Strong DEGANZ Presence in 2026 imagineNATIVE Selection

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival has unveiled its 2026 programme, with six projects from DEGANZ members selected for this year’s line-up.

Recognised as the world’s largest festival dedicated to Indigenous screen content, imagineNATIVE returns to Toronto from 2–7 June, followed by an online programme running 8–14 June. This year marks the festival’s 26th iteration and features works representing 56 Indigenous Nations across 20 countries.

The 2026 programme is centred on creating space for urgent dialogue while championing stories of resistance, solidarity and truth-telling. This year’s theme also emphasises Indigenous knowledge systems as vital pathways toward a more sustainable future and a shared sense of humanity.

Check out the DEGANZ members and their mahi below:

I Duok om I Bohuntung – The Owl and the Rainbow

Short Film Programme: Parenting Under Pressure

Director: Jo Luping

Writer: Lynda Chanwai-Earle

When depression pulls her daughter into darkness, a mother must transform to restore hope and bring colour back to their lives.

I am Not Your Dusky Maiden

Short Film Programme: Witching Hour

Director: Vea Mafile’o

Editors: Lisa Greenfield & Jolin Lee

When a Samoan woman enters therapy, she must navigate a series of alter egos protecting her from painful memories.

O Alofa Nei, O Alofa Nā (Love Me, Love You)

Short Film Programme: Love Has No Gender

Writer, Director & Producer: Giselle Ilaoa

Manaia, a young woman caught between expectation and self-acceptance, finds herself confronting her repressed sexuality when a chance reunion with her first love stirs old feelings.

Pouākai (Raptor)

Short Film Programme: Survivance*

Editor: Te Rurehe Paki

When his only child is snatched by a legendary giant raptor, a young Māori chief must confront his deepest fears and summon the strength of his ancestors to face the creature in its mountaintop eyrie.

ACE

Short Film Programme: Survivance*

Writer/Director: Raymond Edwards

On a quest to save his parents’ marriage, 10-year-old Jimmy takes a mythical journey through his imagination to the underworld, where he learns the ways of courage and sacrifice.

First Horse

Short Film Programme: Survivance*

Editor: Cushla Dillon

In 1826 Aotearoa, a small girl in an isolated setting comes into first contact with two facets of colonisation: a foreign infectious disease and the first horse she’s ever seen.

*Survivance, coined by Anishinaabe writer Gerald Vizenor, is the combination of survival and resistance where culture, imagination, and ancestral connection thrive.

Last updated on 21 May 2026