ISO allocates $6.3M to Indigenous Productions across Canada through the Story Fund Production Stream in 2025-2026

Press Release

Toronto (Tkaronto), May 21, 2026 –The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) announces a $6,300,000 investment in Indigenous productions through the Production stream of the Story Fund Program, supporting a total of 26 Indigenous creative teams across Canada. In total, ISO provided funding for eight feature films, four short films, and 14 television series. These projects include seven from British Columbia, five from Ontario, four from Nunavut, four from Quebec, two from Manitoba, two from Saskatchewan, one Alberta/Ontario co-production, and one Manitoba/Ontario co-production.

The following 26 projects have been supported by ISO’s Story Fund Program for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

FEATURE FILMS

Project: A Life Less Empty
Company: 102165306 Saskatchewan Ltd.
Key Creative: Sera Lys McArthur, Nakoda; Rueben Martell, Cree
Format/Genre: Feature film, Drama
Region:  Saskatchewan
Synopsis: Emotionally stuck and isolated on his quiet reservation, Simon’s life is suddenly enlivened by the arrival of Karen, an enigmatic outsider, who challenges him to make a big change.

Project: Ancestral Beasts
Company: 16198872 CANADA Inc.
Key Creative: Tim Riedel, Red River Métis
Format/Genre: Feature Film, Horror
Region:  Ontario
Synopsis: A troubled Metis Woman returns to her rural, ancestral home looking for respite from her self-inflicted life troubles only to uncover a terrifying supernatural creature she must battle before it kills her and everyone she loves.

Project: In the Name of Science
Company: 17204850 Canada Inc.
Key Creative: Ernest Webb, Cree, Angie-Pepper O’Bomsawin, Abenaki/Mohawk, Brittany LeBorgne, Kanien’kehá:ka
Format/Genre: Feature Film Documentary
Region:  Quebec
Synopsis: In the Name of Science is an investigative feature film documentary about medical experiments done on Indigenous children by Canadian scientists over decades.

Project: Indigena
Company: ARC-EN-CIEL FILMS INC.
Key Creative: Siku Allooloo, Inuit/Taíno
Format/Genre: Feature Film, Documentary
Region:  British Columbia
Synopsis: INDÍGENA is a hybrid documentary that follows filmmaker Siku Allooloo’s journey to unearth the legacy of her late mother, Marie-Hélène Laraque, a Taíno activist from Haiti who founded a groundbreaking Indigenous newspaper at the heart of the 1970s Red Power Movement.

Project: Medicine Fire (previously: Untitled Ceremony Film)
Company: High Noon Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Lisa Jackson, Anishinaabe (Aamjiwnaang)
Format/Genre: Feature Film, Documentary
Region:  Ontario
Synopsis: John and Beatrice Fox are bringing ceremony back to their community to help others heal and connect with the strength they’ve found.

Project: Myth and Memory: The Untold Story of the Franklin Expedition
Company: Myth and Memory Inc.
Key Creative: Nyla Innuksuk, Inuk
Format/Genre: Feature Film, Documentary
Region:  Ontario
Synopsis: Blending oral histories with investigative storytelling, the feature documentary MYTH AND MEMORY dismantles the colonial legend of Franklin’s lost ships, centring Inuit voices to examine the struggle for cultural sovereignty, environmental stewardship, and the enduring pressures that threaten Indigenous self-determination.

Project: Noopiming – The Cure for White Ladies
Company: Spotted Fawn Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Amanda Strong, Red River Métis; Leanne Betasomasake Simpson, Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg
Format/Genre: Feature Film, Animation
Region:  British Columbia
Synopsis: Noopiming: Mashkawaji is frozen in a lake. From her isolation, her spirit speaks by being embodied by seven interwoven characters who, through ceremony and land-based practices, seek to find hope in their processes of loss and reclamation.

Project: Une tragédie inuite : La police au Nunavik
Company: Nikan Productions (VI) Inc.
Key Creative: Kim O’Bomsawin, Abenaki
Format/Genre: Feature Film, Documentary
Region:  Quebec
Synopsis: The northern village of Salluit, Nunavik, becomes the scene of a tragedy when Joshua Papigatuk is killed and his twin brother Garnet is seriously wounded by gunfire during a local police intervention. This act of violence, which painfully echoes systemic issues in how Canada treats Indigenous communities, sparks a strong response from Inuit communities and their allies across the country.

SHORT FILMS

Project: CRYPTID
Company: Alex Vance (applied as an individual)
Key Creative:  Alex Vance, Métis
Format/Genre: Short film, Horror
Region: British Columbia
Synopsis: After a Métis woman is bitten during an intimate encounter at a party in the woods, she wakes up stranded, alone and finds her body transforming into something… strange.

Project: Deb’s Return
Company: 1569537 B.C. LTD.
Key Creative: Kerriann Cardinal, Métis
Format/Genre: Short film, Documentary
Region: British Columbia
Synopsis: Retired Kwakiutl lawyer and community activist Deb Mearns holds the distinction of being B.C.’s first Indigenous woman lawyer. Now in her mid-70s and recovering from a major health issue, Deb decides to return to Vancouver after decades away to reconnect with colleagues and friends.

Project: Kiviuq Iguttarjuarlu (Kiviuq and the Bee Woman)
Company: Kiviuq Media 1 Inc.
Key Creative: Louise Flaherty, Inuit, Germaine Arnaktauyok, Inuit, Jamesie Fournier, Inuit
Format/Genre: Short Film, Animation
Region:  Nunavut
Synopsis: The legend of Kiviuq is situated between oral history, legend, and spirituality. It is an account of a great Inuit traveller and shaman who embodied the values of wisdom and perseverance. This traditional story is an essential part of Inuit oral history that can be found in almost all Inuit regions across the Arctic. The full story of Kiviuq would take many days to tell, so it is often told as separate adventures.

Project: Tears of Our Sisters
Company: Howah Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Victoria Anderson Gardner, Anishinaabe
Format/Genre: Short film, Drama
Region:  Ontario
Synopsis: A young Cree woman moving to the city becomes the target of a predator, but with the strength of her Ancestors she turns the hunt against him.

TELEVISION SERIES

Project: Acting Good Season 4
Company: Big Makwa Pictures IV Inc.
Key Creative: Tina Keeper, Cree
Format/Genre: Television Series, Comedy
Region:  Manitoba
Synopsis: It’s in Grouse Lake that you’ll find PAUL and ROSE, who now have their baby PJ, and live in Sagatay Lodge with Paul’s mother AGNES, and of course STEPHEN HARPER. AGNES’ grandgirl CHICKADEE has moved into Paul’s old attachment and she is having growing pains and she tries to figure out her next steps after high school. JO is now National Chief, having left her heartbroken boyfriend Nurse LOGAN.

Project: AKI
Company: 2774223 Alberta Ltd./Niswih Mahngohg Inc.
Key Creative: Bruce Thomas Miller, Matachewan First Nation, Jamie Lee Reardon, Flying Post First Nation
Format/Genre: Television Series, Documentary
Region:  Alberta/Ontario
Synopsis: AKI is a docu-series about Indigenous languages that will be hosted by Eli Baxter, Ojibwe language keeper, that will take the audience on an experience of learning Indigenous language, culture and teachings. Season 1 will be focused on the Ojibwe language and its teachings and will have special guests to help us learn more about the wonderful culture of the Indigenous people of Canada.

Project: Arnattaujuup Unikkaaqtuaqtangit
Company: Arnaktauyok Media 1 Inc.
Key Creative: Amber Fradsham, Inuit, Germaine Arnaktauyok, Inuit
Format/Genre:  Television series, children’s animation/live action
Region:  Nunavut
Synopsis: Arnattaujuup Unikkaaqtuaqtangit is an animated series that showcases traditional Inuit stories retold, directed, and narrated by renowned Inuk artist, Germaine Arnaktauyok. Arnattaujuup Unikkaaqtuaqtangit embodies the tradition of Inuit storytelling that has been passed down through generations to impart lessons of social and ecological survival.

Project: Joke Signals
Dakota Hebert (applied as an individual)
Key Creative: Dakota Hebert, Dene
Format/Genre: Web Series, comedy
Region:  Saskatchewan
Synopsis: Five Indigenous stand-up comedians share their comedy, their experiences in pursuing a career in stand-up, and their hearty opinions on the mainstream scene.

Project: Kadebwe
Company: Nish Media Inc.
Key Creative: Jason Brennan, Kitigan-Zibi Anishnabeg
Format/Genre: Television Series, Drama
Region:  Quebec
Synopsis: Kadebwe is a drama series that chronicles the life of a dysfunctional family who inherited an outfitter business on the edge of their indigenous community.

Project: Le feu sacré
Company: Andicha Média Inc.
Key Creative: Simon Villeneuve, Huron-Wendat
Format/Genre: Television Series, drama
Region:  Quebec
Synopsis: Hundreds of kilometers from major urban centers, in the heart of the Pessamit Indigenous territory, eight Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth between the ages of 14 and 17 will embark on a unique experience that will force them to push their limits and step outside their comfort zone in order to prove that they can master the forest lifestyle.

Project: Maui and Elvis
Company: Presley Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Camille Beaudoin, Cree/Mohawk/Métis
Format/Genre: Television Series, Childrens
Region: British Columbia
Synopsis: Best friends Māui and Elvis must save Māui’s beloved Nan when an evil saltlusting alien, hell-bent on destroying the world, takes up residence in her body.

Project: North of North Season 2
Company: Two For My Peeps Inc.
Key Creative: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Inuk, Stacey Aglok MacDonald, Inuk
Format/Genre: Television Series, Comedy
Region:  Nunavut
Synopsis: A young Inuk woman in a tiny Arctic village strives to forge her own path, defying societal expectations and gossip in her tightknit community.

Project: Pihkohowin
Company: Pihkohowin Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Shane Belcourt, Métis, Tasha Hubbard, Cree, Nakota, and Saulteaux
Format/Genre: Mini Series, Drama
Region:  Manitoba/Ontario
Synopsis: When two Indigenous men are discovered frozen to death in the same remote location outside Saskatoon within a single week in 2000, suspicion ripples through the community. Within days, a third man steps forward with accusations of police attempted murder – suggesting he narrowly escaped the same fate as the others.

Project: Radioactive Roadtrip
Company: Makwa Creative Inc.
Key Creative: Tanya Talaga, Anishinaabe
Format/Genre: Web Series, Documentary
Region:  Ontario
Synopsis: With Ignace, Ontario chosen as the final resting place for all of Canada’s nuclear waste, two-spirit First Nations youths, Riley Yesno and Kairyn Potts set out on a 2,400KM road trip to confront the peril and the promise of the project—meeting scientists, Elders, and community leaders as they search for answers: who “owns” the land and its resources, and who gets to decide the future.

Project: Squamish Medium (p.k.a. Spirit School)
Company: WM-SpiritSchool Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Tania Koenig, Métis (Cree)
Format/Genre: Television Series, Documentary
Region:  British Columbia
Synopsis: Squamish Medium is about a Swampy Cree working mom named DANIELLE SEARANCKE who recently risked everything and quit her stable job to become a full-time psychic medium! Today, she uses her spiritual gifts to help people connect with lost loved ones and heal from their grief.

Project: Stevie and the Sacred Animals
Company: 10233374 Manitoba Inc.
Key Creative: Lisa Meeches, Long Plain First Nation, Tara Audibert, Wolastoqiyik
Format/Genre: Television series, children’s animation/live action
Region:  Manitoba
Synopsis: When STEVIE, a smart and spunky 6-year-old Anishinaabe girl, moves from the city to her First Nation community, she learns about her relationship to Mother Earth and all living things with the help of her two cousins LOGAN, 7, and BELLA, 4, and seven BABY SACRED ANIMALS who have lessons of their own to learn as they grow.

Project: Supernaturals
Company: Fashionable Productions Inc.
Key Creative: Patrick Shannon, Haida
Format/Genre: Television Series, Documentary
Region: British Columbia
Synopsis: SUPERNATURALS follows the world’s first all-Indigenous modelling agency, as founder Joleen Mitton leads her found family of models, designers, and supporters to redefine how Indigenous people are seen in fashion.

Project: Uqalimaaqatigiikta

Company: Uqalimaaqatigiikta Media 1 Inc.
Key Creative: Monica Ittusardjuat, Inuit, Louise Flaherty, Inuit, Jaypeetee Arnakak, Inuit
Format/Genre: Television series, children’s animation/live action
Region:  Nunavut
Synopsis: Uqalimaaqatigiikta will be an engaging television program designed by educators in order to promote Inuktut literacy beyond the classroom. This show strives to model tools that parents and teachers can use every day to promote the development of Inuktut literacy and combat Inuit language erosion.

-30-

For more information or to book an interview:
Jean-François D. O’Bomsawin
Director of Communications and Francophone Initiatives, ISO
jfobomsawin@iso-bea.ca

IBF5