_300_550_75_s_c1.jpg)
Become a Member
Whitehorse, Yukon (February 28, 2024) The Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) announces the Made in the North, Available Light Cinematography Awards, and ALFF audience choice awards following the close of the 22nd annual festival on Sunday, February 18. This year’s 11-day festival featured 100+ films; 68 screenings; 20+ Guest filmmakers; 10 films online; 13 Yukon-made films; 17 ALFF Industry Forum events; and 3 ALFF Live Performances.
Attendance included: 5,000+ filmgoers, 100+ film streams, 300 at media art exhibitions, 550+ at ALFF Industry, and 300+ at ALFF live performances. Total attendance this year exceeded 6000 admissions for all ALFF events.
Available Light Film Festival is proud to celebrate underrepresented Canadian filmmakers through its Made in the North awards. Eligibility is open to all feature films and short films in Official Selection by Black, Indigenous, people of colour, and 2SLGBTQ filmmakers in Canada. Each winner receives a cash award in celebration of their contributions to Canadian cinema. Forty-three Canadian Films were eligible for $10,000 in prizes this year. A jury of diverse filmmakers selected the award-winning films in the following three categories:
Winner: Aitamaako'Tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun, dir. Banchi Hanuse
Special Mention: Hey, Viktor!, dir. Cody Lightning
Winner: "Conviction," dir. Bruce Thomas Miller
Winner: "Datrin (Raven)," dir. Douglas Joe
Special Mention: Irninnu Unikaara, dir. Ipeelie Ootoova
Made possible with the support of Warner Brothers Discovery Access Canada
Winner: Terra Long for Feet in the Water, Head on Fire, dir. Terra Long
Winner: Simeonie Kisa Knickelbein for "Irninnu Unikaara," dir. Ipeelie Ootoova
Seventy-two festival films were eligible for the ALFF Audience Choice Awards. ALFF audiences cast ballots for their favourite films in the following three categories:
Winner: Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun, dir. Banchi Hanuse
Winner: Suze, dir. Linsey Stewart and Dane Clark
Winner: 20 Days in Mariupol, dir. Mstyslav Chernov
1. 20 Days in Mariupol, dir. Mstyslav Chernov
2. American Fiction, dir. Cord Jefferson
3. The Old Oak, dir. Ken Loach
4. My Place Ozerna, dir. Karina Bedkowska
5. Suze, dir. Linsey Stewart and Dane Clark
6. Richelieu, dir. Pier-Philippe Chevigny
7. Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun, dir. Banchi Hanuse
8. 500 Days in the Wild, dir. Dianne Whelan
9. WaaPaKe (Tomorrow), dir. Jules Arita Koostachin
10. Monk and the Gun, dir. Pawo Choyning Dorji
11. The Promised Land, dir. Nikolaj Arcel
12. The Taste of Things, dir. Tran Anh Hung
13. Someone Lives Here, dir. Zack Russell
14. Silvicola, dir. Jean-Philippe Marquis
15. Queen of My Dreams, dir. Fawzia Mirza
The ALFF Pitch Prize was awarded to June Kukina at the ALFF 2024 Short Film Pitch Event on Sunday February 11. The pitch for June’s project Dual Worlds won the competition out in a field of six outstanding projects pitched by diverse teams from Whitehorse and Dawson City. June receives $7,500 in cash and $5,000 in in-kind support from Northwestel Community TV and the Yukon Film Society.
The six teams were selected out of 17 submissions and pitched to Avi Federgreen, Producer, IndieCan Entertainment; Dr. Jules A. Koostachin, Writer-Director, WaaPaKe; Mike Gravitis, Manager, Community TV at Northwestel; and Robin Summerfield, Senior Producer, CBC Absolutely Canadian.
Bringing people together in-person this year, ALFF was still able to facilitate meaningful engagement with filmmakers including Christian Sparkes, Karina Bedkowska, Ian Daffern, Kathleen Jayme, Jules Koostachin, Chandler Levack, Asher Penn, and Kelvin Redvers.
The festival kicked off with ALFF Accelerator, an emerging filmmaker mentorship program that 10 filmmakers participated in as part of the ALFF Industry Forum. ALFF Industry sessions were both in-person and virtual this year and were attended by more than 40 emerging and established filmmakers from across Canada. Film and media industry presenters included representatives from the National Film Board of Canada, CBC Absolutely Canadian, Documentary Organization of Canada, Hot Docs Film Festival, Game Theory Films, Telefilm Canada, Knowledge Network, Independent Production Fund, Northwestel Community Television, Yukon Media Development, and the Dawson City International Short FF.
“This year was our best industry forum, yet,” said festival director, Andrew Connors. “It was another memorable year of celebrating and sharing the work of so many filmmakers from the North and across the world.”
The Available Light Film Festival 2024 lead supporter was Telefilm Canada. Premier and Major level sponsors include Northwestel Community Television, Air North, What’s Up Yukon, The City of Whitehorse, Canada Media Fund, Directors Guild of Canada, the Sternwheeler Hotel, Winterlong Brewing, K&K Trucking, Yukon Provisions, and Yukonstruct.
The Yukon Film Society acknowledges the annual support of Canada Council for the Arts, Yukon Arts Operating Fund, Government of Yukon, and Yukon Lotteries. The Yukon Film Society acknowledges that it is based on the traditional territory of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and that we live, create and benefit within this territory. Shä̀w níthän. Kwä̀nä̀schis. Gunalchîsh.
And a huge mussi cho/ thank you/ shäw nithan to the 50+ volunteers, venue staff, presenting filmmakers and artists, visiting industry delegates, ALFF production team and festival audiences! The 23rd annual Available Light Film Festival will take place from February 7 to 17, 2025 in Whitehorse, Yukon.
_300_550_75_s_c1.jpg)
_300_550_75_s_c1.jpg)
