Native Spirit Festival 12 Oct – 7 Nov 2024

Open Call for Submissions (closes 20 March) https://filmfreeway.com/NativeSpirit


online festival 2023 exclusive to UK (ended 6 Jan 2024)


in-person festival 2023 (ended)


Monday 23 – Sunday 29 October 6-9.30pm — 60+ films +print exhibition Klee Benally, Pamela J Peters…

Free. click here — The Muse at 269 Portobello Road, W11 1LR

 


Friday 3 November 6.30pm — Sakha Double Bill

Tickets £12 — Pushkin House, Bloomsbury WC1A 2TA

 


Sunday 5 November 2.00 – 4.15pm — Turtle Island Tales : Torcheu Aachimow
12 Short films by Wapikoni Mobile filmmakers curated by Jack Belhumeur attending in-person, +Q&A (online) Réal Junior Leblanc, Isabelle Kanapé and Manuel Kak’wa Kurtness.

Tickets £10-12 — Bertha Dochouse Curzon Bloomsbury, WC1N 1AW

 


International Inuit Day — Tuesday 7 November 7.00pm

Tickets £6.50-11.50 — Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), Oxford OX4 1BN

 


Online — UK Premiere Bones of Crows

 


OPENING NIGHT  Tuesday 17 October 8pm — Pacific Filmmakers Triple Bill
Q&A Nina Nawalowalo, Taratoa Stappard, Thomas Mullen, Moderated by Robin Monotti Graziadei

Tickets £10-12 — The Garden Cinema, Covent Garden WC2B 5EF

Taumanu (Reclaim) – Taratoa Stappard, 22′ 2022.   New Zealand. 1929. When a parcel is delivered to a colonial manor house, mysterious Māori performers arrive to reclaim the contents. Soon the Māori head butler finds himself drawn into bloody, century-old vengeance.

The Brylcreem Boys – Rafer Rautjoki, 15′ 2022.   Kara is tasked with discovering why her Uncle’s first love abandoned him on the opening night of his band’s national tour.

European Premiere
A Boy Called Piano – The Story of Fa’amoana John Luafutu – Nina Nawalowalo | 57′ 2021 | 57 min.   Arriving to New Zealand from Samoa as a young child in the 1950s, Fa’amoana was taken from his family and placed in state care, suffering terrible abuse alongside thousands of other Māori and Pasifika children. This documentary explores his journey through state care, prison, gang membership, as well as the intergenerational impacts of these experiences; and ultimately, healing for Fa’amoana and his Family through harnessing the power of his voice as a storyteller.

 


Wednesday 18 October 7pm — Whetū Mārama – Bright Star
Q&A (online) Dir. Toby Mills, Aileen O’Sullivan

Tickets £5 — David Lean Cinema, Croydon Clocktower Arts Centre CR9 1ET