Our mission statement

The Dreamspeakers Festival Society supports and educates the public about Indigenous culture, art & heritage

It is a resource for Aboriginal filmmakers, for directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, technicians, actors, musicians, storytellers, artists and craftspeople. The Society is also a resource bank - a way to get in touch with Aboriginal filmmakers, performers and artists. And through Dreamspeakers, Aboriginal people receive training in arts, culture and festival operations. 

About us

The Dreamspeakers Festival Society is a registered non-profit charitable status organization that produces an international film festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples innovation in film, video, radio, and new media, presenting selections of Indigenous works from around the globe since 1993. The festival attracts and connects filmmakers, media artists, programmers, buyers, and industry professionals. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world's Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of our art and culture.

Christine Sokaymoh Frederick is an urban Aboriginal Cree-Métis residing in Edmonton, Alberta. She is co-founder and the artistic director of Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and produces the annual Rubaboo Festival and the Executive Director of the Dreamspeakers Film Festival. She is the first Indigenous Associate Artist of the Citadel Theatre, and the first indigenous board member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. She is former chair of the Edmonton Arts Council and former Vice Chair of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Christine served on the steering, working and selection committee for the ÎNÎW River Lot 11 one of the first Indigenous Public Art Parks in the world. She is the recipient of the 2007 Esquao Award in Arts, and the 2016 Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Leadership.

christine@dreamspeakers.org

Jessica Daniels is Cree/Metis from Edmonton, Alberta. When she is not busy working at Dreamspeakers, she spends her time with her granddaughter Kris.

jessica@dreamspeakers.org

Aretha Greatrix is James Bay Cree from Kashechewan First Nation (Albany Band), but born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2005 obtain a Certificate in Digital and Interactive Media. In 2012, Bachelor of Applied Communications in Professional Writing Degree from Grant MacEwan University. Aretha is currently a Graduate student in the Master of Arts in Communication and Technology from the University of Alberta where she is exploring the reconciliation process and examining its effectiveness. An entrepreneur, she is co-owner of Miyo Pimatisiwin Productions Inc and owner of Simplistique Media. In 2016, Aretha was recognized as Cultural Ambassador for the Women of Inspiration Award from the Canadian Business Chicks for her work with mentoring youth in filmmaking with Miyo Pimatisiwin Productions.

aretha@dreamspeakers.org

Joshua Jackson is a contemporary First Nations director, producer, writer and musician. His background includes acclaimed work with indigenous youth. He has also collaborated nationally and internationally with professional artists across visual, performance and sonic mediums.

As an extremely proud member of the Maskekosihk people (Enoch Cree Nation), Joshua is the    the founder and president of Lightning Mill Productions. He’s the producer of “Hey Viktor” the company’s flagship venture and feature length film. He is also the founder, producer and art director of the Neon Landscape. A collective dedicated to the production of First Nations experimental performance. Their current project is a full length dance piece which highlights the exploration of traditional forms of ballet and hoop dance. Together with music and story telling “In the Echo of Ghosts” is set to premiere in 2021.

Joshuas art direction for the former Soar Aboriginal Arts program has successfully transformed and changed lives. It’s a training program that combines theatre, film, music, dance and design. This has been helpful to  over 60 emerging indigenous artists. Soar premiered 2 works at Edmonton’s acclaimed Citadel Theatre (Blackness of white -2014 and Crux-2015).  As a producer Joshua has established the collaborative process of multiple disciplines in performative works, short films and music videos. The  most distinct being “All my Lives at Once- Lostboycrow). 

Contemporary Indigenous art is and always has been at the core of the process of the work. He has the logical understanding of visual, performative, theatrical, sonic mediums and the traditional elements of the old way that add precision in their respective value to the creative process of contemporary native works. 

Joshua@dreamspeakers.org

Antonio Coello is a Mexican and Colombian filmmaker and researcher who collaborates as curator with the Dreamspeakers International Film Festival. His short films involve indigenous communities with which he creates collective cinematic stories that have been shown at various festivals and museums like the Guggenheim Museum in New York and ImagineNATIVE at Toronto. His short films have won awards in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, the Czech Republic, India, Spain, Bulgaria, U.S.A., Canada, Belarus, Australia, and Mexico. As a teacher he has taught workshops and courses on screenplay writing and filmmaking in Mexico, Canada, U.S.A., India and Nepal. In his creative work he has benefited from grants from government and private institutions from different countries. He currently works on the post production of the first full-length feature film ever made in Seri indigenous language. For more than 10 years, Antonio has been carefully selecting for our festival some of the best indigenous films from around the world.

antonio@dreamspeakers.org

Tashina Makokis is new to the Dreamspeakers Festival team, helping out as the graphics coordinator for the festival season. Having grown up in Edmonton, and with ten years experience volunteering and working within the Indigenous community of the city, she is looking forward to making use of her awesome skills to help bring forth another year of fantastic festivals. Tashina is also a nehiyaw artist from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation who utilizes graphic art and design, painting, drawing, sculpture, beadwork, and performance to focus her work on Indigenous themes and issues, specifically centering on Indigenous sexualities and the reclamation of the bodies and lives of Indigenous women.

coralee@dreamspeakers.org

amber@dreamspeakers.org

Melissa-Jo Belcourt (MJ) comes from a rich Métis ancestry and possesses a wealth of cultural skills, acquired from Métis and First Nation Elders and Knowledge Holders throughout northern and central Alberta. As an instructor, she has taught decorative arts and creative skills within Indigenous cultural art programs and continues to support the community both aboriginal and non-aboriginal in facilitating workshops to teach both the history and traditional art skills. Recently as of January 2019 MJ accepted the role as Edmonton’s Indigenous Artist in Residency.