For immediate release
June 14, 2012

Northern Ontario Youth create short videos with hand-held devices as a part of the imagineNATIVE Film + Video Tour – Vote for your favourite one!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW - YOUTH VIDEOMAKING CONTEST

(Toronto) – The 2012 imagineNATIVE Film + Video Tour and its video-making workshops have come to an end, and imagineNATIVE invites the public - you - to vote on your favourite youth-made video, starting June 18. The youth video-maker with the most votes wins a trip to the 2012 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto to attend a screening of their work. This 2nd annual online voting exhibition is the result of imagineNATIVE’s unique touring workshop “My Space. My Story.” led by filmmaker and artist Keesic Douglas.

Voting will take place online at www.imagineNATIVE.org, from June 18-29, 2012 and does not require sign-up when casting your vote. The website offers the public a chance to vote on 25 short videos, all created by Ontario-based Indigenous youth aged 10-29. The winning video will be included in the Youth Shorts Program as a part of the 2012 Festival this October 17-21, and its creator brought to Toronto to attend its exciting premiere! Results will be announced on July 2.

“The 2nd annual video-making workshop grew exponentially from last year, in terms of participation,” says Sage Paul, Events and Communications Director. “We are incredibly excited to see the motivation and interest from young people all over Ontario – our next generation of filmmakers and artists. Each youth not only learned to produce a video with their own equipment, but they now have the knowledge to continue making work.”

The videos, which were all produced using equipment at-hand such as point-and-shoot cameras, are the result of these innovative workshops. imagineNATIVE’s Film + Video Tour also brought a Youth Shorts Program and Wapos Bay: Long Goodbyes (the Closing Night feature presentation from imagineNATIVE 2011) to 13 communities in Northeastern, Western and Southern Ontario.

About the imagineNATIVE Film + Video Tour

The imagineNATIVE Film + Video Tour provides northern and remote communities access to Indigenous-made film and video from Canada and abroad. The Tour encourages youth to explore the creation of film and video through a screening, discussion and hands-on video-making workshops. It also brings imagineNATIVE’s Closing Night feature presentation outside of the festival to the larger community. Video-making workshops, led by filmmaker Keesic Douglas works with youth to create and edit short videos using readily-available technology such as cellphones and webcams. The videos are featured on imagineNATIVE’s website and open to public voting, sending the winner to Toronto for the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.

About the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is an international festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples at the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, and new media. Each fall, the Festival presents a selection of the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from Canada and around the globe. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world’s Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of our art and culture in contemporary media. imagineNATIVE is the largest festival of its kind in Canada and the world.

The 13th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will take place October 17-21, 2012. For more information, visit www.imagineNATIVE.org

- 30 -
Media inquiries:
Sage Paul
Events and Communications Director
spaul@imagineNATIVE.org
416 585 2333