ABOUT US
The Weengushk International Film Festival (WIFF) is a not for profit Indigenous-run independent film festival on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario featuring award winning filmmakers and indigenous leaders.
WIFF’s aim is to screen films and provide support to the local filmmakers on Manitoulin Island, which the local community would not normally have access to. The festival showcases unique and important work by young and emerging as well as established award-winning Indigenous and diverse filmmakers from across Canada, around the world and from around the corner -- including profiling films by Weengushk Film Institute (WFI) graduates. The film festival engages the local community through multidisciplinary activities such as film screenings, keynote speakers, presentations, musical performances, The Language and Industry workshops.
The combination of high quality films screened in an intimate festival allows WIFF to support and build community, and connect filmmakers, creating an invaluable network for the creation and dissemination of film. With the intent of sharing each other's culture, and language, WIFF provides a safe and Indigenous-centered gathering place for student learners and experienced filmmakers to share their experiences, skills, craft and exchange and celebrate their stories.
Dr. Shirley Cheechoo
Dr. Shirley Cheechoo
Artistic Director
Dr. Shirley Cheechoo, is a residential school warrior, who was pulled out of a self-destructive path when the late artist Tom Peltier introduced her to the arts. Shirley is the proud recipient of numerous awards both for her own work and for recognition of her profound contributions to arts practice throughout Ontario, including her installment to the Order of Canada. She was the first person from a First Nation to write, produce, direct and act in a feature length dramatic film in Canada; Bearwalker, for which she won the Best Director award at the first Reelworld Film Festival in 2000, and screened at the Cannes Film Festival. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Weengushk Film Institute, Shirley is an accomplished and awarding-winning artist, actor and filmmaker, and has been working in the Indigenous community for over 30 years.
THE TEAM
Phyllis Ellis
Executive Director
Dr. Shirley Cheechoo
Founder & Artistic Director
Nano Debassige
Production Manager
Jonathan Zagula
Technical Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nano Debassige
Board Chair
Linda Erkskine
Treasurer
Dr. Shirley Cheechoo
Member
Jonathon Zagula
Member
Jasmine Panacheese
Member
THE JURY
Elaine Bomberry
Nanci Rossov
Linda Wesley Rickard
Hoi Cheu
Jim Compton
OUR OBJECTIVE
Our vision is to bring communities together, to not only highlight excellence and opportunity for the filmmakers but to engage non-Indigenous communities through Indigenous storytelling with the film industry in a region that needs this bridge. It is a festival that celebrates our own narratives