Water lapped on the shores of the Nahanni River, wind whistled through the trees and birds called overhead. Those were the only sounds heard as a small group of Dene people heaved the mooseskin canoe up by the gunwales and carried it out from the forest.

Cabin fever, abandoned towns, a bewildering find at the local landfill and a Nanurluk (giant polar bear) are just a few of the thrills awaiting theatre-goers at the 8th annual Dead North Film Festival. A record 46 films will be showcased this year – including entries from Inuvik, Tulita, Norman Wells, Dettah, Fort Smith, Hay River, Dawson City, Iqaluit, and Sweden.

Film and television producer Caroline Cox emerged on the Northwest Territories (NWT) film scene only five years ago and she’s already taking it by storm. Following on the success of her series Wild Kitchen, Cox most recently took home the top prize at Prime Time Ottawa’s Power Pitch competition for her upcoming feature-length film Food for the Rest of Us. We caught up with her to hear more.

Tuktoytaktuk residents are hoping to give their arts economy a boost and cater to the influx of tourists to the hamlet thanks to a recent training program.

Mason Mantla’s rise in the film industry has been nothing short of meteoric over the last few years. Now, he’s been awarded Bell Media’s Harold Greenberg funding for his latest project Nahga, who knows what’s on the horizon for the talented film producer. We sat down with him for a Q&A about his growing success and how the north has influenced his work.

Bell Media’s The Harold Greenberg Fund announced today its inaugural round of selections for its HGF/Territories Shorts Program. The initiative – developed in partnership with Northwest Territories Film Commission (NTFC), Nunavut Film Development Corporation (NFDC), and the Government of Yukon’s Media Development Unit – marks the first time all three territories have been brought together under one funding program supporting filmmaking.

The stark yet stunning arctic sea ice near Tuktoyaktuk has always transfixed Miranda Currie and she always imagined it as the perfect place to set her documentary Tails on Ice. Its star is fierce and intelligent - and happens to be Currie’s sled dog, Ellesmere.

While local residents – and a healthy dose of global publications -- know how much photo and media talent exists in the North, there lacked any significant event to celebrate it.

Until now.

In the last seven months, Leela Gilday has travelled within Finland, Germany, Australia and Canada performing. So it’s no surprise that when her track K'eintah Natse Ju went to #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown, she can’t recall where she was.

Charlotte Overvold’s kitchen doubles as her studio. The table is strewn with fish scales, glues, pigments. The freezer is full of trout and whitefish skeletons from Great Slave Lake. The best feature though, is her burbling, bright-eyed, six-month-old daughter Océane Snow, who is waving happy fists in the air and refusing to go down for her nap.