2020 Program

tickets must be purchased online in advance.
Tickets now on sale: https://2020dawsonfilmfest.eventbrite.ca

All programs in the KIAC Ballroom unless noted otherwise.
Doors will open 1/2 before screening time.
Please adhere to social Distancing protocols for all our venues/events.

Note: Some films may contain content NOT suitable for all. Please read the film descriptions.

Printed Schedule

Friday, October 2, 7:30pm • Saturday, October 3, 2pm • 7:30pm | Sunday, October 4, 2pm • 7:30pm
Tuesday, OctoBer 6, drone day
Wednesday, October 7: DRive in at the Palace Grand, Youth Program 7pm • 9pm
Friday October 9-11, COLD CUTS VIDEO FESTIVAL
Saturday, October 10, 2pm • 7:30pm | Sunday October 11, 2pm • 7pm

 

Friday, October 2, 7:30pm

Screening Sponsor Schmidt Mining


Let’s go to Antarctica!, Gonzaga Manso, Spain, 5m

Carlos is a human being who at this very moment is on a holiday in Antarctica.
The penguins, who do not have cameras, will forget all about Carlos

 

Caribou in the Archive, Jennifer Dysart, Ontario, 8m

A home movie of a Cree woman hunting is saved from being lost forever, but how does it compare to official Canadian history of northern Manitoba?


Them Two, Bennie AlLain, Yukon, 5m
Yup....
 
Everything is Fine, Death Sheppard, Yukon, 2m

A stranger walks through seemingly abandoned streets, where the only evidence of human life is a mysterious song playing in empty vehicles.

The Great Wolodarsky Cribbage Tournament, Ma’ayan Sue Rypp, Manitoba, 20m

A family affair that documents the 25th Annual Wolodarsky Cribbage Tournament. The greater Wolodarsky family get together in a fun way to enjoy each other’s company. The film explores notions of tradition, memory, and place, revealing the cross-cultural parallels of these overarching themes. The game of cribbage becomes a fulcrum from which one can examine human relations; a harmonization of both our inherent drive for comraderie and as well as our competitive nature to win.


Compassion, Lulu Keating, Yukon, 5m

A woman prospector, alone in the Yukon wilderness; a man crazed with hunger. What will happen when they meet?


Whistle While You Work, Cud Eastbound, Yukon, 3

Be happy in your work.

 

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Saturday, October 3, 2pm

cervus canadensis, Alex Rogalski, Saskatchewan, 3m

The elk or wapiti is one of the largest species within the deer family, cervidae.This animal should not be confused with the still larger moose (Alces alces) to which the name “elk” applies in British English.

All It Gives, Talia Woodland, Yukon, 15m

Showcasing one of Toronto’s best up and coming Hiphop dancing stars, “All It Gives” follows the story of Kosi Eze, a Nigerian immigrant who moved to Canada when she was 14. Her transition to the country brought immense culture shock, loneliness and loss of identity. From dancing in the hallways at her high school, to winning battles across the globe, Kosi’s story of growth is a glowing example of how the power of Hiphop can inspire, uplift and support anyone who needs it and wants to discover it.

Phenomena, Penny McCann, Ontario, 8m

An experimental triptych filmed in Super 8 and 16mm over a four year period, Phenomena continues an evolving preoccupation with landscape and celluloid prctices. Three scenes are observed: a snowstorm in downtown Ottawa (where the artist lives), a gentle winter thaw on a bog in Eastern Ontario, and the raging Ottawa river during spring run-off. The simple act of observation is transformed into a post-modern cataloging of events, prompting the viewer to wonder to what extent the natural world and phenomena can exist unmediated in filmed representation.


Greyish, Eghbal Shirzaei, Islamic Republic of Iran, 4m

It’s a minimal story about a wooden old man as a metaphor of our life!

everything under the sun, no. 2, Jeffrey Langille, Yukon 13m

A camera looks directly at the sun, its sustained gaze probing the immensity of solar time. Microphones stay close to the earth, wandering, listening to water, insects, birds, and machines.

Plastic, plastic, every where!, Michelle Kuen Suet Fung, Hong Kong, 23m

Plastic plastic, every where! portrays a dystopian future where a frenzy of human plastic consumption (e.g., life saver donuts, telephone hotdogs) leads us past the point of no return. This global craze originates from the 2084 annual meeting of the Great Five Industrial Nations. At this meeting, the delegate from the imaginary country of Contradictoria (in the form of a pig) proposes that if animals can learn to eat plastic, why can’t children?

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Saturday, October 3, 7:30pm

Screening Sponsor Schmidt Mining

Northern Spring Signature Color Collection, Chris McNutt, Yukon, 2m

"Designer" Chris McNutt releases his signature collection designer paint series that draws inspiration from the robust colors of northern spring. A journey and a conversation about self and space.

FACE/TIME, Anita Lebeau, Manitoba, 3m

A study of the cyclical nature of time, as seen through portraits and the hands that create them.

RUTH MOLL, 1 CLIVIA PLACE, 57 SWEETWATERS ROAD, Gabriel Bullen, Yukon, 3m

A day in the life of Ruth Moll.

SKIES ARE NOT JUST BLUE, Lysandre Cosse-Tremblay, Quebec, 25m

While travelling between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, the road leads us to Yara, Monib, Tariq and A. who claim their identities as Muslims from diverse backgrounds by negotiating a space in the LGBTQ+ community and reflecting on their personal beliefs and experiences.


Don’t Buy Milk, Julian Gallese, Costa Rica, 4m

Portrait of a small dairy town


ForÊt noire, Jean-Marc E. Roy, Philippe David Gagné, Quebec, 21m

A judge orders the re-enactment of a crime scene in order to shed some light on inconsistencies in a murder case. Under the eye of Lady Justice, the accused, a family of three women from Quebec, have to thoroughly relive the day of the crime.

The Provider, Jayden Soroka, Yukon, 9m

“The Provider” brings to life the experience of a man’s first hunt at the age of thirty three, eighteen years later than tradition holds, an event that would define his place in his community and open his eyes to where he belongs.

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SUNday, October 4, 2pm

Views from the Porch, ShaRron Mirsky, Quebec, 1m

Animated views from the porch of Macaulay House in Dawson City, winter 2020.


Citizen Patrol, Xavier Beauchesne-Rondeau, Quebec, 9m

Following a supposed malicious act perpetrated on his daughter, a man decides to organize vigilance patrols in his neighborhood, an initiative that degenerates quickly and opens the door to amalgam and to the primary racism of some fellow citizens... At the same time, Blaise, a young man born of immigrant parents, moves into his new apartment...

Tlatsini, Mike Rudyk, Yukon, 25 m

Master carver Wayne Carlick has long dreamed to see the routes his ancestors travelled along the Taku watershed and inland. In 2018, Carlick realized that dream when he and a group of Taku River Tlingit First Nations set off down the Taku River in a Traditional Tlingit ocean-going canoe.

The Heavy Burden,Yilmaz Özdil, Turkey, 17m

Hosted by his uncle in Turkey, a young Kurd from Syria decides to return to his country to bring back his young donkey to replace his uncle’s old donkey recently “retired” by the municipality of the city.

 

King Lajoie, Joannie LafreniÈre, Quebec, 26m

KING LAJOIE delves into the kitsch universe of an Elvis Presley impersonator who has been shaping his life around his idol for over 40 years.

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SUNday, October 4, 7:30pm

Screening Sponsor Schmidt Mining

Mer Bleue, Cecilia Araneda, Manitoba, 4m

A pathway through time captures the changing of seasons and the evanescence of love.

Fireweed, Fran Morberg-Green, Yukon, 8m

Our roots and ancestors run deep.

 

Chickens, Nicole Favron, Yukon, 2m

Chickens... A brief mockumentary on the life of these spectacular birds; a whirlwind of emotion and cinematic grace

 

Smashed, Linda Glass, Yukon, 4m

A relationship-weary woman dreams of reclaiming her sensuous nature. One item from an oppressive relationship remains. A chance encounter in nature sparks a wild idea.

I Hold the Dehcho in My Heart / Sedze Tah Dehcho E’toh, Lesley Johnson, NWT, 22m

In July and August of 2017, a group of Indigenous students, elders and educators, embarked on a six week paddle trip down Canada’s longest river, the Mackenzie, known as the Dehcho in the Dene language, in an effort to reconnect with land and culture. These young Dene women overcome exhausting days and occasionally treacherous weather conditions, to feel cultural pride and gain valuable leadership skills to bring back to their home communities in the North.

Congress, Kyath Battie, Saskatchewan, 4m

Mediated under flight and wing, possible collective memories are represented through a prism of vast tundra landscapes, a wrecked 19th century paddleboat, and ancient lichen fields. Time, place and history become nostalgic remnants from the Yukon Territory, with a final conclusion on common ground.

Why Are our Mouths Open, Saskia Blagaj-Berger, Yukon, 2m

Why indeed?

 

Katalog Of Flaws, Marv Newland, BC, 12m

KATALOG OF FLAWS is a fever dream. There are many false endings, keep watching.

 

A Picnic In Guggieville, Annie Kierans, Yukon, 10

The hoity-toity Guggenheim clan enjoy a picnic in Guggieville – once the setting of their profitable gold-dredging operation.

 

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TuesdaY, October 6, 7-11pm
DRone Day Installation
in the parking lot of the Palace Grand

Thanks to Parks Canada and CFYT 106.9FM


Drone Day. Every year since 2014, on the last Saturday of May, experimental musicians across Canada and the world have gathered in small groups and online to create new worlds of ambient sound together in celebration of all things drone and droning. This year, nine Whitehorse musicians ventured to a remote quarry to bring musical drones to the woods and mountains. The Drone Day installation immersively re-creates that experience, bringing listeners back in time to that misty day in the mountains with a quadraphonic, surround sound and video installation using the audio captured on that day. Soak in the sounds, and get lost: synthesizers, singing bowls, accordion, theremin, and saxophone.

DRIVE IN NIGHT @ THE PALACE GRAND
WEDNESday, October 7, 7pm (YOUTH PROGRAM)

Thanks to Parks Canada

ISOLATION, AurorA Hastings, Yukon, 1m

Made for the KIAC 1 minute Ice-solo-elation film challenge

That ONE Scene from Psycho, Clement & Hazel Potoroka, Yukon, 1m

Made for the KIAC 1 minute Ice-solo-elation film challenge

The Polar DIP, Tess Crocker, Yukon, 1m

Made for the KIAC 1 minute Ice-solo-elation film challenge

Boxed In, Darius & Katie MacLeod, Yukon, 1m

Made for the KIAC 1 minute Ice-solo-elation film challenge

Wild & Precious Life, Jon Gelinas, Sam Skinner, Yukon, 5m

A rhythmic call to action brings kids together to meet on the beat.
 
The Origin of the Dreamcatcher, Cassandra Ambroise-St-Onge , Donavan Vollant , Quebec, 4m

Haunted by an evil spirit that keeps him awake, a hunter discovers the secret power of dreamcatchers.

Super Sweet, Meg Walker, Yukon, 5m

For this documentary, a local filmmaker knocked on a few doors and asked kids what to do with all the leftover Halloween candy (theirs, mine, everyone's). One early discovery: the phrase "too much candy" doesn't make sense to most people under 12. Many candies were harmed in the making of this film.

 

Fox Creates the Days, Alyce Johnson, Yukon, 6m

An interpretation of a Kluane creation tale combining authentic oral storytelling and virtual reality animation techniques.

 

What’s My Superpower?, Justin Heymans, Ontario, 10m

Nalvana feels like all of her friends have some type of superpower. She has friends with super speed, friends who can jump so far she thinks they can fly, and friends who are better than her at a million other things. As Nalvana tries out each of her friends’ superpowers with no success, she wonders if she might be the only kid in town without a special talent. But then her mom shows Nalvana that she is unique and special—and that her superpower was right in front of her all along.

 

Names for Snow, Rebecca Thomassie, Nunavik, 6m

This short follows Rebecca Thomassie, an Inuk woman, around Kangirsuk as she learns the 52 Inuktitut words for snow.

 

Lily Goes to the Dogs,The Bum Family, Alberta, 7m

Yet another crazy adventure with Lily!

Yard Work, Chelsea Jeffery, Yukon, 3m

The yard is doing its own work.

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DRIVE IN NIGHT @ THE PALACE GRAND
WEDNESday, October 7, 9pm

Thanks to Parks Canada & CFYT 106.9FM

Emit Tsevarh, Bobby Ronka, Yukon, 5m

A mysterious being is called to duty, only too soon after he realizes he has made an untimely error. Luckily he is equipped with the power to reverse the effects of his labour.

 

Couch, Kim Beggs, Dieter Weise, Yukon, 5m

A man gets rid of his old couch - and gets a new one...

Awe, Édith Jorisch , QuÉbeC, 8m
Hybrid short film on the concept of wonder.

 

Wanted : Strong Woman, Marilyn Cooke, Quebec, 15m

Nadege lacks the confidence to get what she wants from life... until the day she discovers a new passion that awakens the beast inside her.

 

Dar(k)win Project, Loris Lamunière, Charles Mercier, France, 14m

In a distant imaginary future, life underwater has been completely replaced by a new generation of species, made of plastic.

 

cry-o-sphere: slo dance with thaw, nina vroeman, Yukon, 2m

The cry-o-sphere is what we call ice on earth. The drama of this frozen body of water. strategy for seasonal effective disorder/ eco-anxiety. Materials: Tray of Frozen Water + SAD lamp

 

DawSin City, Jay Armitage, Yukonexer, 15m

Come on a tour of DawSin City during the dark nights of autumn, 1902. Meet some of the characters that you won’t read about in the history books as they find ways to survive in a harsh and unforgiving place. Based on a true story!

 

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October 8-9 in the ODD GALLERY

OctOBER 9-11

Imagined Futures

Imagined Futures, looks at the ways artist’s use imagined futurescapes and utopias to investigate landscapes, politics, and identities to envision new potentialities.

Opening Event:
Friday, October 9th, 8pm – 11pm
Front Street Art Market Building (Princess & Front)
Bonton & Bonfire socially distanced gathering! Please join us!
Cold Cuts Exhibition:
Friday, Oct. 9th – Sunday, Oct. 11th, 8pm – 11pm
Installation Locations: Front Street Art Market Building (Princess & Front),
ODD Gallery (window), & Red Feather Saloon (side)

For program specifics, vist the COLD CUTS web site

 

Saturday, October 10, 2pm

 

First Eyes curated by Kerry Barber

 



Liliu, Jeremiah Tauamiti, Samoan, 17m

Solo, a young Samoan interpreter for a Native Court in colonial, Samoa, does what he thinks is best for his people, at times lying as he translates. High Chief Nua, who understands and speaks English, is charged with trespassing. There is a tirade of verbal punches between Solo, Nua, and an old Judge hell-bent on Colonial rule. Solo risks everything when Nua is wrongfully imprisoned, fights to get back to her stranded grandchildren, leaving the colonial shackles behind.

 

I am Hitkoak, Tabitha Adine, Nunavut, 6m

Hitkoak describes her youth: the food she ate, the toys she grew up with, and the values she learned from her elders. Now, she passes them on to the young people in her community. In 2017, Reel Youth visited Kugluktuk, NU for two weeks as part of the Moving Forward Together - Hivumut Aulaniq Atauttimut project. We facilitated two intergenerational programs on the land, where young people and community elders spent time out on the land, teaching, learning, and creating short films. We also created a documentary to help share the magic of these programs .

Ulu, Tommy Kudluk, Nunavik, 5m

Tommy Kudluk is a handyman who spends most of his time in the land. In this film, after catching a fish with a spear, he makes an ulu, a traditional knife used by Inuit women. He can now enjoy freshly caught Arctic Char with his wife, Maggie.

 

MÉtis Femme Bodies, Chanelle Lajoie, Treaty 1 Territory, 6m

Métis Femme Bodies is an exploration into the experiences of what has become a repressed identity in both Indigenous and femme forms. Métis Femme Bodies aims to offer visibility and voice to those who have been denied such luxury in order to accurately represent themselves and correct misleading narratives imposed by greater power structures.

 

Throat Singing in Kangirsuk, Eva Kaukai, Manon Chamberland, Nunavik, 3m

Eva Kaukai and Manon Chamberland practice the Inuk art of throat singing in their small village of Kangirsuk. Their mesmerizing voices carry through the four seasons of their Arctic land.

 

D.I.Y., Taran Kootenhayoo Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation/Dene Stoney, Canada, 7m

Adam, a skateboarder, meets an unexpected stranger Joe, a Cree man who shares a traditional song which inspires him to get back to his roots.

 

Ribadit (Pulling in the Belt), Elle Safe Sara,Sami, 5m

Ribadit (pulling in the belt) was a tradition in the Sápmi village of Guovdageaidnu. This film introduces us to two elders who experienced this. Director Elle Sofe gives this old tradition new life in an unexpected way, along with Sápmi youths and dancers.

 

Now is the Time, Christopher Auchter, Haida, 16 min

When internationally renowned Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old, he was instrumental in changing the history of his people forever. With help from his grandparents, his father, and his younger brother Reg, Davidson committed to carving the first new totem pole in Old Massett in almost a century. On the 50th anniversary of the pole’s raising, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter steps easily through history to revisit that day in August 1969, when the entire village gathered to celebrate the event that would signal the rebirth of the Haida spirit.

 

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Saturday, October 10, 7:30pm

Please Note: SOME FILMS in this screening contain images of violence and sexuality.

Freeze Frame, Soetkin Verstegen, Belgium, 5m

Freeze frame: the most absurd technique since the invention of the moving image. Through an elaborate process of duplicating the same image over and over again, it creates the illusion of stillness. In this stop motion film, identical figures perform the hopeless task of preserving blocks of ice, like archivists. The repetitive movements reanimate the animals captured inside.

 

Watching Us, Paige Smith, BC, 8m

A series of repeated lateral dolly movements cycle through different vignettes of an intimate couple as their bond disintegrates under a voyeuristic gaze. Centered on the relationship between the film’s viewer and subject, Watching Us explores how a person’s identity and sexuality can be stripped through the act of non-consensual watching.

 

The Visitor, Keith Roberston, NWT, 1m

 

Grave Sight, Angus Swantee, Walter Forsyth, Nova Scotia, 7m

Grave-robbing Tanya, with her precious hubby Preston in tow, unearths a cursed ring and unleashes a powerful demon hellbent to get it back by any means necessary.

 

Neither here/there, Julaine Debagorski, Adonika Jayne, Ben Rudis Yukon, 5m

Dawson City hasn’t received food shipments for 5 weeks. The cold, the dark, and the hunger are causing residents to behave in peculiar ways.

The Caretaker, Ange Bonnici, Yukon, 5m

A man is drawn to the place where he was found as a child. An abandoned town where everyone died.

 

Malarchuk, Bennie ALlain & Jared Klok, Yukon 5m

Something weird is happening down at the rink. A stranger with a familiar name is guarding a secret.

The Sex Act, Madelyn G Rideout, Ontario, 12m

Ellen seeks out her own sex education when she’s dissatisfied with the lesson she’s given at school. She discovers a world of knowledge so incredible, she decides to gather her friends and start her own sex-ed-club, much to the dismay of her parents.

Two Snakes Coming Together LIKE SO, Fish Griwkowsky, Alberta, 13m

An experimental behind-the-scenes doc, shot in red/cyan 3D, about the making of Trevor Anderson’s penis thriller Docking.

NOTE: Please use your 3D glasses for this film
 
Docking, Trevor Anderson, Alberta, 4m

Trevor reflects on his fear of dating.

 

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SUNday, October 11, 2pm

screening sponsor

schmidt mining



Deep Blue, Sarah Gignac, Nova Scotia, 3m
The music playing on a staticy radio inspires a woman in the midst of domestic duties to day dream. Deep Blue was hand drawn, painted, and animated.

 

Exercises for Being Close to You, (A Story for the Arctic Refuge), Krista Davis, Yukon, 16m

In this experimental documentary a group of hikers travel through Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in hopes of intercepting the Porcupine Caribou migration. The film uses documentary footage of the two-week expedition intercut with experimental vignettes — exercises to rethink our relationship to the land and animals we hope to protect.

Better than Neil Armstrong, Alireza Ghasemi, Iran, Islamic Republic of, 20m

Four kids start their journey to the moon with the mission of finding a mysterious place called The Redland but the gates of Redland are being guarded by a mischievous snake.

Jesse Jams,Trevor Anderson, Alberta, 16m

A young Indigenous trans musician and his rock band bring mumble punk to the Interstellar Rodeo. A rock ‘n’ roll survival story of a different stripe.

 



time together, Pauline Gallinat, Yukon, 2m

"Babe? … Are you listening?“ Enjoy the main character’s attempt to garner their partner’s attention. Their bedtime conversation gives you a glimpse into each others needs in that very moment. But, it doesn’t necessarily tell you so much about the actual relationship dynamics. You might even find yourself in them.

 



Nefta Football Club,Yves Plat, France, 17m

In a Tunisian village, children are playing football on a wasteland. Meanwhile, Abdallah and Mohammed come across a donkey with headphones on his ears and bags full of a white powder on his back. The two young brothers decide to bring those bags back to their village.

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SUNday, October 11, 7pm

screening sponsor hootalinqua motion pictures

 
Sovereign Soil, David Curtis, Yukon, 95m

A feature documentary about local food North of 64 in Dawson, Yukon at the edge of the Boreal Forest. Food sustainability, relationship to land and the diverse perspectives of people producing and sourcing food are explored over five seasons on the land.

At the far-flung edge of Canada’s boreal forest, outside the tiny sub-Arctic town of Dawson City, Yukon a handful of unlikely farmers are growing everything from snow-covered Brussels sprouts to apples. These modern-day agrarians have carved out small patches of fertile soil in an otherwise unforgiving expanse of isolated wilderness to make a living and a life.

One young family taps birch trees for syrup, homeschooling their children in the steam of boiling sap, and lovingly scratching the rumps of their pigs before slaughter. A third-generation German horticulturalist, struggling to keep moose out of his radishes, alters Dawson’s food supply while facing the limits of agriculture in the North. The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in youth, raised hunting and trapping, who now weeds rows of lettuce on his self-governing First Nation’s teaching farm; the couple grafting fruit trees; the tomato wizard grappling with chronic illness; and the matriarch who can shoot and quarter a moose, are all in it for the same reason—a profound love of the land.

Dawson filmmaker David Curtis follows these resilient, unassuming farmers over the course of a year, watching as the heavy dark of winter gives way to the incessant summer sun. And as the seasons pass, time slows and transforms, reshaping notions of what really matters through the simple, rich day-to-day of people deeply tied to a life in the wilds.

Sovereign Soil is an ode to the beauty of this ferocious, remote land and the wisdom of those who’ve chosen to call it home.

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