Monday marks National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, and the Kamloops Film Society is acknowledging the date with the 3rd annual Indigenous Film Festival kicking off on Friday.

Whether you’re a cinephile or simply eager to explore Indigenous narratives, the Stseptékwles re Sk’elép (Coyote Stories) Indigenous Film Festival promises three days of discovery, connection, and celebration.

Kamloops Film Society Board Member and IFF Committee member Laura Michel says there will be a lot of great offerings this weekend. “We’ve tried to make it kind of a, not a comprehensive view, but at least a wider view. We have the hard hitting documentaries, but then we also have family friendly movies. We have the documentaries and family movies and some comedy mixed in there. We’re really trying to get kind of a well rounded view of offerings in indigenous film.”

“Indigenous storytelling has been that oral history has has been used for for generations upon generations. So for Indigenous artists to be able to have this new medium of film, to be able to show just a little window into an indigenous experience, I think will be great for folks to come and experience a different worldview, through a different life, through a different life, through a different lens, potentially. So I think depending on which film people attend, there’s, there’s lots of different takeaways.”

Along with the films themselves, there will be other offerings as part of the three day festival. An Indigenous Artisan Market will run Saturday (10am-2:00pm) and Sunday (12pm-3:30pm) in the TNRD Atrium, 465 Victoria Street.The three-day festival culminates on Sunday, September 29th with the Closing Night Party Drag Show starting at 8:15 p.m.

Tickets are available online at thekfs.ca and in-person at the Paramount Theatre, 503 Victoria Street, Kamloops. Doors open 30 minutes before showtimes. Everyone is welcome.