AKI
FIFA 2026 International Tour

On the eve of Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which recognizes the legacy of residential schools and honours the victims and Survivors of residential schools, their families, and their communities, the Canadian Cultural Center invites you to discover the documentary AKI by Darlene Nasponse, an Anishinaabe filmmaker from northern Ontario. This documentary was screened in the national feature-length competition at the 44th edition of the Montreal International Film Festival on Art (FIFA).

The documentary AKI will be preceded by a screening of the short film Nuuhkuum uumichiwaapim (My Grandmother’s Tipi) by Lindsay Chewanish, a Cree filmmaker from Northern Quebec.

On the program (90 minutes):

Nuuhkuum uumichiwaapim (My Grandmother’s Tipi)
by Lindsay Chewanish
Canada / 2025 / 4 min / No dialogue

Presented in the Official Selection—Short Films at FIFA 2026, Nuuhkuum uumichiwaapim ) is a sensory and tactile immersion in a grandmother’s tipi. In a suspended moment, the camera follows her gestures, echoing memories of life under the tipi, capturing the softness of daily life, the joy of cooking, and the passage of time.

Aki
by Darlene Naponse
Canada / 2025 / 85 min / No dialogue

AKI (Anishinaabemowin for ​“land” or ​“earth”) is a meditative and visually immersive documentary set in Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Northern Ontario, Canada. Filmed across the seasons, the film unfolds entirely without narration or dialogue, relying on the textures of wind, water, human and animal life, and ceremonies to tell the story of a people deeply rooted in their land.Aki was selected for the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2026 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.

Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe filmmaker, writer, and community leader from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek in northern Ontario. Darlene has directed numerous short films, television series, and five feature films. Her two previous feature films, Falls Around Her (2018), starring Tantoo Cardinal, and Stellar (2022), starring Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, both had their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.

This screening is part of FIFA’s fall international tour.