Indigenous Cinema Alliance deepens Sámi partnership as it reshapes its global market strategy

The Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) is returning to the Berlin International Film Festival and European Film Market (EFM) in 2026 while broadening its focus to new industry hubs in Toronto and Clermont‑Ferrand, with the International Sámi Film Institute (ISFI) at the heart of its plans.

ICA began as the NATIVe Indigenous Cinema Stand at the EFM in 2015 and celebrated ten years of showcasing market‑ready Indigenous films at the 2025 edition. Managed by Canada’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, the alliance has grown into a coalition of festivals, commissions and institutes that “promote Indigenous cinema globally, create culturally safe spaces for Indigenous professionals, and develop sales channels and secure co‑productions for Indigenous titles”.

Current ICA members span Canada, Sápmi, Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Latin America, Hawai‘i and Greenland. They include imagineNATIVE, ISFI, 4th World Media, Mullu, Film.gl, Māoriland Film Festival, Ngā Aho Whakaari / Māori in Screen, Pacific Islanders in Communications and Sydney‑based Winda Film Festival. Winda’s work connecting Barangaroo’s open‑air Stargazer Cinema audiences with global Indigenous features – including Australian and international premieres – feeds directly back into ICA’s international networking and fellowship programs.

After marking a decade at the EFM, ICA will keep a presence in Berlin but shift its primary industry focus to the inaugural TIFF: The Market in Toronto in September 2026, while also attending the Clermont‑Ferrand Short Film Market for the first time. A refreshed fellowship cohort of Indigenous producers from member organisations – including Winda, ISFI, Māoriland, 4th World Media, Film.gl and imagineNATIVE – will be spread across these markets.

ISFI’s contribution is growing on two fronts: through its leadership in Sámi production and through the European Film Market’s Toolbox Programme, a diversity and inclusion initiative that offers one‑on‑one mentorship, workshops, matchmaking sessions and networking at EFM. For 2026, ISFI and ICA have selected Sámi‑Kven director and producer Johannes Vang as their Toolbox Fellow, following previous ISFI fellows such as Espen Larsson and Per Josef Idivuoma. Vang’s recent short films Áhčči, For Our Rights and Red‑Shaded Green have screened at more than 30 festivals in 10 countries as well as numerous community events across Sápmi, and he is co‑writing and co‑producing the documentary Let Our Mountain Live.

On screen, one of the most closely watched premieres will be Árru, the debut feature by director and choreographer Elle Sofe Sara from Guovdageaidnu in Sápmi / Norway. Backers including the International Sámi Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute and other Nordic funds describe Árru as the world’s first Sámi yoik drama, set amid a battle by reindeer herder Maia to protect her ancestral lands from a mining project. The film will have its world premiere in Berlinale’s Panorama section.

“Indigenous storytelling does not wait on the sidelines,” imagineNATIVE executive director and ICA project lead Naomi Johnson said in outlining the alliance’s 2026 strategy, arguing that convening at both feature and short‑form markets expands opportunities for Indigenous producers and helps ensure stories are seen and traded on more equitable terms. For Australian audiences – in a country where 812,728 people, or 3.2 per cent of the population, identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the 2021 Census – the alliance’s work offers another route for First Nations stories to travel between community screenings, festivals such as Winda and major international markets.