Skip to main content

Festival coverage

ImagineNative

3 June – 15 June 2025

The 25th anniversary of the Toronto festival has programmed works spanning 55 Indigenous Nations from 16 countries . This year’s theme centres around seedkeeping and the passing down of seeds to the next generation.

The festival runs from 3 to 15 June.

Other years (1)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • #skoden
    Review preview for #skoden

    Eagle Bear does an impressive job, often by focusing on feelings first and addressing moments which speak to character rather than trying to amass a linear assemblage of facts.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A documentary about Pernell Bad Arm, who was briefly famous for standing up to racism.
  • NiiMisSak: Sisters In Film
    Review preview for NiiMisSak: Sisters In Film

    Simple in structure, with a series of interviews supported by clips of film, the documentary finds its power in the accumulation of ideas across its running time.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A documentary delving into the journeys of IsKweWak (women) storytellers navigating the film and television industry.
  • Little Deer
    Review preview for Little Deer

    An exquisite piece of short filmmaking.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    Two indigenous girls run away from a Canadian residential school at Christmastime.
  • The Haka Party Incident
    Review preview for The Haka Party Incident

    Moving back and forth between these groups allows the narrative to evolve in a way that takes different perspectives into account without setting them against one another.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    The last New Zealand War happened in 1979. It lasted three minutes. This documentary tells the story.
  • Singing Back The Buffalo
    Review preview for Singing Back The Buffalo

    The film feels at first as if it’s tugging in several different directions, but gradually pulls it all together.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Indigenous visionaries, scientists and communities are rematriating the buffalo to the heart of the North American plains they once defined, signaling a turning point for Indigenous nations, the ecosystem, and our collective survival.
  • We Were Dangerous
    Review preview for We Were Dangerous

    The darkness in the film is carefully balanced by comedy.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Three friends attend an institution for delinquent girls on an isolated island In 1950s New Zealand. The trio rail against the system, finding strength in their bond. This is challenged when the school’s matron divides them.
  • Remaining Native
    Review preview for Remaining Native

    Bethmann understands the situation well, but her closeness to the teenager and the personal character that the film takes on as a result is something else.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggles to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great grandfather's escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future.

Features

  • Song of the wild
    Tasha Hubbard on indigenous recovery and Singing Back The Buffalo
  • Unbreakable
    Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu on a different way of exploring history in We Were Dangerous
  • Making the running
    Paige Bethmann and Jessica Epstein on history, storytelling and Remaining Native