For Immediate Release: August 14, 2014  Please add to your listings/announcements

 

imagineNATIVE 
Film + Media Arts Festival

Presenting Sponsor: Bell Media

 

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be celebrating their 15th anniversary with presenting sponsor Bell Media from October 22-26, 2014 with a spotlight on remarkable Indigenous films and filmmakers hailing from Australia. The Festival is also proud to announce the return of their successful initiative The Embargo Collective II, made up of five original short films. Kicking off the 15^th anniversary for the festival will be the opening night film, What We Do In The Shadows. 

 

Festival favourite Taika Waititi returns to imagineNATIVE with his latest blockbuster film, co-directed by cult icon Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and featured as part of the Opening Night Gala, What We Do In The Shadows, presented by NBC Universal. Grab your garlic and wear your crucifix, What We Do in the Shadows is a dark and deadly funny romp with the undead. Join a documentary crew as they are given unparalleled access into the lives of a posse of vampires, the sweet Viago (Waititi), badboy Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), the lust-filled Vladislav (Clement), and the 8,000-year-old Petyr (Ben Fransham) as they quarrel over dirty dishes, discuss fashion, and hit the party circuit.

 

This year’s International Spotlight, presented with support from the Canada Media Fund, shines on the diverse, inspiring and remarkable work of Indigenous artists from Australia. Over the past 15 years, many artists from Australia’s vibrant and accomplished Indigenous media arts industry have been presented at imagineNATIVE. As part of this Spotlight, imagineNATIVE is absolutely delighted to work with three highly esteemed guest programmers: Rachel Perkins, Pauline Clague, and Jenny Fraser who will each present a selection of short works representative of different sectors of Native life in Australia. Included in the selection is Black Panther Woman, a story told by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae, Mabo, Redfern Now) about Marlene Cummins, a member of Brisbane’s short-lived Black Panther movement who struggled with sexism within the organization.

 

Commissioned in celebration of imagineNATIVE’s 15th anniversary, the Festival is thrilled to present as its Closing Night Gala the world premiere of The Embargo Collective II, five short films created by five distinguished artists, presented by Global Toronto. Executive produced by former Artistic Director of imagineNATIVE, Danis Goulet, these shorts push the creative boundaries of the participant filmmakers and invite viewers into new Indigenous cinematic landscapes.

 

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world’s largest Indigenous festival showcasing innovation in film, video, radio and new media. The Festival presents the most compelling and distinctive works from Canada and around the globe, reflecting the diversity of the world’s Indigenous nations and illustrating the vitality and excellence of Native art and culture in contemporary media. 

 

The 15th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be held October 22-26, 2014.

 

Festival packages now available at http://imaginenative.org/home/packages

For more information please call 416.585.2333 or visit www.imagineNATIVE.org

facebook/imagineNATIVE / @imagineNATIVE

 

Media Contact: FLIP Publicity & Promotions Inc., 416.533.7710 @FLIP_Publicity
Damien Nelson, damien@flip-publicity.com or Danielle LeSage, danielle@flip-publicity.com

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival 2014 Sponsors:

List represents commitments as of August 14, 2014

Presenting Sponsor: Bell Media

Platinum Sponsor: NBC Universal

Gold Sponsors: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network • RBC Royal Bank • TD Bank

Silver Sponsors: Global Toronto • Canada Media Fund • Harold Greenberg Fund • Air Canada • Casino Rama

Bronze Sponsors: Urban Post • Slaight Music • Super Channel • Directors Guild of Canada • TVO • Canadian Media Production Association •

Media Partners: NOW Magazine • Urban Native Magazine • Nation Talk

Public Funders: Ontario Arts Council • Canada Council for the Arts • Canadian Heritage • Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training • Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport • Toronto Arts Council • Telefilm

Community Partners: ACTRA Toronto • Beehive Design • Charles Street Video • Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto • Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund • National Film Board of Canada • Vtape • WIFT-Toronto • William F. White

Mentorship Partners: New Brunswick Film Cooperative • Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Coop • No’kmaq Village

Festival Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn

Hospitality Partners: The Strathcona Hotel • The Charlotte Room • Tea-N-Bannock • Z-Teca • Jugo Juice • Nish Dish • Museum of Inuit Art

Foundations: Ontario Trillium Foundation • RBC Foundation • The McLean Foundation • Dreamcatcher Foundation