First Nations visual documentary has world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival

By Sam Laskaris

ATIKAMEKSHENG ANISHINABEK FIRST NATION – A First Nations filmmaker had the world premiere of her latest project at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

AKI, which was written, directed and produced by Darlene Naponse, a member of Atikameksheng Anishinabek First Nation, was screened for the first time at TIFF on Sept. 9.

AKI, which means earth or land in Anishinaabemowin, is an entirely visual documentary set in Naponse’s First Nation in Northern Ontario.

The film is shot over the various seasons.

“This is not a film about my community,” Naponse said in her director’s statement publicizing the documentary. “It is a film with my community and from our shared worldview. We carry stories in our feet, in our rivers, in our cedar and chaga (mushrooms), in the breath between songs.”

This marks the 50th edition of TIFF, which is considered one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

The festival began on Sept. 4 and continued until Sept. 14.

Naponse added she’s not looking to explain, but rather keen to share.

“This is not the silence of absence but the language of land,” she said. “The past and the future cycle through us. We are not defined by colonial trauma; we are defined by our relationships, our laughter, our lands, and our sovereignty.”

Naponse also said that historically, stories about Indigenous people have been created through a non-Indigenous lens. Many of those stories were distorted, incomplete, or consumed by trauma.

“AKI comes from a different place,” she said. “It is made from within by someone who has lived these lands, these seasons, these relationships. This is not a film looking in. It is a film from inside.”

Naponse grew up in her First Nation, where both her father and grandfather were Chiefs.

“I’ve fished these lakes, gathered medicine in these forests, danced at pow wows, and worked for over a decade with our community to shape our Constitution,” she said. “The land is my teacher, my memory, and my future. In making AKI, I want to honour that relationship.”

She also said her film is intentionally non-verbal.

“It is not silence – it is the land speaking,” she said. “The wind, the water, the ice, the drum – these are our languages, too. The documentary follows the rhythm of the seasons and the daily practices of our people, without scripts or instructions. We disappear into the moment, allowing the stories to emerge as they are.”

For Naponse, AKI is her fifth feature film.

And she’s no stranger to TIFF.

That’s because two of her previous films, Falls Around Her and Stellar, both had their world premieres at the Toronto festival as well.

Falls Around Her, which came out in 2018, starred Tantoo Cardinal. And Stellar, which featured Elle-Marie Tailfeathers as the lead, came out in 2022.

Naponse has also directed several short films. And she founded Baswewe Films, an independent production company.

Naponse is also a community leader as she helped draft her First Nation’s Constitution.