WAFF 2023 Screening Schedule
Opening Night: Wednesday, December 6th.
ScotiaBank Theatre. 817 St. James Street 7 p.m.
7:00-7:15 p.m. Opening Ceremonies. Prayer and Drum Song by Bryon Beardy. Powwow Dancers. Welcoming remarks by Festival Director Coleen Rajotte and Programming Director Jim Compton.
7:15 p.m. Opening night Film: The New Boy. Director: Warwick Thornton Australia. Drama. 1 hr. 56 minutes **Trigger Warning. Residential School content.
In the 1940s, during the dead of the night, a 9-year old Indigenous boy arrives at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun. Two wonderful performances by Cate Blanchett (plays the nun)and new comer Aswan Reid.
9:15 p.m.-9:30pm Live Q and A with Debi Mailman and Wayne Blair of The New Boy. 9:30p.m -9:40 pm Screening of Kookum Rapping Music Video. Ogichidaa-Grassroots Grannies
Synopsis: Voices of Kokums. Sharing a lifetime of experiences on the front lines. Kokum Viv Ketchum, Chickadee Richard, Geraldine Shingoose to introduce. 9:45 pm Reconciliation discussion with moderator. APTN’s Cheryl McKenzie
10:15 p/m. Killers of The Flower Moon Promo. The film plays tomorrow night, Thursday, December 7 at The WAFF. Martin Scorsese’s latest movie is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation. A string of brutal Crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.
After Party: 10 p.m to Midnight. Tavern United, Polo Park Canad Inns, St Mathews and Empress. Complimentary Appetizers while they last. Cash Bar.
Thursday, DECEMBER 7,
Scotia Bank Theatre, 817 St. James Street, 6 pm.
6:00 P.M. Killers of the Flower Moon. Director Martin Scorsese
United States. Drama. 3 hours 26 minutes
Real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal as Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone), a member of the Osage Nation, tries to save her community from a spree of murders fueled by oil and greed.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8TH
Daytime Screenings, Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall, University of Winnipeg 3rd Floor of Centennial Hall
10:30 am - 10:50 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Actor Remington Louie. He speaks about his life, his journey to a healthy lifestyle and his career as a young Indigenous actor.
10:50 to 11:30 a.m.. Film Screening: No Thanks, I’m Good. Director Joe Fourre.
2023 documentary 7 minutes. Canada
Joe Fourre lost his son to an overdose of fentanyl. He has a message to share with youth and our community about the dangers of experimenting with drugs. Just say, No Thanks, I’m Good.
Joe Fourre in Attendance to speak.
11:30 to Noon Lunch Break. Lunch not provided.
Noon-1 p.m. Shorts Program.
Frybread Jesus. Director: Eric Sanchez. 7 mins USA
A man discovers the image of Jesus Christ on a piece of frybread.
Papa and Me. Director: Francesco D. Buffone . 4 mins Canada
A Metis man and his granddaughter go on adventures together. A tribute to the late Ernie Blais (Papa).
Arctic song (6 minutes)
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.
Kokum Grannies Rap Video. (4 minutes)
A group of Manitoba grannies (kookums) rap about their experiences in life.
The Pickeral Sandwich. Director Coleen Rajotte. 4 minutes.
Hilarity ensues when two close friends go out for lunch.
1:00 p.m. -2:45 p.m. Hey Viktor. Director Cody Lightning
Comedy 1 hour 42 minutes. Canada
A struggling indigenous actor tries to rejuvenate his career by getting a sequel made to the beloved film Smoke Signals. Star and Director Cody Lightening’s wildly funny debut mockumentary.
3 p.m. – 3:30p.m. Bill Reid Remembers (24min) Documentary Short.
Director: Alanis Obomsawin.
The film is a portrayal of the life and career of influential Haida artist Bill Reid.
3:30- 4:00p.m.. Honour to Murray Sinclair (29 minutes) Documentary Short. Director: Alanis Obomsain
As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system. With determination, wisdom and kindness, Senator Sinclair remains steadfast in his belief that the path to actual reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people requires
understanding and accepting often difficult truths about Canada’s past and present. Alanis Obomsawin shares the powerful speech the Senator gave when he accepted the WFM-Canada World Peace Award, interspersing the heartbreaking testimonies of former students imprisoned at residential schools. The honouring of Senator Sinclair reminds us to honour the lives and legacies of the tens of thousands of Indigenous children taken from their homes and cultures, and leaves us with a profound feeling of hope for a better future.
Spotlight on the North
Friday, December 8
Former Clarion Hotel. Now the Uquutaq Medical Boarding Home. 1445 Portage Avenue. Next to Polo Park Shopping Mall.
Films screened in the Manitoba Room on the lower level.
3 p.m. Tautuktavuk (what We See ) Director Carol Kunnuk , Lucy Tulugarjuk 2023 Drama 1 hr 22 mins Canada
A story about 2 sisters confronting their own traumas, first during the height of lockdowns while connecting through video conversations across the roughly 2800 kilometres between Montreal and Nunavut, and then, together in person as the world begins to reopen. Selected as TIFFs Top Ten Films to see. Live Q and A via Zoom after the film.
6 p.m. Twice Colonized Director Lin Alluna
2023 Documentary/ drama 1 hr 31 mins Canada
In this powerful exploration of cultural trauma ( the film stage) , director Lin Alluna follows alongside Aaju Peter as she strives to reclaim her language and identity after a lifetime of whitewashing and forced assimilation.
8:00p.m Slashback Director Nyla Innuksuk
2022 Horror 1 hr 26 mins Canada
In Nunavut, four girls who like horror and alien movies, love their phones and even their poor elders who believe in shapeshifters because “they didn’t have the internet” realize local disappearances are linked to a shapeshifting alien.
Saturday, December 9th.
Ed Wood Keykaywin Centre
1564 Arlington St
11:30 a.m. Bad Press (documentary) Director Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler Documentary/ Thriller 1 hr 38 mins USA
When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring their free speech, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian Country
1:30 P.M. Mama(MOM ) Director Xun Selo
2022 documentary 80 mins Mexico
As a Mexican TzotzilI grew up between the sacrality both of Guadalupe Virgin and mother Earth. As a son, I grew up among the derision of not having a father and blaming my
mother for it. ‘Mom’ is a dialogue between mother and son exploring their contradictions , knowing and recognizing each other, and reflecting on naturalized violence and its reproduction.
3:00 p.m . Waapake (Tomorrow) Director Jules Koostachin
2023 Documentary 1 hr 2 mins Canada
For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s deeply personal documentary WaaPake ( Tomorrow) moves beyond intergenerational trauma, with an invitation to unravel the tangled threads of silence and unite in collective freedom and power.
4:30 p.m. Crow country : Our right to Food Sovereignty Director Tsanavi Spoonhunter
2023 Documentary 20 mins 51 sec USA
On the Crow Reservation, where food sources are already scarce, the one affordable grocery store has burned doan and tribal members are restricted from their traditional hunting grounds.
Crow Country: Our Right to Food Sovereignty follows several tribal members who are fighting
For better food and a better future for their community.
Saturday , December 9th
Former Clarion Hotel. Now the Uquutaq Medical Boarding Home. 1445 Portage Avenue. Next to Polo Park Shopping Mall.
3 p.m. Ever Deadly. Feature. Director: Chelsea McMullen and Tanya Tagaq, 2023 Documentary 1 hour 29 minutes
This film discusses topics of trauma and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.
Ever Deadly is an immersive, visceral music and cinema experience featuring Tanya Tagaq, avant-garde Inuk throat singer, and created in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Chelsea McMullan. This documentary explores Tagaq’s transformation of sound with an eye to colonial fallout, natural freedom and Canadian history.
. Nalujuk Nights director Jennie Williams
2021 Documentary 13 minutes Canada
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. 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.
6:00 p.m. A Winter Love. Feature Film
2023 Drama 1 hr. 31 minutes USA
“A Winter Love” by filmmaker Rhiana Yazzie. It's an intertribal love story about a Navajo singer-songwriter who is struggling to find inspiration in a Minneapolis winter.
8 p.m Café Daughter Director Shelley Niro
Drama 1 hr. 37 minutes. Canada
Café Daughter is a Canadian drama film, directed by Shelley Niro and released in 2023.[1] Adapted from Kenneth T. Williams's stage play of the same name, which was itself a fictionalized account of the life of Canadian physician and senator Lillian
Dyck\the film stars Violah Beauvais as Yvette Wong, a young girl of mixed Cree and Chinese Canadian ancestry growing up in Saskatchewan in the 1960s, who faces challenges after the death of her mother but remains focused on her goal of attending medical school to become a doctor.[2]
Sunday December 10 -Merchants Corner
1:00 p.m. Big Crow Director Kris Kaczor
2023 documentary/Sport 1 hr 8 mins USA
Big Crow chronicles the legendary influence of the high school basketball player state champion SuAnne Big Crow.
The Pine Ridge reservation reveals how her spirit continues to inspire youth in her community.
2:30 p.m. Frybread Jesus director Erik Sanchez
2023 short 7mins USA
A Native man finds the image of Jesus Christ on a piece of Frybread.
2:40 pm The Pickeral Sandwich Director Coleen Rajotte
2023 comedy 4mins Canada
2 women go out to lunch and hilarity ensues.
2:45 pm Papa and Me; Off to the Races. Director Francesco D. Buffone
2023 short 4 mins Canada
A Metis man and his granddaughter go on an adventure together in a go kart race.
A tribute to the late Ernest Blais.
2:50 pm Tomahawk Director Steven Bignell
2023 short 9 mins Canada
An experienced cree scout meets a inexperienced German youth during the latter of WW2 and teaches him about his people.
3:00 p.m. Awake Before Dawn Director Jose Navas
2023 drama 18 mins USA
Life is not easy for a single immigrant mother like Ma. Everyday, her 10 year old son, Santi, and his little brother Luca work hard at the Opa Locka Flea Market. But things begin to get more complicated when Ma finds out that she's about to get evicted and Santi loses the money they need.