Watch WIFF 2025 Films Online
Watch WIFF 2025 Films Online
For 2025, we’re excited to make this year’s festival films available for everyone to watch online — free of charge — right here on our website.
All films will be released on Friday, October 3rd, during Opening Night.
WFI STUDENT SHORTS
REAL LOVE COUNTRY: CANADA 22:00
DIRECTOR: ETHAN LEBLANC
Real Love follows a lonely night guard who gets his hands on an experimental anxiety drug thanks to his best friend Dr. Barry. When the girl of his dreams is hired to work at his job with him, they quickly fall for each other thanks to his new found pill boosted confidence, but an unexpected side effect of the drug turns the whole thing on its head. Real Love portrays themes of Love, Addiction, and one's sense of reality.
OUTREACH
DIRECTOR: HUNTER SMITH
FREE LEONARD PELTIER AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
DIRECTORS: JESSE SHORT BULL AND DAVID FRANCE 1:30:00
Leonard Peltier, an activist jailed for decades after a disputed conviction, faces his twilight years as a new generation fights for his release from prison before it's too late.
VIRTUAL FILM FESTIVAL OCTOBER 3 - OCTOBER 10
Provided as complimentary screenings by The Weengushk International Film Festival
FEATURE DRAMAS
SEEDS Country: Canada 1:27:00
DIRECTOR: KANIEHTIIO HORN
Ziggy, a thirty-something Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) woman, is offered her first gig as an online influencer, promoting for Nature's Oath, a seed and fertilizer company. When her cousin summons her back to the rez, she is forced into a battle to save her people's legacy.
Available Oct 3 - Oct 10th
THE GREAT SALISH HEIST Country: Canada 1:30:00
DIRECTOR: DARRELL DENNIS
A down-on-his-luck First Nations Archeologist seeking redemption teams up with a group of misfits from the Rez to break into a museum and reclaim sacred artifacts that rightfully belong to their people.
LUCKY STRIKES Country: Canada 1:29:00
DIRECTOR: DARCY WAITE
Two Indigenous bowlers aim to raise money to save their local lanes from the wrecking ball by competing in a national bowling championship.
SHORT DRAMAS
VESS Country: Canada 22:00
DIRECTOR: KAHSTOSERAKWATHE PAULETTE MOORE
A Mohawk carpenter/philosopher transforms his grief as he builds a home for a young family returning to their territory. The group forges new relationships filled with humour, Indigenous language, and the dynamic strength they all draw from their land and community.
IMMORTAL EMBRACE Country: Canada 7:00
DIRECTOR: REAMONN JOSHEE
Turned into a vampire against her will, 16-year-old Emily must navigate her new reality with the unwavering support of her single mother. Immortal Embrace is a poignant coming-of-age tale that explores identity, family, and the enduring strength of a mother-daughter bond amidst the challenges of the supernatural.
THE GIRL WITH BIG FEET Country: Canada 30:00
DIRECTOR: KARIN LEE
The Girl with Big Feet set in 19th century Canada explores the tensions between tradition and modernity, gender and patriarchy and cultural tradition versus personal freedom. It tells the story of a young girl who has immigrated to Canada and may experience the 1000 year old Chinese tradition of foot binding.
SOMETHING NEW Country: Canada 20:00
DIRECTOR: JORDAN WANAKAMIK
Daniel, a 17 year-old Anishinaabe teen bearing the weight of his unstable childhood, seeks reconnection to himself and to his culture.
EN MEMORIA Country: USA 11:00
DIRECTOR: ROBERTO FATAL
In a dystopian future, a mother, Luna, struggles to finish making her daughter Sol's Quinceañera dress.
TIGER Country: USA 13:00
DIRECTOR: LOREN WATERS
"Tiger" highlights an Indigenous award-winning, internationally acclaimed artist and elder, Dana Tiger, her family, and the resurgence of the iconic Tiger t-shirt company.
THE TAKE Country: Canada 20:00
DIRECTOR: YUMA DEAN HESTER
​​A birthday party preparation is thrown into chaos by an awful event.Set in the future following the third cultural collapse. An aspiring Haudenosaunee artist receives an invitation to an exclusive dinner. Not knowing what to expect, the evening delves into a game with extremely dire consequences. An Indigenous short film centred around the fetishization of Indigenous cultures and current threads in "public" art spaces.
VOX HUMANA Country: USA 22:00
DIRECTORS: DON JOSEPHUS RAPHAEL EBLAHAN Country: USA
In the aftermath of an earthquake, the police find a man in the woods. A zoologist, a sound recorder, and a news team grapple with the truth that he may be the cause of all the natural disasters that devastated this small mountain town.
THE STEAK Country: Canada/Iran 8:00
DIRECTOR: KIARASH DADGAR
A birthday party preparation is thrown into chaos by an awful event.
ANISHINAABEMOWIN Country: Canada 13:00
DIRECTOR: SHAELYN JOHNSTON
Thea is an 8-year-old Ojibwe girl who is in the process of learning how to speak her traditional language from her mother, Rose. Once a fluent speaker of Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language, Rose’s language skills have become rusty now that she and her daughter live in Vancouver, far away from their family. But through flashcards, websites, and what Rose remembers, Thea is well on her way.
A POEM FOR GISELLE, A POEM FOR A PEASANT Country: Bolivia 9:00
DIRECTOR: DIANA MORA, CAMILO CORREA COSTA
Through the reconstruction of memory and reinterpretation of the classical ballet "Giselle," Diana develops a message of solidarity with Bolivian peasants of the North Potosí, thereby illuminating the impact of racism in a postcolonial global society and mending her own connection with her lineage and personal identity.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
TZOUHELEM Country: Canada 1:30:00
DIRECTORS: HAROLD C. JOE, LESLIE D. BLAND
This documentary examines the near-mythic figure of Cowichan Chief Tzouhalem, the account of his life from both historians and First Nations Elders, the folkloric tales concerning him, his impact on the modern relationship between the Crown and First Nations, and how his legend remains alive to this day, examining critically how his story has been told and passed down to us.
WIND HAS NO TAIL Country: Russia 58:00
DIRECTORS: IVAN VLASOV, NIKITA STASHKEVICH
Nika is one of the youngest daughters in the Yamal nomad’s family. The administration of the nearest village should take her to a boarding school very soon, separating her from family and home for a long time. A nomadic teacher must prepare Nika for departure.
FOR LOVE Country: Canada 88:00
DIRECTOR: MATT SMILEY
FOR LOVE is a film of resilience and resurgence. Colonization has led to many adverse impacts on the Indigenous population of Canada – most significantly on familial and societal structures. Due to colonial regimes, Indigenous children are vastly overrepresented in the child welfare system. In 2018, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs deemed the issue “a humanitarian crisis.” Narrated by singer Shania Twain
KARUN - Ahwaz Country: Iran 55:00
DIRECTOR: HABIB BAVISAJED
The Karun River is the largest and longest river located in the southwest of the IRAN, in the city of Ahwaz. the same city that in 2011, according to the WHO, was named the most polluted city in the world. The residents of Ahwaz, who mostly live around the Karun River, are predominantly of Arab origin.
For the Arabs of Ahwaz, the Karun holds the same significance as the great rivers of the world.
HYPHEN Country: Canada 60:00
DIRECTOR: GABRIELA WARRIOR RENAUD
Hyphen is a documentary that pairs the beloved road movie with poignant conversations about race, culture, and identity with 22 people who live at the intersection of several realities.
DILIGENCE Country: USA 87:00
DIRECTOR: BROOKLYN TRUE HEART DEMME
Carrie Jones shows us what it takes to keep her Lenape/African/European cemetery in the family.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY
KANENON:WE - ORIGINAL SEEDS Country: USA 27:00
DIRECTOR: KATSITSIONNI D FOX
Original Seeds carries viewers into the grassroots Indigenous seed sovereignty movement led by Haudenosaunee women. Prior to European contact there was a rich and vibrant diversity of foods, with women primarily responsible for caretaking of the seeds. Genocidal practices including, boarding schools, land theft, forced relocation, imposed religion and even food warfare contributed to a disconnection from our traditional foods and seeds
THE LAST GRASS SEAMSTRESS 18:00
DIRECTOR: ARINA KLEIST
Short-doc about 82 year old indigenous Inuk, a South Greenlandic grass sewing specialist, Marie Josefsen, and her story of probably being the last grass seamstress in Greenland. After years of being active in grass sewing, she’d thought to herself, what if she passes away? Then the arts and craft of grass sewing would die out in Greenland…
TE PITO O TE HENUA Country: Chile 30:00
DIRECTORS: MARTIN KINGMAN, NILS COWAN
An Indigenous community on the most remote island in the world prepares to host its most important annual celebration, and reinforce deep connections to their culture.
TAKE IT TO THE WATER Country: Canada 12:00
DIRECTOR: THE AUTONOMOUS SINIXT
A journey through a Sinixt Cultural Practice centred on water. Through rich images of the mountain waterscapes of the Sinixt TÉ™mxÊ·úlaÊ”xÊ· (homeland) in BC, Canada, the film invites us to deepen our relationship to water.
NIITSITAPI Country: USA 14:00
DIRECTOR: BRYAN GUNNAR COLE
“Niitstitapi” (“The Real People”) journeys across the vast ancestral territory of The Blackfoot Confederacy – an ancient alliance of Blackfoot speaking people bound together by land, language, and culture.
NGARRIDURNDENG KURED Country: Australia 18:00
DIRECTORS: EMMA MASTERS, DEAN MUNUGGULLUMURR YIBARBUK
Ngarridurndeng Kured (We Going Home Now) follows Dean Yibarbuk, his family and and the Indigenous Fire Rangers he leads into the heart of Kuwarddewardde. Here ancient rhythms and traditional practices combine with western science to create a unique relationship to guard against devastating wildfires.
INIA IKIAMPRI Country: Ecuador 23:00
DIRECTOR: MARTÍN KINGMAN
A thriving Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon clings to tradition and connections to land while preparing for an uncertain future.
INDAI APAI DARAH 15:00
DIRECTOR: KYNAN TEGAR
A young girl growing up in the Indigenous-held forests of central Borneo follows ancient connections to earn the gift of a story - her People's 1973 fight to preserve their lands amid rampant deforestation.
WAKING SPIRITS UP: INDIGENOUS CONTEMPORARY ART
DIRECTOR: LESE SKIDMORE Country: Canada 26:00
Dr. Lana Whiskeyjack an artist of Edmonton, and Erik Lee a silversmith of Maskwacis, share Indigenous stories and themes in their art. They explore influences and Cree worldview while on their artistic journey.
SHORT ANIMATION
TELLING PEOPLE YOU'RE NATIVE AMERICAN WHEN YOU'RE NOT NATIVE IS A LOT LIKE TELLING A BEAR YOU'RE A BEAR WHEN YOU'RE NOT A BEAR Country: Canada 2:00
DIRECTOR: JOEY CLIFT
An animated informational video explaining that telling people you're Native American when you're not Native is a lot like telling a bear you're a bear when you're not a bear.
FIELD RECORDING Country: Canada 2:00
DIRECTOR: QUINNE LARSEN
A meandering joke about three dreams.
INKWO FOR WHEN THE STARVING RETURN Country: Canada 18:00
Director: Amanda Strong
Two lifetimes from now the world hangs in the balance. Dove, a young, enigmatic, gender-shifting warrior, discovers the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters.