Šaamšiǩ – Great Grandmother’s Hat and First Time Home lead the documentary winners at this year’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. The Indigenous arts fest announced the winners on Saturday, October 22 in a release. Šaamšiǩ – Great Grandmother’s Hat, directed by Anstein Mikkelsen and Harry Johansen, won the Documentary Feature Award. First Time Home, by Noemi Librado-Sanchez, Esmirna Librado, Esmeralda Ventura, and Heriberto Ventura, won the Documentary Short Award. The films each received a cash prize of $5,000 from CBC and TVO, respectively.
Šaamšiǩ – Great Grandmother’s Hat is a portrait of the Sami, their relationship with the land, and the complex geopolitical context in which surviving members keep their culture alive. The film follows Venke Tørmænen as she learns to sew a Skolt Sami hat like the one her great-grandmother wore. First Time Home, meanwhile, is a youth-oriented collaboration by Indigenous Triqui second-generation immigrants. The film observes as the artists connect with family members in Mexico and situate their identities within larger patterns of border-crossings and migrant labour.
Also winning on the documentary front was This Is Not a Ceremony, which took the Digital + Interactive Award. The virtual reality work by Colin Van Loon lets audiences enter a healing circle and learn stories of trauma and violence as told by survivors or those left to speaker for people who are no longer here. The work premiered at Sundance earlier this year.
The anthology drama We Are Still Here won the dramatic feature award, while actor Gary Farmer (Smoke Signals, Blood Quantum) won the August Schellenberg Award of Excellence. This year’s imagineATIVE kicked off with the opening night screening of Darlene Naponse’s Stellar starring Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and ends in-person screenings today, followed by a week of virtual encores. Audience Award winners will be announced following the festival run.
The complete list of 2022 imagineNATIVE award winners is as follows:
Documentary Feature Award
Šaamšiǩ – Great Grandmother’s Hat – Anstein Mikkelsen, Harry Johansen
Documentary Short Award
First Time Home – Noemi Librado-Sanchez, Esmirna Librado, Esmeralda Ventura, Heriberto Ventura
Digital + Interactive Award
This Is Not a Ceremony – Colin Van Loon
Innovation in Storytelling Award
The Original Shareholder Experience – Petyr Xyst
Dramatic Feature Award
We Are Still Here – Danielle MacLean, Beck Cole, Richard Curtis, Chantelle Burgoyne, Tracey Rigney, Dena Curtis, Tim Worrall, Renae Maihi, Miki Magasiva, Mario Gaoa
Animated Short Award
SEK BUY – William Cayapur Delgado
Experimental Audio Award
Sabikeshiinh – Brydon King
Narrative Audio Award
Stolen: The Search for Jermain – Connie Walker
New Artist in Digital + Interactive Award
Mikiwam – Keara & Caeleigh Lightning
Indigenous Language Production Award
Məca – Ritchie Norman Hemphill
New Voice in Storytelling Award
Proowa (Yucca) – Stefany Mendinueta
Live Action Short Award
Rose – Roxann Karonhiarokwas Whitebean
August Schellenberg Award of Excellence
Gary Farmer
Sun Jury Award
Night – Ahmad Saleh
Moon Jury Award
Kikino Kids – Barry Bilinsky
Harmonize Prize
Chandra Melting Tallow
