The Arctic Indigenous Film Fund (AIFF) and the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) have named the eight Arctic Indigenous filmmakers that are participating in this year’s Witness Film Training and Mentorship Program.

The initiative, which added the ISO as its lead partner this year, provides Indigenous filmmakers from Arctic communities with tools and mentorship in order to create short films that spotlight the impacts of climate change.

As part of the program, the cohort will participate in workshops on subjects such as documentary storytelling, filmmaking and Indigenous protocols with the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto providing technical training and insights into independent filmmaking.

The selected directors will receive mentorship from experienced Canadian Indigenous filmmakers Darlene Naponse and Jason Ryle and be paired with a returning Witness participant as their producer.

Additionally, they will receive a training grant to create the three to five minute short film. While unable to disclose the amounts provided, program coordinator Amee Le told Playback Daily that the amount has increased this year based on the experience from previous cohorts’ needs.

The program begins in Toronto with foundational training and instructions from April 28 to May 2. The films are aiming for an April 2026 premiere on the streaming service Sapmifilm, a platform for Sámi and Indigenous films.

The selected projects include Sukkaillutit Uqaruk (Say It Slowly), directed by Inuk filmmaker and author Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, based in Iqaluit. Sápmi Sara Beate Eira, a Sámi filmmaker from Norway Sápmi, produces.

Also selected is an untitled project that focuses on hide tanning from Alaskan Koyukon Dené director Brittany Woods-Orrison and Yellowknife-based Tłı̨chǫ Dené producer Sadetło Scott, who runs the Yellowknife production company Zahk’e Productions.

Another untitled project on reindeer herding has been selected from the Finland Sámi filmmaker Aslak Paltto and the Finland Sápmi and Greenland Inuk producer Marc Fussing Rosbach.

Waking up Sassumap Arnaa (Mother of the Sea) rounds out the cohorts’ short films and is from the Greenland Inuk director Arina Kleist and Alaska-based Neets’aii Gwich’in producer Princess Daazhraii Johnson.

The Witness program was created by AIFF and Telefilm Canada with continued support from UArctic, Curating Indigenous Circumpolar Cultural Sovereignty, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Toronto’s York University.

“Witness has quickly become a cornerstone for emerging Indigenous filmmakers in the Arctic, offering not only technical training but the mentorship and guidance needed to tell impactful stories,” said ISO CEO Kerry Swanson in a statement. “We’re eager to see the incredible work this new cohort will create.”

Image courtesy of the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund; pictured (L-R) (Top)  Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, Sara Beate Eira, Brittany Woods-Orrison and Sadetło Scott (Bottom) Aslak Paltto, Marc Fussing Rosbach, Arina Kleist and Princess Daazhraii Johnson