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In-person Arts & Culture

Dreamspeakers International Film Festival

April 15, 2026 to April 19, 2026

film festivals
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Organized by: Dreamspeakers Festival Society

This year's edition of the first Indigenous film festival in Canada will feature over 30 films: shorts, features, documentaries, and animations.

This year's festival will feature over 30 films: Shorts, features, documentaries, and animations. In-person screenings will be held at Landmark Cinema in Downtown Edmonton, from April 16-19, 2026, with a free screening of "Nika & Madison" at Metro Cinema at the Garneau on April 15th fresh from its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival; presented as part of National Canadian Film Day.


Dreamspeakers International Indigenous Film Festival (DIIFF) was first presented in Edmonton in 1992 and was the first Indigenous film Festival in Canada and the second in the world. It was founded by Indigenous filmmakers and creatives in response to the growing industry and to support Indigenous representation in film and media. The name "Dreamspeakers" was derived from a story about the first Dene filmmaker who returned home to his community in the north and struggled to talk to the Elders about his work because a word for "filmmaker" did not exist in their language. The Elders understood and called it Dreamtalking. We adapted our name from this story.

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