December 16, 2024– Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Amanda Strong’s Spotted Fawn Productions/National Film Board of Canada (NFB) stop-motion animated short Inkwo for When the Starving Return will continue its festival run in the new year in the Short Film Program of the Sundance Film Festival.

A world-renowned showcase for U.S. and international independent films, the 2025 edition of the Sundance festival will take place January 23 to February 2.

Inkwo for When the Starving Return is an animated adaptation of the short story “Wheetago War” by award-winning Tlicho Dene storyteller Richard Van Camp, published in his collection Night Moves. “Wheetago War” was inspired by Art Napoleon’s interview with his late grandmother Suzette Napoleon, published in Bushland Spirit: Our Elders Speak.

These screenings mark the return of Strong to Sundance, where she’d taken part in the Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab in 2020.

Inkwo features the voice talents of Paulina Alexis (Critics Choice Award winner), Tantoo Cardinal (Order of Canada) and versatile television producer, actor and storyteller Art Napoleon.

About the film

Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong (Spotted Fawn Productions/NFB, 18 min 27 s)
Producers: Amanda Strong (Spotted Fawn Productions), Maral Mohammadian (NFB), Nina Werewka (Spotted Fawn Productions)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/inkwo-for-when-the-starving-return

• Two lifetimes from now the world hangs in the balance. Dove, a young warrior, receives and begins to understand the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of starving creatures.
• Dove’s courage, resilience and alliance with the Earth culminates in a battle against these flesh-consuming monsters, who become stronger with each human they devour. Inkwo is a call to action to fight and protect against the forces of greed and consumption.
• Amanda Strong is a Michif/Red River Métis artist, writer, producer, director, filmmaker and mother. As the owner and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc., her collaborative creations serve to amplify Indigenous storytelling and ideologies. Strong’s work has received Canadian Screen Award and Emmy nominations, and her films—which include Biidaaban and Four Faces of the Moon—have been shown worldwide at venues such as TIFF, the Cannes film market, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the American Museum of Natural History.

Sundance screenings

• In-person:
  • Library Center Theatre, Park City (premiere), January 24, 8:30 p.m.
  • Redstone Cinemas (3/4), Park City, January 25, 5:20 p.m.
  • Broadway Centre Cinemas (6), Salt Lake City, January 27, 10:00 p.m.
  • Redstone Cinemas (3/4), Park City, February 1, 5:20 p.m.

• Public online screenings in the U.S.: Thursday, January 30 to Sunday, February 2.

Awards and festivals to date

Inkwo was selected to screen at more than a dozen festivals in 2024, including:

• World premiere, Toronto International Film Festival;
• Audience Award for Best Canadian Short Film, GIRAF International Festival of Independent Animation, Calgary;
• Canadian Short Film Panorama, Ottawa International Animation Festival;
• Interfilm Berlin International Short Film Festival;
• Bucheon International Animation Festival, South Korea;
• Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Spain;
• Portland International Film Festival.

About Spotted Fawn Productions

Spotted Fawn Productions Inc. is an Indigenous-owned and led production company centred in animation and moving-image art. SFP was founded in 2010 by owner, producer and Emmy-nominated director Amanda Strong (Michif/Red River Métis, Manitoba Métis Federation). The studio’s award-winning productions specialize in the handmade aesthetics of stop-motion animation to generate films, books, exhibits and interactive works that have been seen worldwide, celebrating Indigenous content on screens and beyond.

With each production, SFP’s foundation focuses on process, learning, collaboration and collective making, while uplifting and creating space, training, resources and skills development for Indigenous, BPOC, LGTBQT2S+ and emerging artists. The team at SFP explores cyclical methods of Indigenous storytelling and nonlinear systems of production and dissemination.

About the NFB

Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 7,000 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.

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French version here | Version française ici.