The Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) heads to the Berlinale and European Film Market with a bolstered lineup this February as it celebrates 10 years of promoting Indigenous film and television.
Three works by Indigenous directors – Wrong Husband, White Ochre and Akababuru: Expression of Astonishment – are playing in the Berlinale’s Generation sidebar, while Wilfred Buck’s Star Stories about Ininew astronomer Wilfred Buck will have a special presentation in Forum Expanded.
There will also be market screenings for Māori-language historical drama Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End; Manitoba-set comedy-drama Lucky Strikes, and episodes of drama A Sámi Wedding.
The alliance, formerly known as the NATIVe Indigenous Cinema Stand, has officially partnered with the EFM since 2015.
This year’s program will kick off with a discussion on what the next decade holds for Indigenous cinema, with panelists including International Sami Film Institute (ISFI) Managing Director Anne Lajla Utsi, Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) Executive Director Cheryl Hirasa, Inuk Jørgensen at Greenland’s Film.GL and Pacific Islands Screen Artists (PISA) co-founder Nikki Si’ulepa among others.
They will discuss the development of Indigenous filmmaking infrastructure worldwide and opportunities in global sales and representation.
Other panels will discuss narrative sovereignty within documentary and what support is out there for Indigenous film creatives exploring key issues such as land rights, climate change, language revitalization, preventing and reversing the effects of colonisation as well as distribution strategies for works by Indigenous directors.
The alliance will also hold its annual Bridging Borders: Indigenous Co-productions showcase.
The projects include Savage by Ontario-based Anishinaabe filmmaker Darlene Naponse, who previous credits include the critically-acclaimed Falls Around Her and Stellar, as well as The Ship That Wasn’t There by Greenlandic director Jørgensen, his feature debut after a number of award-winning shorts including Entropy.
Sámi writer and director Ann Aurebekk will present feature project Polsin about a boy haunted by the fact that he saved from the womb of his dying mother, finds answers and peace when he returns to his Sámi grandmother.
The selection also includes Alaska-based Neets’aii Gwich’in filmmaker Princess Daazhraii Johnson’s Two Old Women, Māori director Hiona Hanare’s War Dance and Indigenous Women: Biomes by Shirley Krenak, the activist leader of the Krenak people in Brazil.
