Screenings
(All screenings at KIAC/DËnÄkÄr Zho unless noted otherwise)
Some films may contain content not suitable for all. Please read the film descriptions.
Thursday, April 1
Friday , April 2
COLD CUTS VIDEO FESTIVAL opening, 5-9 pm (at Macaulay House, Princess and 7th Avenue)
6:30 pm Screening 2
9:30 pm Screening 3
Saturday, April 3
Sunday, April 4
OUT DOOR PROJECTION Loop
On the Princess street side of KIAC
(Thursday-Sunday, after sunset)
A memory, nicole rayburn, yukon, 2m
Loneliness is the expression not the affliction.
Filmed along the Dempster Highway in the depths of winter, this short experimental video speaks of loneliness and memory.
Cinematography: Jonny Klynkramer
Screening 1, Thursday, April 1, 6:30 pm
Screening Sponsor
aen loo pawatamihk, Dianne Ouellette, Saskatchewan, 6m
As I walk the land with Wolves and Buffalo I reflect on my murdered Cree grandmother, and my colonized ancestors, both human and nonhuman, while honouring their memory. I also consider the historical near extinction of Wolves and Buffalo and reflect on the present-day environmental sustainability of these more-than-human beings. aen loo pawatamihk is Michif (Métis language), which means Wolf dream or I dream of Wolves.
Be Kind, It Won’t Kill You, Natasha Ayoub, Chris Clarke, Yukon 7m
The pandemic moved different types in different ways, some to acts of kindness...
Snow Shelter, Robertas Nevecka, Lithuania, 16m
Frigid winter in a war-devastated, present-day city. Several years have passed since the destruction, and the city is slowly rebuilding. A thirty-year-old guy is living as a squatter in an apartment with a group of strangers. He struggles to survive and also to find a little more comfort in this rough setting. One night he nearly burns the flat down, hoping for a warmer sleep. His roommates start hating him, so the guy has to find another shelter.
EmÎcÊtÔcÊt - Many Bloodlines, Theola Ross (Cree), Manitoba, 11m
The film is a dual protagonist, character-driven story in which two women are on a path towards having a child together through the fertility treatment process. The central concept for the story is exploring how this couple will experience and explore building their own family while maneuvering through their difference in race, culture, class and gender roles.
Unarchive , Cecilia Araneda, Canada/Chile, 13m
Unarchive juxtaposes the filmmaker’s father’s life with the political history of Chile – his birthplace – over the past century. It reflects on how we remember and how we forget, and the role of the camera in transcending the complex place in between.
Pandemic-AtThe End Of The World, Alan Code, Yukon, 13m
May we never have to “Just walk away”.
A Broken-Hearted Solstice, Fanny Lefort, QuÉbec, 12m
A professional mascot named Fauve gets dumped on the summer solstice, aka the longest day of the year. The icy storm she’s plunged into doesn’t quite fit with the current heatwave.
FridaY, April 2
COLD CUTS VIDEO FESTIVAL opening, 5-9 pm
(at Macaulay House, Princess and 7th Avenue)
Check out the Cold Cuts Line up
Screening 2, 6:30 pM
Screening Sponosr
Talk To Me, Jules de Niverville, QuÉbec, 14m
TALK TO ME is a 14-minute narrative film about not fitting in, in an over-the-top kind of way.
NJOUKCAMAT (THE TONGUES), Marja Bål Nango – Sámi, Ingir Bål Nango – Sámi, Norway, 15m
A horrific act of violence is committed upon a Sámi reindeer herder during a blizzard on the tundra. Her sister senses that something is wrong, and the connection between them reunites them physically and spiritually across the landscape.
(Content warning: this film deals with sexual violence against women)
You Almost Forget Where You Are, Malkolm Boothroyd, Yukon, 13m
Few people outside of Dawson have heard of the Indian River and fewer still have ever paddled it. Last summer six Yukoners canoed down it—finding out why it’s a river unlike any other, and why its future is so contested.
ComVida-20, Ana Cavazzana, Portugal, 3m
ComVida-20 is a short film poetically but truly depicting CoVid-19 pandemic. It makes us reflecting about who we are and who we will be from now on. The title is a Portuguese wordplay: «ComVida» is similar to «CoVid» meaning, simultaneously, «With Life» and «Invite». With life we are invited to stay alive!
Expo Film (this film is my memory), Penny McCann, Ontario, 10m
Using anonymous home movie footage of Expo ’67 in Montreal, the artist sets out to recreate a memory that perhaps never existed. Celluloid manipulation and sound decay techniques coalesce to transform a mythic landscape into a sublime expanse of disintegrated memory.
Victoria, Daniel Toledo Saura, Spain, 8m
This is the story of a first meeting and, at the same time, of a reunion. It’s the story of the moment when Ana sees Clara for the first time.
King Covid, Lulu Keating, Yukon, 10m
King Covid describes how humans and viruses have interacted since the beginning of time. Now he wants credit for stopping humans before they destroy our shared habitat.
Screening 3, 9:30
Screening Sponsor
Life after Life after Life, Blackbird, Meg Walker, Yukon, 5m
A pre-animate being awakens in an unknown environment. She dances her way through different physical realities including stony tailings, muddy creeks and boreal forests, to discover intimate relationships with new materialities. A contemplation on transformation.
Smash, Douglas Joe, Yukon 5m
Small town tinder date expectations collide.
Siouxsie & the Virus, Gwen Isaac, New Zealand, 9m
A science superhero with pink hair wages war on COVID-19 to convince an entire nation to lockdown.
With time running out to fight the oncoming pandemic, an unconventional expert delivers vital information to a panicked public. Go behind-the-scenes as Dr Siouxsie Wiles faces a growing media storm from the confines of her family home. Siouxsie & the Virus is a unique insight into one woman’s countdown to a defining moment in New Zealand history.
“I don’t regret for a minute standing up and playing this role.” – Dr Siouxsie Wiles
Landgraves, Jean-François Leblanc, Québec, 23m
A young journalist goes into the deep wood to interview the heavy-metal duo LANDGRAVES, who records an album for the first time since a murder imprisonment. His curiosity pushes him to follow the band deep in the forest, as a snowstorm arises.
Search Though We Might We May Never See Beyond The Horizon Of Our Imagination - Chapter One. David Curtis, Yukon, 4m
Fleetings, Passings and Exits to the Unknown: Wanting certainty they made a bed of mutual convalescence, where differences would be ignored and conflict recused; the sheets propped up as a fort, under which they took shelter from the coming storm.
Apaja’simk - The Return, Trevor Gould, Mi’KMaq, 10m
Glooscap, the creator of the Mi’kmaq people, their land and the animals on it, left them many years ago. He left with his grandmother and his little brother Marten to a far away place in the spirit world, and told the people he would return when and if they need him. This film is about the story of Glooscap sending Marten back to the world of the Mikmaq, to find them, learn about them and return to Glooscap to let him know if he is needed again. While here he learns of the hardships of the Mikmaq, their history and also finds hope.
Salt River Water Walk, Krista Davis, Jenny Zander, Yukon, 12m
In February 2020, Sharon Day (Ojibwe) led a group of Water Walkers through the Arizona desert to walk for the Salt River. Through animation and live-shot footage footage, this documentary travels with the Salt River Water Walkers, describing this Indigenous-led ceremony as it creates community and builds relationships with the earth through the shared goal to care for the water.
Saturday April 3
Screening 4, 12 Noon
Screening sponsor
YOUTH SCREENING
Note: This is a free event but you still must "purchase" a ticket online.
Snake Town, Daphne Barber, yukon, 2m
Frostbitten, Jenna, Madison, NWT, 5m
In his first animated adventure and a project created by an all female creative team, a creature born in the Northwest Territories by young filmmakers causes havoc while finding a job. Be cautious of the cute.
Flight of the Tentacle, Deon M., Tanisha C., Megan A., Tristan L., Madison L. , Shania C., Laiza K., Maalea B., Denaze D. NWT, 5m
Frostbite’s new job really SUCKS!
Also a SPecial treat!
Videos made in the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in
Youth/Elder Video Camp will be screened as well.
SCreening 5, 3 PM
Screening Sponsor
The Bird, Graham Wilson, Yukon, 3m
A prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp is visited by a bird.
The Golden Age, Emmanuelle Lacombe, Québec, 22m
By day, Sasha works at her family’s flea market shop. By night, she makes YouTube videos in the hope of becoming the next big thing. During Quebec’s National Day, a client films Sasha as she performs a duet with her grandmother, a fallen star in Quebec’s music industry. Basking the glow of the former diva’s aura, she sees her popularity skyrocket. To her, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Eidolon , Mike Rollo, Saskatchewan, 4m
The seer passes beneath branches, crosses fields, observes the quiet corners of creation. Bright and dark take turns showing their faces, a two-sided phantasm, one energy shape-shifting through time. The seer makes note, gleans eidolons.
Once the Dust Has Settled, Hervé Demers, Québec, 15m
A Canadian town called Asbestos was once home to the largest mine of its kind in the world. Today, the open-pit mine around which the city is established only acts as a constant reminder of a not-so-distant industrial past. This film gives a voice to the current residents of Asbestos, delving into their thoughts on work, change and belonging.
Egoist, Luis Schubert, Germany, 8m
During a portray-shooting an upcoming writer and a young photographer get closer than they expect.
Pilgrims, Farnoosh Samadi, Ali Asgari,Turkey, 17m
The tale of two kids who decide to leave their village without informing their father, in search of their mother who lives in Istanbul. Last time they visited her, they were both way too young to remember her whereabouts in detail. Upon their arrival, they find themselves lost, neither with enough money to return, nor with the guts to call their father.
The Wolf, Roger Boyer, Manitoba, 6m
2 Journalism students went to film a wolf that was loose in a park. They were never seen again.
ScreEning 6, 7 PM
SCreening sponsor
Keno City Hooker, Claire Ness, Yukon, 3m
A dweller of the Keno City Hotel, a tourist, and a local gold miner are brought together under desperate circumstances in a place where time stands still.
Urban Sphinx, María Lorenzo, Spain, 5m
URBAN SPHINX is an animation short film that creatively documents the presence of street art in various neighbourhoods of Valencia (Spain) between 2018 and 2019. In URBAN SPHINX, these pieces of ephemeral art are animated by connecting each image like the frames of a film. All these faces look at us with wide-open eyes, as if they were telling us that we exist, but we might not exist—and the world would keep on turning.
Where Were You, María TrÉnor Colomer, Spain, 20m
WHERE WERE YOU? challenges us to reflect on the transversal and universal reality that is violence against women. Everyday violence, subtle or brutal, all terrible and intolerable. Experiences told in different languages and from different countries.
(Content warning: violence against women)
Glow, Calla Paleczny, Yukon, 5m
‘Glow’ is a short film that explores the interplay between a maker’s hands, hot glass and light.
Cayenne, Simon Gionet, QuÉbec, 11m
During her night shift at the remote gas station, a female clerk agrees to help a man whose car broke down. While they both attempt to repair the vehicle, the driver’s intentions leave the young woman uncertain. In the middle of the deserted parking lot, an air of apprehension fills the night as the events of the evening unfold.
Black Forest Sanatorium, Diana Thorneycroft, Manitoba, 8m
Starving for companionship, Quinn pursues an unorthodox approach to resolving her intense loneliness.
JicklingHouse, Mark Kelly, Yukon, 4m
Jicklinghouse captures a moment of the collaboration between Yukon born-and-raised poet Peter Jickling and Whitehorse-
based trio Scott Maynard, Lonnie Powell and Sam Gallagher, known as Jicklinghouse.
Vessels of Destiny, Franie-ÉlÉonore Bernier, France, 15m
As she is about to undergo surgery, Réjeanne realizes that she might not make it. She decides to satisfy her last wishes by inviting her oldest friend JB over to play their favourite video game: Vessels of Destiny.
Milk and Pickle, Bennie Allain, Jared Klok, JohnnY Klynkramer, Yukon, 5m
A conversation in a bar.
Screening 7, 10 pm
DRive-In at The PalAce Grand
Screening sponsor
Thank You, JuliAN Galese, UK, 8m
A highly anticipated birthday is the talk of the town.
Ticketed for What?, Yvonne Sung, Ontario, 18m
A peek into Toronto’s homeless community being unfairly ticketed under the Ontario Safe Streets Act.
Buried News, Bill Morrison, USA, 13m
Four news stories, produced between 1917 and 1920, reveal how race has historically been used as a tool in the US to divide people for the commercial or political gain of those in power. Archival footage (from the Dawson City Film Find) captures the aftermath of race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, 1917, and in Omaha, Nebraska, 1919, as well as extremely rare footage of the siege of the Lexington, Kentucky courthouse in 1920.
Naja (Little sister), Marc Fussing Rosbach, Greenland, 4m
Naja (Little sister) is a fantasy short film that tells a young girls death and her journey through shock and grief. After an traumatic experience Naja ran away from home as she runs away from the reality that she couldn’t accept. As she ran her ancestors follow her, through the northern lights. She meets two small spirits that wanted to help her move on to the other world (silap aappaa). She couldn’t move on until she accepts her death.
Hop Along Hang On, Cobra Collins, Alberta, 4m
“Hop Along Hang On” blends the genres of spoken word poetry, music and animation to explore and acknowledge the deeper history and long-term effects of the removal of culture within Indigenous peoples of Canada.
The Archivists, Igor Drljaca, BC, 14m
In a dystopian future, a travelling trio of musicians discover an abandoned house – a relic from the old world. As the bandmates explore the ruin, they stumble upon a hidden room full of precious artifacts of a bygone era.
Peete, Simon Madore, Ontario, 10m
A washed-up misfit by the name of Peete moves temporarily into a quiet suburb. As he waits for a loved one to contact him, he strikes a bond with a young neighbour to whom he bears a strange resemblance.
Sunday, April 4
Screening 8, 1 PM
SCreening sponsor
Rage Monster, Sarah Gignac, Nova Scotia, 3m
A little girl struggles with her uncontrollable anger. Rage Monster was hand drawn, painted, and animated.
The People’s Church of the G.H.E.T.T.O, Carolyn Chen, USA, 4m
Bronzeville burlesque artist reimagines church service to commemorate black women in history. She used elements of dance, storytelling, and striptease to pay homage to black women whose work impacted Bronzeville. She believes that it is her job to seek untold stories of those black women and help people remember them.
Mawhialeo Ote Alowha / Our Love, Valeriya Golovina, New Zealand, 16m
Meli and her husband Avito reflect on the pivotal decision of their lives. With much trepidation they left the tiny atoll of Tokelau for New Zealand seeking a better life for their son. 43 years on, they find themselves pulled between family and a longing for home.
Sonata, Jonas Selberg Augustsén, Sweden, 15m
A woman finds out that her 7-year-old son has stolen from her. She tries to explain that it was wrong but has difficulties conversing at a level the boy can understand. She improvises her message in a bedtime story. Based on a novel by Anton Chekhov.
Wash Day, Kourtney Jackson, Ontario, 10m
As they get ready for the day, three young Black women discuss the public perception of their Blackness in relation to their cultivation of a strong sense of self. Wash Day is an intimate exploration into how private, domestic acts such as washing your hair or putting on makeup become a significant re-acquaintance with the body, before and after navigating the politics of one’s outwardly appearance.
Family Routes, Keith Robertson, NWT, 30m
Leanne Robinson and Dwayne Wohlgemuth embarked on a summer-long canoe trip across the Northwest Territories with their two sons: four-year-old Emile, and one-year-old Aleksi. Together they face the challenges of living off the land and criticism back home.
Screening 9, 4 PM
screening sponsor
Kapaemahu, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, USA, 9m
Long ago, four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii. The name of their leader was Kapaemahu. Beloved by the people for their gentle ways and miraculous cures, they imbued four giant boulders with their powers. The stones still stand on what is now Waikiki Beach, but the true story behind them has been hidden – until now.
The thousand and one nights, Mahsum Taskin, Turkey, 17m
Seyithan (12) living in a Kurdish Village in Eastern Turkey meets the tales of The Thousand and One Nights and seeks a way to find missing parts given by the school teacher to his classmates.
Search Though We Might We May Never See Beyond The Horizon Of Our Imagination - Chapters Five, David Curtis, Yukon, 4m
Chapter Without Title: (Echoing from backstage) “And on the eighth day, She created a vast pit, into which everything vanished. From its depths issued a great thundering....”
Suodji (Shelter) , Marja Helander, SÁmi, 4m
Suodji (Shelter) is an adaptation of an old story from Utsjoki, Sápmi. It is a legend of what the director’s relative Ovllá-Ivvár Helander did during the 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Utsjoki. Ovllá-Ivvár decided to fool Death and take his fate into his own hands. The protagonist of the film walks in Ovllá-Ivvár’s footsteps, performing her own modification of the old tale. But in the end, who is really who?
Earthbound, Normand Rajotte, Québec, 10m
Freshly killed by coyotes, a deer lies in the middle of a pine grove.
Posted nearby, for a whole year, two surveillance cameras allow us to see what happens next.
Attempt #1, Bryan Porter, USA, 5m
A man attempts the impossible to reunite with his cat.*Made alone in isolation during Covid lockdown* **When a theater actor has no more theaters open to perform in, strange things happen* (Content warning: although a comedy this film is about a suicide attempt)
Dogs Bark, Sergio Serrano, Spain 8m
You are not the only one who likes to look at the rain from the balcony and listen to the dogs barking. I saw you yesterday with your red umbrella and I recognized you.
Lobster Festival, Todd Fraser, Nova Scotia, 4m
The Shediac Lobster Festival is fun for the whole family. A giant sculpture of a lobster, carnival rides, a fire juggler, and boiling lobsters alive are all documented on 16mm film using the monoflex technique.
Mooz Miikan, Evelyn Pakinewatik, Ojibwe, 8m
There is joy and grief in equal parts. “Mooz Miikan” is intended as a love letter to my father and a means to process my sorrow. – Evelyn Pakinewatik
Screening 10, 7:30 PM
screening sponsor
Atua, Brown Bitty – Muaupoko/Ngai Tara/Ngati Raukawa/Ngati Huia, Chantelle Murray – Bardi, Bailey Poching – Ngati Whatua/Samoan of Aleisa and Tanugamanono, New Zealand, 7m
Kahu is the last man standing in a world devastated by disease. Atua was made as part of the NATIVE Slam V, The NATIVE Slam is an international Indigenous collaboration challenge that brings Indigenous filmmakers together for just 72 hours to make a film.
Four Days at the National Preservation Centre Lindsay Fitzgerald, Sean Stiller, Andrew Bateman, Ontario, 15m
Four Days at the National Preservation Centre (2020) is a symphonic short documentary about the mechanics of one country’s efforts to conserve it’s archival heritage.
They Came on Ships, Eric Sanchez, (Shoalwater Bay/Chinook/Mexican), 4m
During a naming ceremony for his grandchild, an elder tells a traditional oral story of when the Earth was visited by the sky people, made with the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Coldshot, Evin Collis, Manitoba, 12m
Coldshot follows the surreal journey of a weary passenger train and its travellers as it trudges north to the Hudson Bay revealing glimpses of the monotony, oddities and marvels of Canada’s gateway to the north.
Sems, Mehmet Can Bindal, Turkey, 20m
A documentary about a man who has established himself as a Uzbek dog walker in the Cihangir, where the intellectual people have lived in the heart of İstanbul, for 10 years.
FLIP, Kevin T. Landry, QuÉbec, 10m
A tribute to the therapeutic virtues of losing your s**t told in 6 scenes.
Off the Record, Yasmine Renaud, Cud Eastbound, Justine Hobbs, Jess Van Den Broek, Yukon, 5m
The mysterious disappearance of Dawsonite Stephen Henderson is explored,
