary
With tenderness and grace, filmmaker Sinakson, Trevor Solway, offers an intimate exploration of Indigenous masculinity rarely seen on screen.

Director

Sinakson Trevor Solway (Blackfoot)

Writer

Sinakson Trevor Solway (Blackfoot)

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Sedna, Empress of the Sea

Director Jerry Thevenet
Year 2022
Run Time 83min
Genre Animation, Family
In this brilliant animated reimagining of an Inuit legend, a young girl named Sedna is kidnapped by an evil raven and held captive on a remote island. Her escape takes her on an unforgettable journey full of action, songs and laughs.

 

Director

Jerry Thevenet

Writer

Jerry Thevenet

Cast

Shawn Youngchief, Paula Davis

Producer

Jerry Thevenet

Genres

Animation, Family

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads

Original Languages

English, French, Other Language

Meadowlarks

Director Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Year 2025
Run Time 91min
Genre Drama
Four siblings, torn apart by the Sixties Scoop, reunite for one week in Banff, Alberta. Inspired by her 2017 documentary Birth of a Family on the same subject, Meadowlarks is a moving drama that features emotional performances, and thoughtfully explores the generational effects of the Sixties Scoop on Indigenous families.

Director

Tasha Hubbard (Cree)

Hubbard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and an associate professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies. Her NFB documentary Two Worlds Colliding won a Gemini and a Golden Sheaf Award. She has also directed the short film 7 Minutes, and the feature docs Birth of a Familynîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which won 14 awards, including the CSA for best documentary and Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2019. She is a founding director of the International Buffalo Relations Institute. Her documentary Singing Back the Buffalo won three awards and was nominated for four others.

Writer

Tasha Hubbard (Cree)

Cast

Carmen Moore (Wet'suwet'en), Michael Greyeyes (Plains Cree), Michelle Thrush (Cree)

Producers

Tyler Hagan, Julia Rosenberg

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Aki

Director Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe)
Year 2025
Run Time 83min
Genre Documentary
A visually stunning documentary following a Northern Ontario Anishinaabe community over the course of a year. With almost no spoken dialogue, and a strong focus on the natural beauty of the land, this poetic portrait is truly unique.
 

Director

Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe)

Writer

Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe)

Producers

Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe), Jamie Manning

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

Other Language

Nika & Madison

Director Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)
Year 2025
Run Time 87min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Madison (Star Slade) returns from university to the reserve where she grew up and receives a frosty welcome from her estranged cousin, Nika (Ellyn Jade). After a night out leads to a violent encounter with a police officer, the two find themselves in a dire situation. Fearing they won't be believed, and with the authorities closing in, they go on the run together, and begin to rediscover the close friendship they thought they’d lost.

Eva Thomas’ urgent and thoughtful debut film premiered at TIFF to critical acclaim, was nominated for the Director’s Guild of Canada Team Award, and won several awards at festivals internationally.

“A gripping film that tackles systemic racism through the bond of two Indigenous women. Powered by authentic performances, it’s a timely, unflinching, and deeply human story.” — Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots
 

Director

Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)

Writers

Michael McGowan, Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)

Cast

Ellyn Jade (Ojibwe), Star Slade, Shawn Doyle

Producer

Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Endless Cookie

Directors Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver (Cree)
Year 2025
Run Time 97min
Genre Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Seth Scriver, living in Toronto, has always looked up to his half-brother Pete, a gifted storyteller who lives in Shamattawa, a First Nations reserve in Northern Manitoba. Using his signature psychedelic animated style, Seth brings Pete’s stories to life, intersplicing them with satirical vignettes about Canadian culture and perspectives.

Wildly imaginative and lovingly crafted over the course of nearly a decade, this unique animated documentary won the Audience Choice Award at Hot Docs in 2025 and Best Animated Film from the Toronto Film Critics Association. 

Endless Cookie is not like anything else and yet it is very much like life.” — Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

Directors

Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver (Cree)

Writers

Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver (Cree)

Cast

Peter Scriver, Seth Scriver

Producers

Daniel Bekerman, Alex Ordanis, Chris Yurkovich, Jason Ryle (Anishinaabe), Seth Scriver

Genres

Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Languages

Cree, English

Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts)

Director Bretten Hannam (L'nu)
Year 2025
Run Time 81min
Genre Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Faced with a dark presence haunting both of their lives, two estranged brothers, Mise’l (Goodluck) and Antle (Miranda), head into Sk+te’kmujue’katik, a forest known as “The Place of Ghosts” in order to come to terms with their past and confront the trauma that continues to haunt them.

A deeply affecting thriller that brilliantly combines the personal with the supernatural, Sk+te’kmujue’katik premiered at TIFF and was named to their annual Canada’s Top Ten list. 

“Compelling performances, atmospheric direction, and an evocative use of imagery help the film to stand out as a spirited exercise in genre-bending.” - Nadia Dalimonte, Next Best Picture

Director

Bretten Hannam (L'nu)

Writer

Bretten Hannam (L'nu)

Cast

Forrest Goodluck (Diné/Mandan/Hidatsa/Tsimshian), Blake Alec Miranda (Native American), Glen Gould (Mi’qmaw)

Producers

Martin Katz, Mitchel Fleming, Diana Elbaum, Marc Tetreault, Jason Levangie

Genres

Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+

Original Languages

English, Other Language

Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)

Director Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk)
Year 2025
Run Time 100min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
In this gorgeous retelling of an Inuit legend set in 2000 BCE, two young Inuit lovers in Igloolik, Kaujak and Sapa, are destined to be together. When Kaujak’s father dies, and his mother remarries, Kaujuk is separated from his soulmate and, in desperation, they turn to a shaman to help them be together. 

This breathtaking romantic drama won the award for Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF in 2025, and was named to their Canada’s Top Ten list.

“Kunuk has once again created something special: a film made for and by Inuit, with a story that transcends culture.” — Matthew Simpson, Exclaim!

Director

Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk)

In 2015, Atanarjuat was selected as TIFF’s number one Canadian film of all time. Kunuk has directed shorts such as Exile and Home and features such as Maliglutit, which was nominated for two CSAs. He recently directed the series Hunting With My Ancestors and executive produced SGaawaay K'uuna (Edge of the Knife). His latest feature, One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, premiered at TIFF 2019. Most recently, he directed the short The Shaman’s Apprentice, which won the CSA for Best Animated Short among other awards at festivals worldwide.

Writers

Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk), Samuel Cohn-Cousineau

Cast

Haiden Angutimarik (Inuk), Leah Panimera (Inuk), Theresia Kappianaq (Inuk)

Producers

Samuel Cohn-Cousineau, Carol Kunnuk (Inuk), Jonathan Frantz

Genre

Drama

Interests

Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

Inuktitut