REGINA — The Regina International Film Festival and Awards has unveiled its awards nominees in the various categories of competition.
The nominees were announced at the official press conference at the Cornwall Centre to preview the festival, happening Aug. 12-22.
They are as follows:
Nominees for Best Canadian Feature Film are AKASHI, Parallel Gazes and Halved.
Nominees for Best International Feature Film are The Fox, Complaint No. 713317, Muganga and Beyond the Mountains.
Nominees for Best Documentary Feature Film are A Bigger Place, Tomoshibi, The Blueberry Blues, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific and A Cree Approach.
Nominees for Best Canadian Short Film are Ramon Who Speaks to Ghosts, Before the Sun, Like a spark, EMERGENCY and Diamond Belly.
Nominees for Best International Short Film are I Believe in Flying, Sash Window, How to Rebury Your Friend, Broken Dawn and The Dead Sing for the Living.
The nominees for Best Documentary Short Film are Motel Grand-Pre, Free Fish, Living Water and Dog Days of Summer.
The nominees for Best Indigenous Short Film are Materia, We See Changes, Wolf Blood: The Threads That Bind and Raised by the Canoe.
The nominees for Best Student Short Film are Shedding, Tales of Minho, Hiding in the Bubble and Princess Dina Bo Bina.
Nominees for Best Animated Short Film are Deaf Ear, Foxing: Kitsune-tsuki, My Grandmother is a Skydiver, Insider and Pierced.
And nominees for Best Saskatchewan Short Films are Rovers, A Priest Walks into a Bar, Hunting Trip and Errol Kinistino: Inspiration and Activism in the Arts.
RIFFA vice-president Dr. Renatta Varma said she has watched the festival “grow over many years, through different stages, challenges, and moments of real momentum. What has remained constant is the collective commitment behind it.”
“RIFFA has always been built by people who believe in the value of storytelling and the role cinema plays in connecting communities. Today, I want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to the filmmakers, the artists, the industry professionals, the contract staff, the volunteers, the community partners, the sponsors, and the audiences who continue to make this festival possible. This is not the work of one organization or one group. It is a shared effort across many hands and many roles.”
In addition to the feature films being shown, the festival is an annual hub for networking and for presentations and classes to develop filmmaking talent.
Giovanna Nabarrete, director of programming for the Regina International Film Festival and Awards, pointed to offerings including a master class in post-production, a music and film speed networking session, and their Broadcaster 101 sessions to connect filmmakers directly with Canadian broadcasters and distributors through focused professional meetings.
There will also be presentations at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, and the Global Citizens series, which Nabarrete said will be screening international documentaries on “issues such as environmental justice, human rights, displacement, and inequality, with each screening followed by a facilitated discussion including guest speakers, panels, and community conversations.”
Nabarrete said that as programmers their focus is on shaping a festival experience that “extends beyond exhibition and into the development of creative careers, collaboration, and opportunity.”
“From a programming perspective, film festivals are not end points. They are entry points. Places where conversations begin, relationships form, and creative trajectories often shift in meaningful ways. This year's industry programming reflects that belief.”
Also coming back this year is the annual fellowship through the Regina International Film Festival and Awards Academy. One individual who was selected last year for the RIFFA Academy Emerging Screenwriters Fellowship, Ali Shahidi, spoke of how that fellowship helped him.
“Like most people who have been part of a fellowship, I went into it thinking it was going to make me a better writer,” Shahidi said.
“It did, just not in the way I expected. The most valuable lesson it taught me wasn't about structure, dialogue, plot, or character arcs. It was about why writers need one another.”
He said the fellowship “connects writers with mentorships, industry guidance, and opportunities designed to strengthen their creative vision and help prepare their work for the next stages of development.” It also helped introduce him to people who “cared enough to challenge my ideas.”
“So, what every emerging writer hopes isn't to find someone to write the story for them, it's to find someone who asks the right question, someone who challenges an idea instead of dismissing it, someone who reminds you why you started writing the story in the first place when you're so close to convincing yourself the script isn't working anymore.”
He noted RIFFA had received 464 submissions from filmmakers across every continent, with 98 films selected for official presentation, including 52 Canadian films, 24 feature films and 74 short films representing voices from 26 countries.
“I mean, those numbers speak to the reach of the festival, but what matters most isn't how many films were selected. It's what happens once they're here … RIFFA gives those filmmakers something that's just as valuable as an audience. It gives them community, a place to share their work, to start conversations, to collaborate, to hear perspectives they haven't considered before.”
RIFFA will run online Aug. 12-16 and will be shown in person Aug. 18-22.
