Skoden Indigenous Film Festival returns for 2022 in-person, March 31 to April 2
“Skoden” is a unifying Indigenous slang term that transcends a single language and means “let’s go then!”
Siku Allooloo.
Skoden Indigenous Film Festival (SIFF) takes place March 31 at SFU Surrey Campus and April 1 and 2 at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema.
SKODEN INDIGENOUS FILM Festival (SIFF) is back in-person. The student-run fest exclusively features Indigenous filmmakers and creatives from across Canada. Carr Sappier (Wolastoqew) and Grace Mathisen, Simon Fraser University film alumni from the School for the Contemporary Arts, co-founded the fest in 2019 on the principles of truth and reconciliation to showcase Indigenous filmmakers and to Indigenize the SFU community.
This year’s festival goers have the opportunity to attend six short film programs and an awards ceremony. Among the participating filmmakers are as Zacharias Kunuk (“Angakusajaujuq - The Shaman's Apprentice”), Amanda Strong (“Spirit Bear And Children Make History”), Siku Allooloo (“Spirit Emulsion”), Alanis Obomsawin (“Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair”), Desmond Simon (The Mask Maker, My Brother), and Alex Maksagak (“Avi: From The North”).
Each of SIFF 2022’s five main programs (screening at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts) embodies a salient theme in contemporary Indigeneity. The Skoden Sampler program (screening at the SFU Surrey Campus), meanwhile, features a selection of shorts that represents the array of the fest’s 2022 contributions.
Used by Indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast, “skoden” is a unifying Indigenous slang term that transcends a single language and that stands for “let’s go then!”, according to a SIFF release.
“Skoden represents a sense of happiness, inclusion, and a space where all filmmakers can feel like they are part of something that holds them up in respect,” Sappier said in the release.
Mullen added: “We are sharing experiences and knowledge through this course, and for me, this is what Skoden means — let’s go then! With humour, dialogue, and respect.”
The festival is maintained yearly through a semester-long interdisciplinary class taught by Sappier and co-instructor Kathleen Mullen (filmmaker and film festival consultant).
More information is at SIFF.
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