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NFB Indigenous and northern stories, diverse works, featured online in Canada. Available Light Film Festival presents 18 NFB films—including the Northern premiere of Arctic Song.


Vancouver – WEBWIRE

For its 20th anniversary edition, the Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) in Yukon is featuring 18 films by National Film Board of Canada (NFB) creators, including a powerful selection of Inuit, First Nations, Métis and northern works.

Due to COVID-19, these films will be presented online February 11 to 28, 2022, available throughout Canada.

Northern premiere:

  • Arctic Song (Taqqut Productions/NFB; 6 min.)
    dir. Germaine Arnattaujuq (Arnaktauyok), Neil Christopher and Louise Flaherty
    In this six-minute short, Inuit artist, storyteller and co-director Germaine Arnattaujuq (Arnaktauyok) depicts Inuit creation stories in all their glory. Arctic Song tells stories of how the land, sea and sky came to be in beautifully rendered animation. Telling traditional Inuit tales from the Iglulik region of Nunavut through song, the film revitalizes ancient knowledge and shares it with future generations.


More Inuit and northern shorts:

  • Being Prepared (10 min.)
    As the global pandemic reaches into the Arctic Archipelago, Inuk filmmaker Carol Kunnuk documents how unfamiliar new protocols affect her family and community.


  • Evan’s Drum (14 min.)
    In Ossie Michelin’s short film, an adventurous young boy and his determined mother share a passion for Labrador Inuit drum dancing.


  • Into Light (19 min.)
    Set against the landscape of Yellowknife, Sheona McDonald’s documentary captures a season of change as a mother and child navigate the complexities of gender identity.


  • Nalujuk Night (13 min.)
    Director Jennie Williams brings us the story of an exhilarating and sometimes terrifying Nunatsiavut tradition.


More acclaimed Indigenous works:

  • Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy (Seen Through Woman Productions/NFB; 125 min.)
    Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ award-winning portrait of how community members, first responders and health professionals in the Kainai First Nation bring hope and change through harm reduction.


  • Crazywater (56 min.)
    Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen’s Crazywater explores substance abuse among First Nations people.


  • Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair (29 min.)
    Legendary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin shares the powerful speech by Senator Sinclair as he accepts the WFM-Canada World Peace Award, interspersed with testimonies of former students of residential schools.


  • Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again (34 min.)
    Mohawk filmmaker Courtney Montour shares the story of Mary Two-Axe Earley, who fought to challenge sex discrimination embedded in the Indian Act against First Nations women.




  • Tantoo Cardinal (5 min.)
    Anishinaabe artist Darlene Naponse’s portrait of Tantoo Cardinal, travelling through time and across the many roles she’s played to capture her strength and her impact, created for the 2021 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA).


Plus diverse works from across Canada:

  • Someone Like Me (80 min.)
    When a queer group of strangers unite to support a gay Ugandan man seeking asylum, unexpected challenges lead them down an emotional road together in Vancouver filmmakers Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams feature doc.


  • June Night (4 min.)
    Working in isolation during the first wave of COVID-19, avant-garde filmmaker Mike Maryniuk composes a surreal ode to rebirth and reinvention.


  • Ice Breakers (15 min.)
    Through the present-day journey of a gifted young player, Sandi Rankaduwa’s short uncovers the buried history of how Black athletes helped pioneer modern hockey.


  • Night Fair (5 min.)
    Through voice mail, media artist Cynthia Naggar and sound designer Gueze collect the dreams of citizens.


  • Sòl (8 min.)
    Valérie Bah and Tatiana Zinga Botao’s portrait of some of the many Black, racialized and immigrant women who work as healthcare providers to elderly patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.


  • Starlight & Other Sounds: The Music of Alexina Louie (5 min.)
    In this short created for the 2021 GGPAA, Vancouver director Josephine Anderson explores the internal process of Alexina Louie, whose unique sound has established her as one of Canada’s most highly regarded composers.


  • Zab Maboungou (4 min.)
    Carmine Pierre-Dufour’s look at the multi-faceted career of choreographer, dancer, instructor, philosopher and writer Zab Maboungou, created for the 2021 GGPAA.


Related Products

Electronic Press Kit | Images, trailers, synopsis: Arctic Song | Being Prepared | Evan’s Drum | Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair | Ice Breakers | Into Light | June Night | Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy | Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again | Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics | Nalujuk Night | Night Fair | Someone Like Me

Associated Links

Available Light Film Festival
Taqqut Productions

French version here | Version française ici.

About the NFB

The NFB is Canada’s public producer and distributor of award-winning documentaries, auteur animation, interactive stories and participatory experiences, working with talented creators across the country. The NFB is taking action to combat systemic racism and become a more open and diverse organization, while working to strengthen Indigenous-led production and gender equity in film and digital media. NFB productions have won more than 7,000 awards, including 12 Oscars. To access this unique content, visit NFB.ca.


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