#Toronto: Why Canadian #Indigenous Filmmakers Are Having a Moment
With eight films in the TIFF lineup, industry leaders say a years-in-the-making initiative to advance #FirstNations creative is paying off.
September 6, 2025
"Canadian indigenous filmmakers are having a moment at the #TorontoFilmFestival this year, with eight features in the official lineup.
"That has #EvaThomas, a writer and filmmaker from #WalpoleIslandFirstNation, busily working the room during an #IndigenousScreenOffice (ISO) breakfast at TIFF‘s Lightbox headquarters. The goal is drumming up buzz for the world premiere of her feminist crime thriller #Nika&Madison on Sunday night.
"Ahead of the Toronto premiere, Thomas and her team have plastered downtown Toronto with 'Wanted' posters from a fictional #WyandotCounty Police with the faces of #NikaAndMadison, two young indigenous women played in the feature by Ellyn Jade and Star Slade and who are forced on the run after a violent encounter with a predatory cop.
"Crucially, Nika & Madison has financing from the ISO, Canada’s film financier for First Nations storytellers like Thomas. 'Money is fundamental to the process and being able to have the support of the ISO means we have a record number of indigenous features at TIFF,' Thomas tells The Hollywood Reporter.
"Besides Nika & Madison, the official Toronto fest lineup includes mostly world premieres for #ShaneBelcourt & #TanyaTalaga’s #NiNaadamaadiz: #RedPowerRising; #BrettenHannam’s Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts); #TashaHubbard’s Meadowlarks; #ZachariasKunuk’s #Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband); #GailMaurice’s Blood Lines; #DarleneNaponse’s Aki; and #RhayneVermette’s Levers.
"Kerry Swanson, CEO of the ISO, says indigenous filmmakers were doing a lot with little financing for decades. That’s before, in recent years, the Canadian government steered dedicated funding to support First Nations creative talent.
"The federal government financing, in part, supports efforts towards #reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians after historical #racism and #injustices. But Swanson and indigenous filmmakers are mindful that financing currently directed at them can always be taken away if the country’s political winds blow elsewhere.
" 'We can never stop fighting, not just to grow our funding, but to maintain the funding that we have in the face of cuts, in the face of this backlash against inclusive programs and funding initiatives. We’re very aware of that,' Swanson argues."
#IndigenousFilmmakers #IndigenousNews #Storytelling #TruthAndReconciliation
