Hosted by Jessica Brown

Jessica Brown is an award-winning Inuit producer, director, and screenwriter based in St. John’s, NL. Her short documentary “Framed Spirit Song” (2022) had its world premiere at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival. Jessica’s focused on telling Indigenous narratives and improving the representation of Indigenous people in the Canadian entertainment industry. As a filmmaker, Jessica tells authentic stories that will inspire future generations. Her goal is to entertain audiences with engaging narratives while exploring different themes, forms and techniques.

Spakwus Slolem

Spakwus Slolem, (translated,”Eagle Song Dancers), are members of the Squamish Nation. Our cultural history is steeped in tradition, spirituality, canoes, family history, legends and stories of our Ancestors. Spakwus Slolem is pleased and honoured to present songs and dances of yesterday, as well as today, and feel very honoured to represent our People in a good way, as our Ancestors had intended.

Wesley Hardisty

Wesley Hardisty is a vibrant emerging fiddler, composer and collaborator from the Northwest Territories. From Fort Simpson, Wesley is a member of the Dene First Nation. He has performed nationally and internationally from Seattle to Iqaluit. He has played on folk festivals, fiddle festivals, Indigenous-focused performances, including multiple tours of the NWT as a feature performer and supporting artist, Canada Scene and Northern Scene in Ottawa, 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He has two original albums and multiple commissions. He attended the Gulf Island School of Performing Arts and is currently in the NACC Mentorship program being mentored by acclaimed violinist/producer/ composer Jesse Zubot. Wesley is sought-after as a collaborator with fiddlers, singer-songwriters, and classical ensembles. Notably he is an Artistic Ambassador for the Downie- Wenjack Fund.

LOV

LOV is a force of resilience, rhythm, and reinvention. Hailing from Treaty 6 Territory, this rising artist transforms personal trials into soulful affirmations of strength and independence. With a sound rooted in UK-inspired soul and guided by a deep sense of purpose, LOV’s music is both healing and unapologetically empowering.

LOV’s rich, smoky vocals found a powerful match in renowned Montréal-based producer Connor Seidel (Charlotte Cardin, Half Moon Run, Katie Tupper), whose refined production elevated her sound into a crisp, elegant, and emotionally layered body of work. Together, they crafted a collection that showcases LOV’s maturity, versatility, and effortless cool.

Her debut singles — Mama, Matriarch, and Relate — have already earned her over 300,000 streams across platforms and more than 2 million views on TikTok, signaling a fast-growing fanbase drawn to her authenticity and style. Matriarch soared into the Top 10 on the Indigenous Music Countdown, affirming her rising profile in the Indigenous music community. She’s also been featured on major Spotify Editorial playlists, including Mood Ring, EQUAL, and Fresh Finds Canada, as well as Apple Music’s Indigenous Now—testament to her wide-reaching, cross-platform appeal.

LOV is not just making music—she’s making a statement. And this is only the beginning.

Raven Spirit Dance

Raven Spirit creates contemporary dance that is rooted in Indigenous perspectives and practices. We share our work on local, national and international stages.

Frost Exploding Trees Moon is a solo piece following the journey of a woman travelling her trap line. She finds a place to set up camp, builds her temporary home, and settles into the centre of her world of breath and perception.

The piece tracks a physical human journey as well as a spiritual one. It asks: How does one house one’s spirit? What keeps us close to earth and what makes us long for stars?

Sophie Dow

Winnipeg-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creative, inspired by dance, music, collaboration and Métis-Assiniboine and settler roots. With a unique list of credits deeply impacting personal creative process and vocabulary, Sophie has had the great fortune of working with some of the country’s wonderful dance innovators, including Chimera Dance Theatre, Kaeja d’Dance, adelheid’s re:research, Carol Anderson and Jeanette Kotowich to name a few. In 2018 and 2019, Sophie embarked on epic tours across Turtle Island with highlights featuring choreographing and performing in opening ceremonies of Shambhala Music Festival, filming with Vero Films and teaching dance in many rural & urban school contexts throughout the mountains and prairies.

As a creator, Sophie is consistently nurturing and evolving an inventive voice. Life-changing opportunities to choreograph (and occasionally perform) with diverse ranges of movers continue exploding boundaries of Sophie’s ongoing compositions and curiosities.

Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers

The Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers are three siblings from Winnipeg, Manitoba who share a passion for dance, not just any dance it’s all about the Red River Jig!

Mikey, Jacob and Cieanna began dancing at the young age of five years old. Through their powerful gift of dance they have had great opportunities to travel the world and showcase their style of the Métis Cultural Dance. They perform traditional dances of the Red River Jig mixed with modern dancing known as the Hip Hop Jig.

Their main focus is to attract youth through the rhythm and style of the hip hop jig. They hope to motivate and inspire people of all ages, and bring awareness that their culture is going strong and continues to be ambitious with this dance and music.

Formally known as the Slick and Lil J Show, back in 2012 they lost one of their biggest fans and proud supporter. When Grandpa Ivan Flett passed away, it was with great sadness but an honour to rename themselves the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers. Every dance they do is in honour of him.

Their show wouldn’t be complete without the outfits and they give a huge thank you to their Grandma Dawn Harris-Flett who designs and custom makes all their attire. Thanks to Designs by Dawn!

IFMD would also like to thank all of their fans and family for their continued love and support.

Holy Crow Arts

Justin Neal is the playwright and founder of Holy Crow Arts, a new Coast Salish centered theatre company that has premiered two of his original plays, So Damn Proud (2021) and Keepers of the Salish Sea (2024), projects supported by the Squamish Nation, First Peoples’ Cultural Council, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, and the City of Vancouver’s Cultural Grants Program. As a screenwriter Justin’s screenplays have placed him in dozens of competitions, programs, and residencies across North America; his feature screenplay The Skins Game was awarded production funding by Telefilm and will commence filming in 2026. From the late 90s to the 2010s Justin juggled day jobs in San Francisco and New York with amateur theatre at night. In 2013 he took a leap of faith to focus on dramatic writing full-time, relocating to his family’s Sḵwxwú7mesh ̱ Úxwumixw lands to pursue a Joint MFA degree in Creative Writing and Theatre at UBC. Justin is an alumnus of Canadian Film Centre’s Film Program Writers’ Lab and a 2024-25 Shadbolt Fellow in the Humanities at SFU. holycrowarts.com