AIFF NATIVE VOICES Encore Showcase
About this Event
NATIVE VOICES is dedicated to films by Indigenous and Native filmmakers that reflect culture, identity, and community through authentic, self-represented storytelling.
Experience powerful storytelling from across the Arctic in this encore presentation of the NATIVE VOICES Showcase Dec 2025. This curated collection of shorts celebrates the creativity and resilience of Indigenous peoples from Alaska to Greenland—including a short film adaptation of Velma Wallis’s acclaimed novel Two Old Women (Shaaghan Neekwąįį in Gwich’in).
The Films:
• My Message to You – 2:00 (director 'Wáats'asdíyei Joe Yates) A hopeful call for cultural and linguistic preservation from a Haida speaker.
• Alutiiq Superhero – 14:00 (director Brad Hillwig) When his career as a commercial fisherman was disrupted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Jerry Laktonen turned to his Alutiiq culture, not only becoming a prolific modern Alutiiq carver, but helping a generation of people rediscover the beauty of a once-lost art form.
• Shaped by Land – 16:27 (director Emily Sullivan) Adam Kjeldsen is one of the only Inuit ski guides operating in Greenland, a destination dominated by foreign operators. Shaped by Land follows his pursuit of a more sustainable vision for ski tourism—rooted in deep connection to land, community, and culture.
• Braids – 13:58 (director Elise M Beers) A Native child faces pressure over his long hair and identity.
•Reclamation - 4:39 (director Kelly Moneymaker) A rock n’ roll call-to-action for Indigenous peoples (and their allies) to resonate in unity to protect their lands, waters, and peoples in the face of climate crisis and further industrial development.
• Witness: Indigenous Arctic Voices – 21:28 (Arctic Indigenous Film Fund directors Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, Carmen Kuptana, Eriel Lugt, Jennifer Kilabuk, Johannes Vang, Marc Fussing Rosbach, Princess Daazhraii Johnson) Five powerful stories from the frontlines of climate change, where Arctic Indigenous communities fight for survival and the future they want to see.
• The Woman Who Married a Bear – 11:47 (Kaa Laa Mary Goddard & Dave Fedorski) A modern retelling of a Tlingit legend filmed in Sitka.
• Two Old Women – 13:40 (director Princess Daazhraii Johnson) Adaptation of a Gwich’in survival tale about two elders left behind by their tribe.
Q&A to follow hosted by Phillip Blanchett of Pamyua with Anchorage International Film Festival Board Chair, Rich Curtner, ANTHC's Director of Climate Initiatives, Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer, and filmmaker, Kelly Moneymaker.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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