Wednesday October 14th marks the opening of Toronto’s 16th annual imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. Attracting Indigenous artists and media makers from all over turtle island, imagineNATIVE is the world’s largest Indigenous festival that showcases artwork in nearly every media genres to include film, video, audio and digital media, art exhibitions and much more.

With so much to see and do over the course of four days, ICTMN reached out to the organizers for a bit of insight. According to Publicity Manager Damien Nelson, “All of imagineNATIVE is awesome.”

Nelson pointed to five works that will most likely make the readers of ICTMN do one of two things, make them really mad they couldn’t make it to Toronto … or make them say “Holy &*%#!”

A Music Composition scored with firearms and live ammunition

A Music Composition with Firearms Courtesy: www.imaginenative.org

Named one of the 25 new faces of indie film in 2004 by Filmmaker Magazine, Blackhorse Lowe will document a performance of Raven Chacon’s 2001 composition scored for firearms using live ammunition.

Event info here: http://www.imaginenative.org/home/node/4542

The first-ever Maori action film: The Dead Lands

The Dead Lands Courtesy: www.imaginenative.org

The Dead Lands, directed by Toa Fraser is set in the time before European arrival in Aoetearoa New Zealand. This action flick is the first film of its kind that will be entirely in Te Reo, the Maori language. The film will be followed by a discussion with star Lawrence Makoare.

Event info here: http://www.imaginenative.org/home/node/4268

The video installation The Sound We See: Old Crow Village Symphony

The Sound We See: An Old Crow Village Symphony Courtesy: www.imaginenative.org

Installed in the Atrium lobby of the TIFF Bell Lightbox for the duration of the Festival, The Sound We See: An Old Crow Village Symphony is according to the imagineNATIVE website, “a celluloid based interpretation… and animation with super 8mm film of a little known sliver of Indigenous life in the North for festival viewers.”

Event info here: http://www.imaginenative.org/home/node/5097

Indigenous Pac-Man? The first-ever Digital Media Art+Cade

Some of the Indigenous “Art+Cade” Game Examples Courtesy: www.imaginenative.org

An interactive hangout showcasing Indigenous-made video games, web series, radio and audio works, digital apps and virtual reality experiences, The Digital Media Art+Cade will feature retro arcade-style booths and consoles loaded with five video games created by Indigenous females aged 13 to 24; Indigenous Virtual Reality demonstrations featuring A Tribe Called Red and Tanya Tagaq; and six Audio Works featuring storytelling, documentaries and podcasts.

Event info here: http://www.imaginenative.org/home/new-media/2015

Plexiglas and Bone? The Exhibition Premiere of Material Experiments

One of Several Pieces of “Material Experiments” Courtesy: www.imaginenative.org

Featuring collective works by eight Aboriginal artists who challenged themselves by working with textiles, Plexiglas, embroidery, bone, circuit boards, pelts, and sound and video to demonstrate that Indigenous art is not static, but evolves and continues to adapt with its people.

Event info here: http://www.imaginenative.org/home/node/4501

The 16th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be held in Toronto October 14-18, 2015. For more information visit http://www.imaginenative.org/.

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