The 11th annual Lambton Shores Indigenous Film Festival has "gone international" as organizers welcome members from Australia's Shoalhaven First Nations Film Festival (SFNFF).
The festival will kick off on Friday, April 17 and continue through to Tuesday, April 21.
Friday's programming will include film selections for area elementary school students in the morning, and a screening of Sweet Summer Pow Wow at 7 p.m. Admission is by goodwill donation.
Doors will open at the Forest Kineto Theatre at 6 p.m. for guests to purchase tacos and see artisan vendors before the screening.
Saturday's programming will focus on films from the SFNFF and will include a question-and-answer (Q-and-A) period. Kiwanis Club member Ruth Illman said they are thrilled to welcome members of the SFNFF, who arrived in the area on Wednesday, April 15.
"We've got a couple of short films and a feature documentary called Occupation Native. Julienne McKay is the organizer of the Shoalhaven Film Festival. She is the one who is coming and she is coming with her husband. So they're going to be featured on Saturday."
Illman said they'll discuss the films themselves and the parallels between local First Nation communities and those in Australia.
Saturday's event will begin at 6 p.m., and the cultural presentation will start at 7 p.m. Admission is by donation.
Sunday's programming will also feature special guests.
Illman said Elder Dawn Hill and a few other survivors of the Mohawk Institute Residential School will be in attendance, along with elders from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.
A screening of Nature of Healing will be held at 2:30 p.m., and a Q-and-A will follow.
"It's going to be very impactful for a lot of people," Illman said.
Kettle and Stony Point Language Revitalization Coordinator Jordan George will also be present on Sunday to speak as an intergenerational survivor of residential schools.
Nature of Healing will also be shown at the theatre on Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m.
A full schedule can be found on the Kineto website.
The festival was organized by the Kiwanis Club of Forest, the Kineto Theatre Indigenous Film Festival Committee, and the Wiikwedong Arts Collective of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.
Illman thanked Candace Scott Moore and Richard Scott Moore, whose dedication made the festival possible. Unfortunately, the two will not be able to attend the event due to a health emergency.
Leigh George and Christina Clark will stand in for the two and will help throughout the festival.
