The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) celebrates the Canadian premiere of Tails on Ice, a short documentary developed through NSI IndigiDocs by filmmaker Miranda Currie, at Yellowknife International Film Festival.

The film will stream through the festival website from November 3 to 7.

Tails on Ice follows the personal story of Miranda’s sled dog, Ellesmere, as she sets off on her first training expedition and rite of passage. Ellesmere must learn survival skills from the matriarchs that came before her in order to not only earn, but to also defend her position in the dog pack.

Miranda is an artist, musician and storyteller based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Tails on Ice encompasses Miranda’s personal and authentic voice – living in Yellowknife and working with her sled dogs. The Yellowknife International Film Festival is the perfect stage for the Canadian debut of this unique and heartwarming story.

With the film and festival based in her hometown, Miranda is eager to share her work within her community.

“It’s exciting to share Tails on Ice with Yellowknife and beyond. The Yellowknife International Film Festival and its members have been so supportive of me as an emerging filmmaker, so it’s nice to come full circle with the film as part of the festival,” says Miranda. “The support and mentorship from the NSI IndigiDocs program was invaluable in helping me create a film worthy of being shared.”

Miranda developed her film through NSI IndigiDocs in 2020 – a program offering customized training for Indigenous filmmakers who have an idea for a 10-minute documentary film.

The documentary made its international premiere at the 2021 Cannes Short Film Festival earlier this year.

All four NSI IndigiDocs 2020 graduates have premiered their films at renowned festivals over the past few months. Peter Brass’ film Indigenous Dads and Steven Davies’ film, ƛaʔuukʷiatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) Dugout Canoe, both had world premieres at Vancouver International Film Festival 2021. Steven’s film was selected alongside Erica Daniels’ film, Gift to Give, for the 2021 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.

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NSI IndigiDocs 2019-21 was funded by Program Partners APTN, Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage, 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, CBC Gem, Corus Entertainment, A&E Television Networks; Provincial Sponsors Manitoba Film & Music, Creative Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA), Northwest Territories Film Commission, Creative BC through the Daryl Duke and William Vince Scholarship Fund; Industry Partner the National Film Board of Canada; Industry Supporters imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Service Sponsors Line 21 Media, iSplice Films. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.