Skip to main content
Inkwo: For When the Starving Return film image; close on person in dim lighting

Inkwo: For When the Starving Return

Inkwo à la défense des vivants

VIFF Short Forum

Set two lifetimes in the future. Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from an unburied swarm of terrifying creatures.

 

Supported by

    

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Paulina Alexis, Tantoo Cardinal, Art Napoleon

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

In English and Dene with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Graphic violence, animal cruelty, may frighten young children

PG

Open to youth!

19 min
Action & Suspense Animation BC Spotlight Horror & Sci-Fi Indigenous Cinema LGBTQIA2S+ Shorts Women Directors
Spotted Fawn Productions, NFB

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Amanda Strong, Haydn Wazelle, Robert McLaughlin, Lupe Danyluk

Producer

Amanda Strong, Maral Mohammadian, Nina Werewka

Screenwriter

Amanda Strong, Richard Van Camp, Bracken Hanuse Corlett

Cinematography

Dean Holmes

Editor

Amanda Strong, Michael Bourquin

ANIM

Deanna Partridge-David, Anna Berezowsky, Juan Soto, Payton Curtis

Production Design

Kate Stransky

Amanda Strong headshot; Inkwo: For When the Starving Return director

Amanda Strong

Amanda Strong is a Michif/Métis artist, writer, producer, director, filmmaker and mother. As the owner and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc., her collaborative creations serve to amplify Indigenous storytelling and ideologies. Strong’s work has received Canadian Screen Award and Emmy nominations, and her films—which include Biidaaban (2018) and Four Faces of the Moon (2016) —have been shown worldwide at venues such as TIFF, the Cannes film market, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the American Museum of Natural History.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Marcella

Dir. Peter Miller
98 min

Marcella Hazan taught North Americans that there was more to Italian food than pizza and meatballs. She wrote what remains the definitive book on the subject (Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking). This is her story.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Sabbath Queen

Dir. Sandi Dubowski
105 min

The dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, including the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Amichai Lau-Lavie is what you might call the black sheep of the family. His sexuality led him down a different path, but its destination is surprising...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Caught by the Tides

Dir. Jia Zhangke
111 min

Over two decades, across China’s rapidly changing landscape, two lovers meet and part and meet again. In this magisterial film, Jia Zhangke refracts the 21st century through a reflexive, retrospective look at his era-defining filmography.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Penguin Lessons

Dir. Peter Cattaneo
110 min

Steve Coogan nails a juicy role in the true story of an English teacher in 70s Argentina who reluctantly p-p-picks up a penguin from an oil-slicked beach but finds his new friend is stickier than he looks.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Sweet Summer Pow Wow

Dir. Darrell Dennis
92 min

After the local hit The Great Salish Heist, writer-director Darrell Dennis proves his versatility with this charming love story about two young people who meet cute on BC's Pow Wow circuit. Her mom wants her to become a lawyer, but Jinny loves to dance...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

One to One: John and Yoko

Dir. Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards
100 min

Both a concert film (Madison Square Gardens, August 1972) and a time machine, dropping us into the dizzying political kaleidoscope of the early 1970s, Kevin Macdonald's latest documentary is a rewarding addition to Lennon Studies.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre