September 23 & 30
FREE

Welcome! Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa (eternal gathering place) presents the inaugural Lethbridge OnScreen Film Festival as part of Alberta Culture Days. Work has been sought from emerging and mid-career artists, historians, and cultural practitioners from Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+ and under-represented communities, organizations, and collectives in Canada.

The exciting film selection spans all genres with something for every taste and age range. There will be premieres with cast and crew present and spotlights on emerging and local artists. In honour of Truth and Reconciliation Day, all the films screened on September 30 are made by Indigenous filmmakers in celebration of their great voice in the film industry. The event is FREE to the public but please note any viewer ratings in the program for children or personal preference.

Opening Film Premiere: Faris Hytiaa SEND HELP - 9PM The Movie Mill

Closing Film Premiere: Kylie Fineday love me to the river - 7PM Galt Museum & Archives

The film festival is located at two locations, see program lineup for details:

September 23

The Movie Mill
1710 Mayor Magrath Dr S
Festival Features 2PM – 10PM

The Movie Mill screenings will be a full cinematic experience where you can enjoy its many amenities like popcorn, gourmet sodas, froyo and more. Come to this Lethbridge institution and support local business and local filmmakers alike. 

Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa
502 1 St S
Short Film Spotlight 2PM – 5PM

The Galt screening is located outside the museum in a cozy nook surrounded by landscape gardening. This event will be an encore screening of the short films selected for the festival.

September 30

Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa
502 1 St S
Festival Showcase

The Galt screening is located outside the museum in a cozy nook surrounded by landscape gardening. There will be heating lamps and seating provided but do consider bringing a blanket for comfort if it is chilly. There will be food trucks, popcorn and cotton candy as you enter the screening spaces and a gathering table area with the coulees behind to enjoy time between films. 

Food Trucks: 

Penny’s - Willy Big Bull’s Indian Taco truck
Cypress Hills Coffee Company - Kara Potts and family specialty lattes and drink

Our team would like to acknowledge that we are on Treaty 7 territory—the traditional and ancestral territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy: Kainai, Piikani and Siksika as well as the Tsuu T'ina Nation and Stoney Nakoda First Nation. Lethbridge is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.

 Saturday, September 23

The Movie Mill
1710 Mayor Magrath Dr S

Festival Showcase

2PM The Movie Mill

Kids Short Animation Film Fun!

Maq and the Spirit of the Woods
Phyllis Grant
2006 | 8 min
The story of Maq, a Mi'kmaq boy who realizes his potential with the help of inconspicuous mentors.

I Want a Dog
Sheldon Cohen
2003 | 10 min
A young May wants a dog more than anything else in the world and will find ingenious ways to try to convince her parents to allow her one.

Jaime Lo, Small and Shy
Lillian Chan
2006 | 7 min
Jaime Lo's father is sent to Hong Kong for a year-long work assignment. A shy Chinese-Canadian girl, Jaime Lo must use her creativity to cope with his absence.

3PM The Movie Mill

Short Documentary intro: The Quiet Green Creatures
Lethbridge Spotlight!
Rodrigo Henriquez
2023 | 4 min
This film recounts Professor Jenny McCune’s research on critically endangered plants in Canada, where human farming has separated land that was once an expansive forest.

Feature Documentary Presentation: John Ware Reclaimed
Cheryl Foggo
2020 | 1 h 12 min
This film follows filmmaker Cheryl Foggo on her quest to re-examine the mythology surrounding John Ware, the Black cowboy who settled in Alberta, Canada, before the turn of the 20th century. Foggo’s research uncovers who this iconic figure might have been, and what his legacy means in terms of anti-Black racism, both past and present. 

Please note: This film contains explicit language. Viewer discretion is advised.

5PM The Movie Mill

Short film intro: Reviving the Roost
Vivek Shraya
2019 | 6 min
Filmmaker and bestselling author Vivek Shraya’s ode to a popular Edmonton gay bar that closed in 2007. With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is a story about community complexity and longing, and an elegy to a lost space.

Please note: This film contains mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.

Feature Presentation: Riceboy Sleeps
Anthony Shim
2022 | 1hr 57min
Set in the 90s, a Korean single mother raises her young son in the suburbs of Canada determined to provide a better life for him than the one she left behind.

8:15PM The Movie Mill

Interactive Screening

Crawl Space
Lethbridge Spotlight!
Bryn Hewko
2016 | 8 min
Crawl Space is an experimental short film that deals with the aesthetics of memory and space in cinema with virtual reality headsets guiding the visuals. It tells a story of two young brothers who attempt to reach the back of the crawl space under their family home. 

9PM The Movie Mill

Opening Festival Premiere

Short film intro: Pop
Lethbridge Spotlight!
Sophia Mai
2023 | 1 min
Pop is a short rotoscope animation about the struggle of opening a jar of peppers. That’s it.

Opening Premiere: Faris Hytiaa SEND HELP
Lethbridge Spotlight!
Connor Christmas and Nick Bohle
2023 | 47 min
Using live & cinematic storytelling, Faris Hytiaa ponders his Canadian identity while experiencing mild poverty in a global pandemic. From white girls to donut theft, Faris leaves no stone unturned in his debut comedy special. This Lethbridge film showcases our city’s great talent in the film industry and will be an exciting event with the cast and crew attending for its official premiere. Please note: This film contains explicit language and sexual subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.

Saturday, September 23

Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa outdoor screen
502 1 St S

2PM–5PM Galt Museum & Archives

Short Film Spotlight!
This event will be an encore screening of the short films selected for the festival.

Saturday, September 30

Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa outdoor screen
502 1 St S

Festival Showcase

In honour of Truth and Reconciliation Day, all the films screened today are made by Indigenous filmmakers in celebration of their great voice in the film industry.

1PM Galt Museum & Archives

Short Film Bundle

Heartbeat of a Nation
Eric Janvier
2021 | 29 min
A short documentary by Eric Janvier that celebrates Dene cultural reclamation and revitalization. A father passes on traditional knowledge to his child through the teachings of a caribou drum.

Homecoming
Lethbridge Spotlight!
The Galt Museum & Archives
A Coalbanks Creative Production
8 min
This film examines the trials and tribulations of homeownership on reserves in Canada, as Blanche Bruised Head dispels the myth of “free housing” for Indigenous peoples.

Charley Squash Goes to Town
Duke Redbird
1969 | 4 min
This satirical short by Duke Redbird was the first animated film by an Indigenous director to be produced at the NFB. The film pokes gentle fun at Indigenous stereotypes and challenges the idea that Indigenous youth should seek to blend into mainstream society.

Vistas - The Visit
Lisa Jackson
2009 | 3 min
This animated short tells the true story of a Cree family's strange encounter one winter night, which results in a conversation beyond words.

PowWow at Duck Lake
1967 | 14 min
This powerful short documentary shows Indigenous youth resistance and emerging voices that will continue to define the landscape of Indigenous cultural and political activism for the next generation. Members of the National Youth Council, including Duke Redbird and Harold Cardinal, have a powerful exchange with a hostile white priest about the failures of the education system in relation to Indigenous people.

Please note: This film contains hard subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised. If anyone is triggered by this film, a mental health support worker will be available on-site to provide support if needed.

Woman Dress
Thirza (Theo Jean) Cuthand
2019 | 6 min
Pre-contact, a Two Spirit person named Woman Dress travels the Plains, gathering and sharing stories. Featuring archival images and dramatized re-enactments, this film shares a Cuthand family oral story, honouring and respecting Woman Dress without imposing colonial binaries on them.

2:45PM Galt Museum & Archives

Truth and Reconciliation Screening

Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair
Alanis Obomsawin
2021 | 29 min
As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system. With determination, wisdom and kindness, Senator Sinclair remains steadfast in his belief that the path to actual reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people requires understanding and accepting often difficult truths about Canada’s past and present. Alanis Obomsawin shares the powerful speech the Senator gave when he accepted the WFM-Canada World Peace Award, interspersing the heartbreaking testimonies of former students imprisoned at residential schools.

Please note: This film contains hard subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised. If anyone is triggered by this film, a mental health support worker will be available on-site to provide support if needed.

Honouring the Children
Lethbridge Spotlight!
Sandra Lamouche
2023 | 4 min
Filmed on the sacred lands of Banff, AB Honouring the Children is a jingle dress healing dance that honours the children who attended residential schools. A spoken word poem is used to envision a future of healing, self-determination and sovereignty for Indigenous peoples. 

Please note: This film contains hard subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised. If anyone is triggered by this film, a mental health support worker will be available on-site to provide support if needed.

4PM Galt Museum & Archives

Feature Presentation: Stellar
Darlene Naponse
2022 | 1hr 27min
Two Indigenous characters have an encounter that sets off a cosmic and environmental link to the past and future.

Please note: This film contains mild sexual subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.

7PM Galt Museum & Archives

Closing Premiere: love me to the river
Lethbridge Spotlight!
Kylie Fineday
2023 | 30 mins
Kylie is a Nehiyaw artist from Sweetgrass First Nation, Saskatchewan. Her art practice involves a variety of media and addresses a range of subject matter from the deeply personal to the political. Kylie and the Old Agency Drum Circle will weave an experimental story through silent film collage and a live soundtrack. The screening will be a unique moment in time, never to be recreated the same again. 

8:15PM Galt Museum & Archives

Fright Night Alberta Premiere: The Beehive
Alexander Lasheras
2023 | 1hr 26 min
A story of an inquisitive young girl, her angsty teenage brother, and her self-righteous father who put their family conflicts aside in the face of a pandemic alien invasion.

Please note: This film contains mild gore and scary subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.