ALFF Creator Talk hosted by Elamin Abdelmahmoud: Yukon Filmmakers

This event took place on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 11:30 amYukon Theatre

This conversation explores making bold, personal work in the North, navigating independent production, and translating place, culture, and experimentation into distinctive cinematic voices emerging from the Yukon.

Panelists: Douglas Joe, Jessica Hall and Alexandra Knowles.

ALFF Creator Talks are moderated by Elamin Abdelmahmoud, the host of CBC’s daily arts, entertainment, and pop culture show Commotion. He is an award-winning culture
writer and the author of the No. 1 best-selling memoir Son of Elsewhere.

Jessica Hall is a Whitehorse-based filmmaker whose work blends personal documentary, family history, and northern storytelling. Her award winning short film, Saturday (produced by the National Film Board of Canada) offers an intimate portrait of her sister Katherine and mother Frances through their shared ritual of building dollhouses, weaving home-movie archives with observations on creativity, disability, and care. Hall’s previous film, Rob Is Analog, won the Audience Choice Award at the Available Light Film Festival in 2022, further establishing her as a distinctive northern voice. Jessica’s latest film, Beyond the Left Hand Path is having its world Premiere on February the 8th at the Available Light Film Festival.

Douglas Joe (DJ) is a White River First Nations member who has a beautiful 10-year-old daughter. His mom is from Snag Yukon and father is from Klukshu, Yukon. He has taken his unique experience as a Yukon First Nations filmmaker and currently teaches First Nation youth about film and techniques with an emphasis on Indigenous language and interviewing elders. DJ had attended Capilano University's Filmmaking Program (2011). He has produced and created music videos, short films and mini-documentaries. Recently he won the Yukon 48 Hr Film Competition: Audience Choice Award twice for his films BFF: Big Foot Friend (2019) and SMASH! (2020), 2021 ALFF Pitch Award winner Datrin (Raven). Datrin has screened at film festivals internationally.

Alexandra Knowles is an emerging filmmaker and video editor based in Whitehorse, Yukon. A graduate of Concordia University’s BFA Film Production program (2013), she specializes in post-production and completed the Video Editing Practicum at the Banff Centre in 2015. Alexandra has worked on documentary, fiction, corporate and animation projects. She is passionate about documentary storytelling and has a love for building community through both film and knitting.