Program Length: 84.5 minutes
Their Warming Heart (Vidrii Tr'ahtłoo)
Nanieezh Peter (Gwich’in, T’ohono O’ohdham, Jewish, Diné) • 4 minutes 20 seconds • USA • 2026
My uncle passed away and this film is how I decided to explore grief. I wish I had been able to sing for my uncle before he passed away so I created this song for him. Inspired by a dream I had, my short film cuts between a falltime scene of a boy and myself, and a thawing caribou heart. Written and sung in Dinjii Zhuh K’yaa, the Gwich’in language, it is the first music video of its kind.
ASTRO-TĪPUNA
Te KuraHuia / Arikirangi Te Ao / Ahoroa o Te Pō • 13.5 minutes • 2024 • New Zealand • English, Hawaiian, Maori, Samoan
Long before the ancient Toiroa (Star People) decided to live and praise the earthly vibrations on the soils of Aotearoa. They navigated the night sky. Astro-Tīpuna shares a modern vision of the old ways sharing positive messages of self-love to the Stars of the Pacific Sky that they guard and protect. It is said that we will return to adorn the cloak of the sky father and shine brighter than we already do.
Speaking is a Sacred Act
Doreen Stevens (Algonquin) • 6 minutes • 2022 • Canada • English
A video-art piece, with a compelling rhythm, poetry, gorgeous imagery, mesmerizing music, rap and dance. Doreen Stevens is a local Algonquin artist from Kitiganzibi, Quebec. Her spirit name Anamitagize-Odaying means “One who speaks with the heart.” She is an actress, singer-songwriter, spoken word poet, and visual artist.
Run as One
Amber-Sky Ranville • 6 minutes • 2025 • Canada • English
“Run as One” follows musician Errol Ranville, front-man of the legendary C-Weed Band, whose songs have become anthems of Indigenous unity and survival. Through archival film and interviews, as well as present day imagery, this documentary explores how Errol’s music transformed from personal expression into collective memory, and how its rhythm continues through community today.
Sounds of a Legacy
January Marie Rogers (Mohawk/Tuscarora) • 35m • Canada • 2026 • English
January Marie Rogers (Mohawk/Tuscarora) •35m • Canada • 2026 • Englishtson had cultural and musical roots from his Haudenosaunee Indigenous community, Six Nations of the Grand River in southern Ontario Canada. Absorbing the rootsy, gutsy, earth-inspired rhythms from his Mother's family on Six Nations, Robbie Robertson found his voice and sound and took it with him on the road to create what was dubbed Americana music. Back home many more generations of musicians both traditional and contemporary perpetuate a sound they are still shaping and defining called the Six Nations sound. We follow a newly formed super-group of Haudenosaunee musicians in a song camp as they write, from scratch, a song inspired by and dedicated to Robbie Robertson and the Six Nations people.
The Caterpillar Funeral
Daria Razumnikova, Leonid Rybakov (Udmurt) • 26 min 30 sec • Moldova/Russian Federation • Russian w/ English subtitles
The film follows Stepan, a folklorist preserving the musical heritage of the Udmurt Republic. Travelling through remote villages, he records songs, texts and melodies connected with nature, human life, death and transformation. The film is an intimate portrait of cultural memory, forgotten voices and the fragile process of keeping Indigenous and folk traditions alive.