imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival Goes Online for 2020

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, the world’s largest Indigenous festival showcasing film, video, audio, and digital + interactive media made by Indigenous screen-content creators, returns October 20 – 25, 2020 with a twist – the festival will take place completely online!

Now in its 21st year, imagineNATIVE has moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions, where they will present a dynamic selection of film, visual arts, video games and more from 153 Indigenous artists in 23 languages from 13 countries and 97 Indigenous nations. The Festival will include ten feature films, four short programs, two guest curated programs, and one artist spotlight on Thirza Cuthand.

Throughout the Festival four short programs will be screened that are each named after one of the four colours in the medicine wheel. imagineNATIVE will open the Festival with the shorts program YELLOW on October 20, a program composed of works created by artists from seven different nations. The additional shorts programs include: RED on October 21, six short films that offer stories of connection where land and love reunite to bring hope and resilience; BLACK on October 23, eight visually arresting shorts at the vanguard of Indigenous Cinema; and WHITE on October 24, seven short films that tell stories about family, communities, Indigenous languages, and representation.

imagineNATIVE will honour Lorne Cardinal with the 6th annual August Schellenberg Award of Excellence. The August Schellenberg Award of Excellence was launched in partnership with Joan Karasevich Schellenberg to honour her late husband, the legendary actor August (Augie) Schellenberg, and the spirit of his work. The “Augie” Award will be presented to Lorne Cardinal as part of the imagineNATIVE Awards Presentation on October 25.

With the community as a priority, the 2020 imagineNATIVE Festival will be guided by Indigenous practices of gifting and reciprocity. imagineNATIVE will be ‘gifting from the spirit and for the spirit’ with daily draws for physical and digital giveaways throughout the Festival, highlighting Indigenous artists, goods, and companies.

The 21st Annual imagineNATIVE Festival will close October 25 with the Canadian premiere of Compañía by Bolivian director Miguel Hilari, which provides a deeper understanding of perspectives of home and migration using documentary, experimental, and visual poetry.

Tickets and passes are on sale now at https://festival.imaginenative.org/