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Available Light FIlm Festival 2018 Highlights

November 30, 2017

Available Light Film Festival 2018: February 3 to 11 Yukon Arts Centre, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and The Old Fire Hall Canada’s largest film festival north of 60˚ is a celebration of Northern, Canadian and International cinema. The 16th annual ALFF will include 60+ Canadian and international feature fiction and documentary screenings, ALFF Industry events and multi-disciplinary performances. The full film list, descriptions, trailers and schedule will be released early January 2018. Festival films confirmed as of December 1: DOCUMENTARIES Shut Up and Say Something Internationally renowned performance poet, Shane Koyczan re-connects with his estranged father Len Koyczan in his birthplace of Yellowknife, NWT. Blue (AUS) Award-winning Australian doc about saving the southern oceans from human destruction. Let There be Light (PQ) Fusion energy doc by Eye Steel Film's Mila Aung-Thwin. Camera Trap (YT) A Yukon-made doc about a photographer's quest to create an iconic photo of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. Left Hand Path (YT) A short doc about the art, philosophy, and religion of black magic practitioner James C. Kirby. The Road Forward (BC) Indigenous musical documentary about the history of the Native Brotherhood in British Columbia. Journeys to Adäka (YT) Seven Indigenous artists look to the past for the strength and prepare for the annual cultural festival in Whitehorse. Untitled (AUT) More than two years after the sudden death of Michael Glawogger, film editor Monika Willi realizes a film out of the footage produced during almost 5 months of shooting in the Balkans, Italy, Northwest and West Africa. City of Ghosts (USA) Syrian citizen journalists who call themselves Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently risk their lives to document the atrocities committed by ISIS in their homeland. A Cambodian Spring (IRE/CAN) An incredible film that unfolds over 6 years about a video-activist monk who risks his life to protect poor Cambodians being displaced by corrupt land developments. Unarmed Verses (ON) A portrait of a social housing community in North York facing imposed relocation through the eyes of resident teens. For Dear Life (BC) A Vancouver theatre producer is given a terminal cancer diagnosis and sets about orchestrating his own death. FEATURE FICTION Waru (NZL) Eight women directors from Aotearoa construct an authentic, multi-voiced story about child abuse set in a Maori community. The Queen of Spain (ESP) Penelope Cruz plays a 1950s Hollywood film actress who returns to Spain to play Isabella I of Castille. Sami Blood (NOR) A teenage girl is taken from her home and family and sent to a Swedish residential school for Indigenous students. A Fantastic Woman (ESP/CHI) A transgender singer in Santiago faces scorn and discrimination after the sudden death of her older boyfriend. Sweet Country (AUS) Indigenous director Warwick Thornton's arresting period Western set in the Northern Territory. Porcupine Lake (ON) Coming of age tale set in Ontario's cottage country over a hot hazy summer. The Ravenous (Les Affamés) (PQ) Art-house zombie sci-fi from Quebec! Winner of jury award for best Canadian film at TIFF. Never Steady Never Still (BC) A mother struggles to take control of her life in the face of Parkinson's disease, while her sensitive son comes of age amongst the violence of Alberta's oil field camps. The Square (SWE) 2017 Disaster strikes when a curator hires a public relations team to build some buzz for his contemporary art museum. 2017 Palme D'Or winner. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Saturday February 3th 2018 at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre: Indigenous artist screenings and performances with Amanda Strong (Vancouver) and Jeneen Frei Njootli (Vancouver/ Old Crow) and keynote address by Anishinaabe cinema curator and cultural commentator, Jesse Wente (Toronto). Available Light Cabaret concert series at the Old Fire Hall Featuring: Vancouver-base hip hop media artist: K!mmortal, Ottawa singer-songwriter Jim Bryson and more TBA... Confirmed guests to date who will join us in Whitehorse to present their films and share their skills, stories and knowledge of their craft include: Mila Aung-Thwin (Let There Be Light), Carmen Pollard (For Dear Life), Teresa Earle and Fritz Mueller (Journeys to Adakä), Marty O'Brien (Camera Trap), James Brown (Never Steady Never Still), Melanie Wood (Shut Up and Say Something), Andrew Gregg (Secrets from the Ice) and Mr. Claude Joli-Coeur, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada. MORE GUESTS TO BE ANNOUNCED THROUGH DECEMBER! ALFF Industry conference runs Feb 2 to 10; workshops, master classes, round-table discussions and networking with guest filmmakers and media industry delegates. ALFF 5 and 10 Film Passes on-sale now! Available directly from Yukon Film Society onlineand at Yukon Film Society (212 Lambert st. above Uniglobe Travel on 3rd Ave.) 5 Film Pass (Earlybird until Dec 30th) $50 10 Film Pass (Earlybird until Dec 30th) $90 Single Tickets (On-sale January 2018 at www.yukontckets.com $15 general/$13 YFS member and senior/$10 youth and students) 5 Film Pass after Dec 30th - $55 10 Film Pass after Dec 30th - $100 ALFF 2018 is presented by Yukon Film Society and co-presented by Yukon Energy and Gold Rush Inn.

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