FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Edmonton, AB (September 15, 2016) – Founded in 1993, Dreamspeakers is one of the longest running international Indigenous film festivals in the world.
This 6 day festival runs Sept 23 to 28, 2016 at Metro Cinema (8712 – 109 Street), and features incredible films, as well as special workshops, panel discussions and community dialogues designed to engage both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Edmontonians alike.
Join us in celebrating Indigenous film as we look anew at our purpose, progress and media revival, relevance and resonance!
Some of our 23 must-see films include: Angry Inuk (Writer & Director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril), Gone with the River (Director Mario Crespo) and Journey Towards Reconciliation; Dreamspeakers Youth who’ve documented the historical Truth and Reconciliation Commission event. As part of our Gil Cardinal Retrospective on Sept 25 at 6:30pm, we’ll screen both Totem and Foster Child, and feature an exhibition of his archival film material, along with artwork by Jane Ash Poitras.
ALL SCREENINGS $12.
ALL ACCESS FESTIVAL PASS: $75
Workshops include ‘The Tradition of Storytelling’ with revered Elder Jerry Saddleback, ‘Creative Writing’ with internationally renowned Richard Van Camp, and the always entertaining Cody Lightning will host an ‘Auditioning for Film’ workshop for youth and emerging artists. Our panel discussions and community dialogues compliment our curated film selection and are open to everyone. We want to engage directly with festival goers and the general public on ways to renew Dreamspeakers and its relevance.
Our Opening Night and Post Reception, Awards Night and Closing Night Party all feature talented local performing artists. We wrap our festival on Sept 28 with the High Level Bridge lit up in our official Dreamspeakers colours, courtesy The City of Edmonton.
The 2016 Dreamspeakers International Indigenous Film Festival is produced by The Dreamspeakers Festival Society, and is supported by Bell Media, Edmonton Arts Council, Edmonton Community Foundation and Alberta Culture and Tourism, Community Initiatives Program.
For more info please contact Executive Director Christine Sokaymoh Frederick at
(780) 378-9611 or christine@dreamspeakers.org.