Showcase: Darlene Naponse – Witness: Arctic Indigenous Voices

What does it mean to make films that tell stories not about land but from within it? Taking as its departure point Indigenous Anishinaabe perspectives on land as a web of relationships – encompassing everything above, below and around us – this Forum event devotes itself to an exploration of Darlene Naponse’s pioneering practice of land-based filmmaking. By taking a close look at three of her early short works and excerpts from her feature film AKI (2025), we will trace her more than two decades of Indigenous community-based filmmaking. How does one’s land shape the conception, production and presentation of filmmaking, and what sort of understanding can emerge from this practice for our contemporary situation marked by ecological crises?

Hosted and moderated by Jason Ryle At Roter Salon at Volksbühne