TIFF 2025: How Indigenous filmmakers are finding space and funding on screen

On this edition of APTN News InFocus, host Cierra Bettens looks at the record number of Indigenous films featured at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, also known as TIFF. Among the eight Indigenous films premiering this year is Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising, a documentary from Shane Belcourt and Tanya Talaga on the 1974 occupation of Anicinabe Park. Also featured is Nika and Madison, by Walpole Island First Nation director Eva Thomas, which follows two estranged friends brought back together by a police encounter. All eight films are supported by the Indigenous Screen Office's Story Fund, which invested $3.5 million to bring Indigenous stories to the screen this year. Melanie Nepinak Hadley, the ISO's vice-president of industry partnerships and growth, joins us to talk about how the film festival landscape has evolved to welcome more Indigenous voices. Courtesy: Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising Trailer OV NIKA & MADISON Clip | TIFF 2025 • • • APTN National News, our stories told our way. Visit our website for more: https://aptnnews.ca Hear more APTN News podcasts: https://www.aptnnews.ca/podcasts/