International First Peoples’ Festival 2026

Rising Through the Fray |
Courtney Montour

Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

In the intense world of roller derby, Rising Through the Fray follows Indigenous Rising at the Roller Derby World Cup. This vibrant documentary blends the sporting adrenaline of competition with intimate moments, weaving a powerful story of pride, resilience and reconnection carried by athletes from more than 30 Indigenous nations. (Canada, 2025)

Runtime: 1h 28m
English OV with French subtitles

The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the director, Courtney Montour.

Les couleurs du passé |
William Mazzoleni Valin

Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

Julia Hervieux, an Innu interior designer, rethinks inhabited spaces through the lens of identity and the memory of the territory. The documentary explores a new architecture, one that carries cultural transmission, healing, and reconciliation, where building becomes an act of affirmation, respect, and rootedness.(Canada, 2026)

Runtime: 52 min
French, English and Innu-Aimun OV with French subtitles

With cast members William Mazzoleni Valin, Neegan Trudel Sioui, Alain Fournier, Maya Cousineau Mollen and Gregory Brais Sioui

Captain |
William Mazzoleni Valin

Friday, August 7, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

In the early 1990s, Capitaine, a former Navy gunner turned fisherman, tries to protect his daughter Mia from the dangers threatening her Innu community. When she decides, against her father’s wishes, to go to the city, the wounds of the past resurface. Receiving a desperate plea from his daughter, Capitaine leaves everything behind and sets off for Montreal in the hope of finding her. (Canada, 2025)

Runtime: 1h 26m
English and Innu-Aimun OV with French subtitles

The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director William Mazzoleni Valin.

#skoden |
Damien Eagle Bear

Saturday, August 8, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

The astonishing story of Pernell Bad Arm, a Kainai man experiencing homelessness in Lethbridge, Alberta, who suddenly became a viral internet sensation. By revisiting the history of an image first transformed into a racist meme, then reclaimed as a symbol of pride and resistance by Indigenous youth, the film seeks to reveal the real man behind the icon he unwittingly created. (Canada, 2025)

Runtime: 1h 16m
English and blackfoot OV with English subtitles

With director Damien Eagle Bear

The film will be preceded by Place Where I Belong, by Christopher Nataanii Cegielski.

Blood Lines |
Gail Maurice

Sunday, August 9, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

A lesbian romance follows Beatrice, a storyteller living in a Métis community, who falls in love with Chani, a woman who has come to the village searching for her biological family. With its rich dialogue in Michif, a language spoken by only a few thousand people, the film explores the quest for identity, family ties, and reconciliation. Like guardian angels, a group of elder women bravely watch over the community and its inhabitants.(Canada, 2025)

Runtime: 1h 29m
English and Michif OV with French subtitles

James Bay 1975: The Shock of Two Nations |
Myriam Berthelet et Mathieu Fournier

Monday, August 10, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

Two dreams. One territory. A historic clash. In the heart of Northern Quebec, a colossal project: the construction of La Grande hydroelectric complex. For a Quebec on the cusp of self-assertion, it was the promise of new power, energy independence, and a destiny to take into its own hands. But on this land live nations whose history predates borders. Faced with the transformation of their territory, the Cree and Inuit mobilize. A new generation of leaders rise up to defend what can not be replaced: a land, a culture, a way of life. What followed was a confrontation of two worldviews that would change the course of history. A battle for energy. A struggle for identity. And a turning point that still resonates today. (Canada, 2025)

Runtime: 1h 36m
French, English and Cree OV with French subtitles