A lack of adequate funding and limited opportunities for cross-border work are significant barriers to the growth of the Arctic Indigenous audiovisual sector in Canada, according to a study on the challenges of Arctic Indigenous creators.
The study was commissioned by the International Arctic Indigenous Film Fund (AIFF), which is a partner of Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, Film Greenland, Nunavut Film Corporation, Sakha Film, and the Sundance Institute. The fund was established in 2018 to support film and TV productions and coproductions with Indigenous peoples in Arctic regions.
International screen sector consultancy firm Olsberg SPI (SPI) conducted the study, which primarily centres on Nunavut, and also covers the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. SPI identified financing and skill gaps across the audiovisual sector, barriers in cross-border work within the arctic region, ownership of intellectual property (IP), and the lack of a policy and strategy geared towards Indigenous creators as some of the key barriers, which also include high costs, environmental degradation and fair access to the content market.
The study involved a survey of 13 active Indigenous filmmakers — which the report said is an illustrative sample size, and not representative of the wider Arctic Indigenous creative community — 16 one-to-one confidential consultations, discussions with AIFF executives, and a review of reports and studies.
Approximately 54% of those surveyed said a lack of “development and capital funding is a key challenge for the region,” listing it as a “significant” or “notable” barrier to the growth of the sector.
The report recommended that the AIFF work with Canadian agencies to increase Arctic Indigenous funding caps to align with non-Indigenous funding caps.
Easier access to Indigenous and non-Indigenous funding streams, flexibility in the use of production funds, more capacity-building initiatives led by organizations such as the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and AIFF are also listed as recommended priority actions. The report recommended that the AIFF should continue to collaborate with Telefilm, ISO, CMF and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) to address cross-border funding issues, “particularly Greenland, and to support emerging producers specifically.”
The Northwest Territories Film Rebate Program and the Yukon Location Incentive Program must also be “more flexible, accessible, and equitable for Arctic Indigenous producers,” read the report.
For many filmmakers, accessing funding for training and skills development also remains out of reach, the report argued, recommending the AIFF should seek partnerships to develop an Indigenous-centred comprehensive Skills Plan for the Arctic region to address this gap.
Of those surveyed, 46% said limited opportunities to work across Arctic borders is a significant or notable challenge. For the sector to develop, “Arctic practitioners need to be able to work across Arctic borders” and take “control of their own narratives.”
The report recommended that the AIFF strengthen its existing cross-border funding partnerships with agencies such as Telefilm, CMF and NFB, while also developing formal partnerships with international Indigenous-led audiovisual organizations, including the Cherokee Film Commission, Screen Australia, and the New Zealand Film Commission.
Policies relating to IP ownership should be more nuanced as Indigenous “audiovisual works can include both cultural or community rights, and intellectual property rights,” said the report. Wider policies that support the sector should be guided by “national Truth and Reconciliation work and be aimed at enabling Indigenous narrative sovereignty for Arctic stories.”
Existing work and initiatives to tackle some of the challenges include the development of a new studio in Iqaluit, which is being funded by the AIFF and agencies such as the ISO; increasing the portfolio and visibility of Arctic Indigenous work; and deploying new technology and online Indigenous-led distribution models such as the Isuma TV streaming platform in Arctic Canada, noted the report.
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