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Whitehorse, Yukon The Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) announces the Made in the North, ALFF Pitch Prize winner and ALFF audience choice awards following the close of the 23rd annual festival on Sunday, February 16. This year’s 10-day festival featured 100+ films; 70 screenings; 30+ Guest filmmakers; 20 Yukon-made films; 20 ALFF Industry Forum events; and 2 ALFF Live Performances. Attendance included: 5,900+ filmgoers, 200 at media art exhibitions, 800+ at ALFF Industry, and 100+ at ALFF live performances. Total attendance this year exceeded 7,000 admissions for all ALFF events, a 16% increase over attendance in 2024.
The 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, disabled and LGBTQ2S+ filmmakers in Canada. Each winner receives a cash award in celebration of their contributions to Canadian cinema. Forty Canadian Films were eligible for $4,000 in prizes this year. A jury of diverse filmmakers selected the award-winning films in the following three categories:
Winner: 7 Beats Per Minute, dir Yuqi Kang
Special Mention: Northlore, dir. Melaina Sheldon & David Hamelin
Winner: "Inkwo for When the Starving Return," dir. Amanda Strong
Special Mention: "Mawtini (My Homeland)," dir. Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
Winner: "Fistful of Vodka," dir. Robert Joe
Special Mention: "Credit to the Crow," dir. Eila Vallevand
Fifty festival films were eligible for the ALFF Audience Choice Awards. ALFF audiences cast ballots for their favourite feature films in the following three categories:
Winner: Old Crow a Philosophy, dir. Erika Tizya-Tramm & Daniel Janke
Winner: Tie
Paying for It, dir. Sook-Yin Lee
Are We Done Now?, dir. Ben Immanuel
Winner: No Other Land, dir. Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, & Hamdan Ballal
1. No Other Land, dir. Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, & Hamdan Ballal
2. Old Crow a Philosophy, dir. Erika Tizya-Tramm & Daniel Janke
3. Play it Loud!, dir. Graeme Mathieson
4. Northlore, dir. Melaina Sheldon & David Hamelin
5. Bob Trevino Likes It, dir. Tracie Laymon
6. I'm Still Here, dir. Walter Salles
7. So Surreal: Behind the Masks, dir. Neil Diamond & Joanne Robertson
8. The Apprentice, dir. Ali Abbasi
9. Flow, dir. Gints Zilbalodis
10. The Stand, dir. Christopher Auchter
11. The Spirit Who Swims, dir. Bev Sellars
12. Fire Tower, dir. Tova Krentzman
13. Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, dir. Isaac Gale & Ryan Olson
14. Are We Done Now?, dir. Ben Immanuel
15. Paying For It, dir. Sook-Yin Lee
16. A New Kind of Wilderness, dir. Silje Evensmo
17. Becoming Led Zeppelin, dir. Bernard MacMahon
18. Shepherds (Bergers), dir. Sophie Deraspe
19.Universal Language, dir. Matthew Rankin
20. 7 Beats Per Minute, dir Yuqi Kang
The ALFF Pitch Prize was awarded to Luke Mae at the ALFF 2025 Short Film Pitch Event on Saturday, February 8th. The pitch for Mae's project Kings in the North won the competition out of six outstanding projects pitched by diverse teams from Whitehorse and Dawson City. Mae 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 10 submissions and pitched to Don McKellar, Director, Last Night, Co-Showrunner, The Sympathizer; Liane Cunje, Producer, Vinegar Syndrome Films; Zoe Leigh Hopkins, Writer, Director, Run Woman Run and "Don't Even"; and Mike Gravitis, Manager, Northwestel Community Television.
This year, ALFF welcomed a record number of filmmaker guests, bringing an incredible lineup of industry professionals together for in-person engagement, networking, and inspiring discussions. The festival proudly hosted over 30 filmmakers. Among the distinguished guests were Daniel Bekerman, Sandy Carson, Liz Cairns, Suzanne Crocker, Dennis Allen, Shirley Vercruysse, Daniel Janke, Casey Koyczan, Tova Krentzman, Sook-Yin Lee, Don McKellar, Niall McNeil, Omar Majeed, Graeme Mathieson, Andrew Munger, Matthew Rankin, Joanne Robertson, Tina Schliessler, Melaina Sheldon, Brett Story, Teri Snelgrove, Erika Tizya-Tramm, Sarah Genge, Jessica Hall, David Hamelin, Zoe Leigh Hopkins, Bernie Yao, Charles Wilkinson, Ila Firouzabadi, and Ben Immanuel. The impressive turnout of creative voices not only elevated the festival experience but also reinforced ALFF's commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue and collaboration within the filmmaking film-going communities.
The festival kicked off with ALFF Accelerator, an emerging filmmaker mentorship program that eight filmmakers participated in as part of the ALFF Industry Forum. ALFF Industry Forum sessions were attended by more than 60 emerging and established filmmakers from across Canada. Film and media industry presenters included representatives from APTN, the National Film Board of Canada, Game Theory Films, Telefilm Canada, TELUS Fund, Scythia Films, Northwestel Community Television, the National Screen Institute, Yukon Media Development, Vinegar Syndrome Pictures and Violator Films.
Highlights of the Forum included: Ben Immanuel’s Demystifying the Actor’s Process workshop, ALFF Creator Talks with Don McKellar, Matthew Rankin, and Sook-Yin Lee, and the inaugural ALFF Live Script Reading. The reading was performed in front of an audience by local actors from a Yukon-developed feature screenplay entitled “From Me To You” by Daniel Little and Peter Jickling.
"This year's Industry Forum has been our most impactful and fulfilling yet," said Festival Director Andrew Connors. "We were honored to host a number of influential guests from the film industry nationwide, and it was truly inspiring to have so many filmmakers in Whitehorse sharing their stories, visions, and creative processes."
Another exciting addition was the DGC Masters spotlight featuring Zoë Leigh Hopkins. DGC Masters is a new event series created by the National Directors Division at the Directors Guild of Canada, celebrating the work of great filmmakers and the career-spanning projects which showcase their brilliance. This special event showcased Zoë Leigh Hopkins’ celebrated work, followed by an in-depth conversation about her creative journey and insights into the industry. It was a unique opportunity for Canadian and Yukon filmmakers to learn from one of Canada’s leading storytellers.
The Available Light Film Festival 2025 presenting supporter was Telefilm Canada. Premier and Major level sponsors included Sternwheeler Hotel & Conference Centre, Canada Media Fund, Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada, Northwestel Community Television, Air North, Yukon’s Airline, What’s Up Yukon, The City of Whitehorse, Directors Guild of Canada National Office, Winterlong Brewing, K&K Truck Rentals, Yukon Provisions, Kobayashi + Zedda Architects, Music Yukon, Association franco-yukonnaise 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!
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