November 1, 2019
As the Canadian film festival circuit continues, the NWT’s presence on the national stage is also on the rise. The latest stop: ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival - the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content.
The festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is recognized for its robust schedule of film screenings, galleries, art talks, art installations and a cutting edge iNDigital Space that showcases virtual reality (VR), games and interactive websites.
NWT artists and film professionals took full advantage of the festival’s offerings and had a unique triple-genre presence: film, music and VR.
All photos courtesy of Amos Scott
(Pictured: Jiah Dzentu, a Yellowknife-based participant of Create to Learn checks out ImagineNATIVE’s Virtual Reality exhibit)
Fresh off their success at the Vancouver International Film Festival, feature film Red Snow was selected to showcase during the festival.
Behchokǫ̀ filmmaker, Mason Mantla, also returned to the prestigious festival this year.
“Attending ImagineNATIVE has been a pretty high priority for me since I started to do film,” he says. “With the help of the NWT Film Commission I attended ImagineNATIVE when my short film Fireweed premiered last year. I feel like it is important for my career as a filmmaker in the North with limited resources and connections compared to the larger areas down south.”
Musical duo, PIQSIQ, made up of Kayley Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik, known for their other-worldly sound and throat singing, was also selected to perform during the week-long festivities.
(Pictured: Casey Koyczan speaks during an artist talk at ImagineNATIVE)
Related Stories:
Large NWT Creative Industry Representation at ImagineNATIVE
And the first-ever NWT Film Best Location Award Goes to…Fireweed!
New for the NWT this year, was a captivating VR exhibit. Three VR projects produced by Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP) in collaboration with local artists made their debut: Fish Eyes 360, Northern Sights 360, and Wenazii Ke’goke.
Yellowknife-based Casey Koyczan and Travis Mercredi were two of the artists who worked on the virtual reality projects and shared their expertise at the festival. Casey created and designed the projects while Travis produced the VR soundscape.
One of the unique experiences captured in the VR projects allowed users to figuratively stand on the shores of Great Bear Lake while listening to the thunderous rhythm of the Déline Drummers and Juno-award-winning singer/songwriter Leela Gilday.
(Pictured: NWT artists Mason Mantla and Casey Koyczan at ImagineNATIVE 2019)
The NWT Film Commission’s Film Officer, Amos Scott, was on hand throughout the festival, participating in meetings and networking events. The Film Commission was pleased to provide support for several of the artists attending this year to ensure the NWT’s talented industry was well represented.
(Pictured: Amos Scott, Reneltta Arluk (Red Snow), Marie Clements (Red Snow), Pat Kane, Pablo Sarvanja and Mason Mantla at the ImagineNATIVE screening of Red Snow.)