Asinabka Film & Media Arts Festival
Celebrating Indigenous Arts in Algonquin Territory
Ottawa • Canada • Sept.. 16-21, 2025

Asinabka Festival is a registered non-profit organization, and was first organized by an ad-hoc collective of Indigenous artists and arts professionals who came together in 2012 to launch the first edition of the festival. We began this project out of a strong need for a space in Ottawa to showcase film, video, and media arts created by Indigenous peoples. Our curatorial focus is to centre the programming of work by Indigenous peoples, as well as the work of local artists, and emerging artists.

The mandate of the Asinabka Festival is to hold an annual Indigenous film and media arts festival in Ottawa, Canada, that allows independent artists, national, international, Indigenous, and non-Indigenous, to share, present, and disseminate their work. In addition to the annual festival, Asinabka Festival offers year round programming, such as one-time film screenings and art events, as well as our annual winter "Snow-screening" in an outdoor theatre made of snow.

The Asinabka Festival's goals are:

• to highlight works that examine Indigenous issues and topics
• to support media artists and filmmakers
• to promote Indigenous cultures and languages
• to educate people about First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada, and about Indigenous issues internationally
• to provide a space where Indigenous peoples can tell their own stories and see their own cultures reflected back at them
• to entertain, to be innovative, and to present the best in Indigenous film and arts.

Awards & Prizes

Asinabka Festival is non-competitive and does not offer any Awards or Prizes, although we do offer Screening Fee's for all films presented at our festival. Artist fees are determined by following IMAA guidelines. Asinabka Festival is mostly volunteer-run, and does not charge submission fees for artists (with the exception of the $1 charge through FilmFreeway to limit the high volume of ineligible submissions). Please contact us via email if you would like to have this $1 fee waived for your eligible submission.

Rules & Terms

The 14th annual Asinabka Festival is planned to take place from Sept. 16-21, 2025.

The Festival is currently seeking works from filmmakers and media artists, any film or video or digital artwork that tells First Nations, Métis, or Inuit stories, or focuses on international Indigenous issues, is eligible. Preference will be given to film and work made by Indigenous artists, and to recent films produced within the last two years. Film submissions can be in any genre (documentary, drama, animation, experimental etc.) or any length, and must be finished works. Digital or media art submissions can be various mediums, such as photography, video installation, sound art, video games, virtual reality, or augmented reality.

Multiple submissions from the same filmmaker or artist are permitted. All submissions are peer-reviewed by our Selection Jury composed of the festival programmers as well as invited local artists, curators, and filmmakers. Applicants will be notified of programming decisions via email in June 2025.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Film Submissions must include the following:

• An online screener or an internet link to the film(s) online location

• A brief description of the film(s) 

• Still images from the film(s) being submitted

• Bio(s) of the Key Creator(s), either the Director(s), Producer(s), or Writer(s)


Media Art Submissions should include:

• A description of the artwork
• A link, file, maquette, or preview copy of the artwork
• A tech rider or list of tech requirements
• Images or videos of the artwork
• Bio(s) of the Key Creator(s)

Submissions must explain very clearly the Indigenous Identity (First Nation/Tribe/Culture) of a Key Creator (Writer/Director/Producer), or explain clearly how the work is eligible (How is the subject matter Indigenous?).

DEADLINE: June 1, 2025
34 Reviews
Overall Rating
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  • Dawn Wells

    Very honoured to have Creepy Cape Breton's Hatman Horror Short screened at the festival - Sawed Meat Late Night Shorts.
    Great work Asinabka team for supporting Indigenous Arts.

    August 2024
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  • Kelly Saxberg

    Wonderful festival. We were honoured to have our films Silent Cries and Journey to Our Homelands screened. It was fantastic to meet Mexican artisans and filmmakers and I hope our films will screen in Mexico too.

    August 2024
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  • Reciprocity Project

    They were great and very good at amplifying the event.

    August 2024
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  • Claudia Medina

    It was so great to be a part of the festival. Great people, high quality films and thought provoking art.

    August 2024
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  • Dennis Møller

    Looking forward to next year again!

    August 2024
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