Still image from Kim Stadfeld’s Kokum, with love.

Three documentaries produced through the National Screen Institute’s IndigiDocs 2020-2022 training program will premiere on APTN on Wednesday, March 22.

NSI IndigiDocs supports emerging Indigenous creators as they develop a short documentary idea into a 10-minute finished film. With APTN’s continued partnership, the program has been able to amplify and uplift the voices of Indigenous storytellers for 10 years. In honour of this year’s films, APTN will broadcast a special showcase on their network across Canada.

Two of the documentaries debuted at film festivals over the past year – Kokum, with love. from Kim Stadfeld screened at imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Available Light Film Festival and received the Manitoba Short Film Audience Choice Award at the Gimli International Film Festival. It also premiered internationally at Native Women in Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Brandon Wilson’s Spirit of a Nation: The Places We Belong premiered at Northwest Fest in Edmonton, Calgary Justice Film Festival and Okotoks International Film Festival.

The documentaries will air in a one-hour special on Wednesday, March 22 at 9 p.m. CT. Check your local listings to find out how you can watch.

Synopses

Winnipeg’s North End: A Food Desert, Marsha Knight (Manitoba)

• The challenges of people in Winnipeg’s North End to provide basic and culturally-based food for their families amid the barriers of transportation, economics and no full-scale grocery stores in the area.

Kokum, with love., Kim Stadfeld (Ontario)

• To understand her family roots, Kim searches for truth and answers about her Indigenous grandmother Flora Bear’s life.

Spirit of a Nation: The Places We Belong, Brandon Wilson (Alberta)

• A participatory and visual look at the sacred and healing power land and community holds for members of the Fort McKay First Nations, told through the perspective of Cree member Brandon Wilson.

• • •

NSI IndigiDocs 2020-22 is funded by Program Partners APTN, Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and RBC Emerging Artists Project; Indigenous Training Programs Partner Directors Guild of Canada (DGC); Boot Camp Presenting Sponsor Manitoba Film & Music; Strategic Sponsor documentary Channel; Supporting Sponsors Telefilm Canada, Super Channel, A&E Networks; Provincial / Territorial Sponsors Manitoba Film & Music, Ontario Creates, Northwest Territories Film Commission, Creative Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA), Yukon Media Development and the Alberta Government; Industry Partner the National Film Board of Canada, Entertainment Partners; Industry Supporters imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; and Service Sponsors Line 21 Media, iSplice Films. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.