2022 Festival

Directed by: Anne Wheeler, Canada (1981), Docu-drama. Mature subject matter, viewer discretion advised.
Based on the diaries of Canadian doctor Ben Wheeler during his internment in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, this feature-length docudrama is a glowing account of the spirit and its will to survive physical and mental suffering. The film is comprised of newsreel footage, interviews and dramatic re-enactments.

Directed by: Mania Akbari and Douglas White, UK/Iran (2019), Documentary. Mature subject matter, viewer discretion advised.
***WESTERN CANADA PREMIERE
Mania Akbari collaborates with British sculptor Douglas White to coin a tender fusion of language, where a meeting of cinema and sculpture investigates the processes of physical and psychological destruction and renewal. Begun a matter of weeks after first meeting, the film charts a deepening artistic and personal relationship exploring the nature of skin, family, death, water, desire and, throughout, a powerful will to form. Akbari looks into the connection between her body and the political history of Iran, investigating the relationship between her own physical traumas and the collective political memory of her birthplace. As she undergoes surgeries on a body decimated by cancer, remembrance and reconstruction provide a framework for investigating how bodies are traumatised, censored and politicized, and yet ultimately remain a site of possibility.

"I am overwhelmed by this film. It touched me deeply. I almost physically felt everything, my body ached and shivered. The intimacy and the abstraction, the crudeness and the sophistication, the personal and the political, the natural and the artistic have been so masterfully blended." -Alin Tasciyan Critic and FIPRESCI Jury Member

AWARDS

• 2019 Winner New: Vision Award at CPH:DOX FIPRESCI International Critics Award
• Nominated for Les Nouveaux Alchimistes Award at 48th Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema
• Special Mention - International Award- International Signs of the Night Festival
• Winner Best Female Perspective Feature at World of Film International Festival

A program of animated films by Austrian women artists, Austria (2022), All ages.
***CANADIAN PREMIERE
The fourth edition of the Tricky Women/Tricky Realities film program in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. The program, entitled "On Travelling, Matters of the Heart and Peripheries" implemented for the first time to make the diverse work of female Austrian animated film artists more visible abroad.

This year’s programme deals with love of life down to fear of life, revisits old myths and describes modern encounters. Not only does it tell stories, but it also demonstrates the diversity of the techniques these women artists apply. Animation is diverse, as are the ideas, concepts and appeals of these women artists. Their technical means for this are just as exciting as the content they have chosen. Thus “On Travelling, Matters of the Heart and Peripheries” also becomes a journey through the diversity of artistic creation, which continues in the audience’s eye.

FILMS

Linzer Lust | Linz Delight
Maya Yonesho, AT/DE 2019, 3'17

Vermessung der Distanz | Measuring the Distance
Susi Jirkuff, AT 2019, 7'

The Outlander
Ani Antonova, AT 2018, 5'

Shaul und Iwan | Shaul And Ivan
Rebecca Akoun, AT 2019, 9'50

Contouring
Veronika Schubert, AT 2019, 3'50

Lieb Dich | Love You
Sabine Groschup, AT 2019, 8'

Pangäa
Beate Hecher und Markus Keim, AT 2020, 13'35

Who’s Afraid Of RGB
Billy Roisz, AT 2019, 8'20

In Her Boots
Kathrin Steinbacher, AT/UK 2019, 6'02

Cardiograph, AT 2018, 1'40
Explosive Speech, AT 2017, 2'00
Shaping Waves, AT 2018, 1'45
Glass Wall, AT 2017, 2'07 Anna Vasof

Directed by: Beth Wishart MacKenzie, Canada (2017), Documentary. Ages 13+.
Wahkohtowin: In Focus – Indigenous Female Directors Series. ***Q&A with Beth Wishart MacKenzie and Lana Whiskeyjack

An observation of Cree artist Lana Whiskeyjack as she works to complete "Lost My Talk", a mixed-media sculpture representing her uncle. This study of an artist and her work gives us some understanding of the trauma experienced by Canada’s Indigenous people in the Indian Residential School system, of its enduring effects on the children of survivors, and of one woman’s journey to recover what was lost: dignity, identity, and voice.

AWARDS

• FAVA FEST 2017 (EDM, AB)/Award of Excellence
• Female Eye Film Fest 2017 (Toronto, ON)/Nominee: Best Doc Short
• Recipient: Canada Council for the Arts New Chapter National Touring Grant

Directed by: Terril Calder, Canada (2022), English with some Anishinaabemowin, Stop-motion animation. All ages.
Wahkohtowin: In Focus – Indigenous Female Directors Series.

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics dives deeply into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride and Envy) and the Seven Sacred Teachings (Love, Respect, Wisdom, Courage, Truth, Honesty and Humility), as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby. Brought to life by Terril Calder’s darkly beautiful stop-motion animation, Baby Girl’s inner turmoil is laid bare with unflinching honesty. Convinced she’s soiled and destined for Hell, Baby Girl receives Anishinaabe Teachings from Nokomis that fill her with strength and pride, and affirm a path towards healing. Calder’s tour-de-force unearths a hauntingly familiar yet hopeful world that illuminates the bias of colonial systems.

SELECTIONS AND AWARDS

• Official Selection TIFF - Toronto International Film Festival, Canada (2021)
• Special Mention - Canadian Film Institute (CFI) Award for Best Canadian Animation OIAF - Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada (2021)
• Official Selection imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, (2021)
• Audience Award: Best Canadian Short Film GIRAF Festival of Independent Animation, Canada (2021)
• Canada’s Top Ten - Shorts TIFF - Toronto International Film Festival, Canada, (2021)
• Official Selection Berlinale - Generation 14plus (2022)
• Nomination - Best Animated Short Canadian Screen Awards, Toronto, Canada (2022)
• International Jury Special Mentions Tricky Women/Tricky Realities, Vienna (2022)
• Nominations - Indigenous Award, Mental Health & Animation Yorkton Film Festival, SK, Canada (2022)
• Perspectives Short Films in Competition Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France (2022)

Directed by: Lyana Patrick, Canada (2020), Animation. All ages.
***ALBERTA PREMIERE
Wahkohtowin: In Focus – Indigenous Female Directors Series

In this beautifully animated documentary short, filmmaker Lyana Patrick narrates her family’s powerful story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential School

Directed by: Alanis Obomsawin, Canada (1971), Documentary/Animation. All ages.
Wahkohtowin: In Focus – Indigenous Female Directors Series

Released in 1971, this lyrical short documentary marked the directorial debut of legendary Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin. Filmed at a residential school in northern Ontario, it is composed entirely of drawings by young Cree children and stories told by the children themselves. Listening has been at the core of Obomsawin’s practice since the very beginning. “Documentary film,” she said in a 2017 interview, “is the one place that our people can speak for themselves. I feel that the documentaries that I’ve been working on have been very valuable for the people, for our people to look at ourselves… and through that be able to make changes that really count for the future of our children to come.”

Directed by: Jennie Williams, Canada (2021), Documentary. May be frightening for young children.
***EDMONTON PREMIERE
Wahkohtowin: In Focus – Indigenous Female Directors Series

Nalujuk Night is an up close look at an exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, Labrador Inuit tradition. Every January 6th from the dark of the Nunatsiavut night, the Nalujuit appear on the sea ice. They walk on two legs, yet their faces are animalistic, skeletal, and otherworldly. Snow crunches underfoot as they approach their destination: the Inuit community of Nain.

Despite the frights, Nalujuk Night is a beloved annual event, showing that sometimes it can be fun to be scared. Rarely witnessed outside of Nunatsiavut, this annual event is an exciting chance for Inuit, young and old, to prove their courage and come together as a community to celebrate culture and tradition.

Inuk filmmaker Jennie Williams brings audiences directly into the action in this bone-chilling black and white short documentary about a winter night like no other.

SELECTIONS AND AWARDS

• Official Selection Asinabka Festival - Snowscreen (2022)
• Official Selection Available Light Film Festival, Whitehorse, Canada (2022)
• Winner - Best Atlantic Short Documentary FIN Atlantic International Film Festival
• Official Selection imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, (2021)
• Official Selection St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, NL, Canada (2021)
• Official Selection Vancouver International Film Festival (2021)
• Official Selection Festival du nouveau cinéma (2021)
• Official Selection - Shorts: She Stories DOC NYC (2021)
• Nominee - Best Documentary Short American Indian Film Festival (2021)
• Winner - Best Short Documentary Canadian Screen Awards, Toronto, Canada (2022)
• Official Selection Miami Film Festival, Florida, U.S.A. (2022)
• Official Selection Nunavut International Film Festival, Canada (2022)
• Official Selection Skoden Indigenous Film Festival, Canada (2022)
• Nomination - Emerging Filmmaker Yorkton Film Festival, SK, Canada (2022)
• Winner: Kathleen Shannon Award Yorkton Film Festival, SK, Canada (2022)
• Winner: Documentary Arts/Culture Yorkton Film Festival, SK, Canada (2022)
• Winner: Best of Festival Yorkton Film Festival, SK, Canada (2022)

Directed by: Sharon Lewis, Canada (2021), Documentary. All ages.

*** EDMONTON PREMIERE

*** Special guests: MLA Janis Irwin plus invited guests of the co-presenter Black Market Releasing

*** Q&A to follow the screening

Born out of Director Sharon Lewis' own muted struggle with not fitting into neat racial/Queer/Christian boxes, With Wonder takes an intimate look at the journey of members of the Queer, Christian community of colour and their attempts to answer the question: Can you be both Christian and Queer? In this feature length documentary, we hear and see diverse members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, including high-profile queer activists and Queer clerics, in places like Jamaica, New York, London, and Los Angeles. They each have their own unique ways of amplifying their voices and finding their way back to spiritual health, despite the shaming tactics of some Christian institutions. With Wonder is a love letter to God from the LGBTQ2S+ community of colour.

Directed by: Valerie Buhagier, Canada/Malta (2021), Drama/Comedy. All ages.
***ALBERTA PREMIERE
** Malta’s official submission to the 2023 Oscars

*** Includes Closing Night Reception for ticket holders & invited guests

Inspired by true events, Carmen is a charming story set in a village in the Mediterranean island Malta. Carmen (Natascha McElhone) has looked after her brother, the priest at the local church, since she was sixteen years old. Now almost fifty, she is suddenly left to start a new life. Facing her past, Carmen brings colour to the lives of the villagers in this compelling story about a woman finding her voice.

Starring: Natascha McElhone and Steven Love