Junction North
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Sudbury Downtown Indie Cinema Co-op is delighted to announce the 9th edition of Junction North International Documentary Film Festival running Thursday April 3 to Sunday April 6, in downtown Sudbury. This annual celebration of non-fiction cinema is possible due to the stellar support of keen Northern Ontario doc-lovers, filmmakers from around the world, patrons, sponsors and government partners.
Junction North brings Northeastern Ontario non-stop screenings over 4 days of outstanding stories from around the world. We select from multiple award-winners from top-tier festivals like Hot Docs, Sundance, TIFF, Berlinale to Junction North discoveries enjoying their festival premiere in Northern Ontario. From local to international, from hard-hitting issues to fascinating biographies, Junction North has it all.
Festival screenings will be hosted at
Sudbury Indie Cinema 162 Mackenzie Street, Sudbury - laneway entrance. Free parking.
Festival Rates at The Clarion Hotel $109, and the Radisson Hotel $119
Early Bird Festival Passes on sale for $50. Sale ends March 2. GRAB HERE
Selections for 2025 Festival will be announced the week of February 24th. The festival schedule will be announced the week of March 3rd, at which time individual tickets for specific film screenings will be available as well.
Film submissions to Junction North 2025 edition have closed. They will reopen April 7, 2025 for our 10th edition in 2026.
Northern Ontario Premiere
Every Little Thing
by Sally Aitken
2024 / USA / 93 minutes
Sundance nominated-Grand Jury Prize Best Documentary Feature + 5 other nominations
Author and wildlife rehabber Terry Masear has an ambitious goal: to save every injured hummingbird in Los Angeles. But the path to survival is fraught with danger. This heart-expanding Sundance hit introduces audiences to Terry's diminutive patients through breathtaking slow-motion photography and emotional storytelling. Over the course of director Sally Aitken’s moving documentary, we become deeply invested in baby hummingbirds like Cactus and Wasabi, celebrating their tiny victories and lamenting their tragedies. Through Terry's eyes, each bird becomes memorable, mighty and heroic. Her compassion and empathy serves as a reminder that grace can be found in the smallest of acts and the tiniest of creatures.
Intercepted
by Oksana Karpovych
2024 / Canada, France, Ukraine / 95 minutes
Berlin winner-Ecumenical Jury Special Mention, and RIDM Grand Prize, plus 14 more wins/nominations
Ukrainian intelligence services have intercepted thousands of phone calls Russian soldiers made from the battlefield in Ukraine to their families and friends in Russia, painting a stark picture of the cruelty of war in a dizzying emotional tension. Juxtaposed with images of the destruction caused by the invasion and the day-to-day life of the Ukrainian people who resist and rebuild, the voices of the Russian soldiers—ranging from being filled with heroic illusions to complete disappointment and loss of reason, from looting to committing more horrible war crimes, from propaganda to doubt and disillusionment—expose the whole scope of the dehumanizing power of war and imperialist nature of the Russian aggression.
Northern Ontario Premiere
No Other Land
by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
2024 / Palestine, Norway / 95 minutes
90 wins/nominations including 2025 Oscar Nominee, IDFA Audience Choice Award, 2 Berlin wins, European Film Awards win, etc
Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community's mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families - the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free. This film, by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists, was co-created during the darkest, most terrifying times in the region, as an act of creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.
Northern Ontario Premiere
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
by Johan Grimonprez
2024 / Belgium, France, Netherlands / 150 minutes
44 wins/nominations including 2025 Oscar Nominee, Sundance Special Jury Award
Director Johan Grimonprez's sprawling documentary moves to a furious beat, laying out its thesis with an energy that's as enthralling as it is thought-provoking. United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez captures the moment when African politics and American jazz collided in this magnificent essay film, a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo's leader Patrice Lumumba. Richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons, Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story of precedent that resonates more than ever in today's geopolitical climate.
Standing Above The Clouds
by Jalena Keane-Lee
2024 / USA / 85 minutes
Hot Docs winner Best Social Impact Documentary + Hot Docs nominee for Best International Documentary
When a massive Thirty Meter Telescope is proposed to be built on Mauna Kea, an uprising of kiaʻi (protectors) in Hawaiʻi and around the world dedicate their lives to protecting the sacred mountain from further destruction.Through the lens of mothers and daughters in three Native Hawaiian families, Standing Above the Clouds explores intergenerational healing and the impacts of safeguarding cultural traditions. Standing Above the Clouds highlights the movement to protect Mauna Kea through the intergenerational stories of women in three Native Hawaiian families as they stand for the sacred mountain. The film follows teacher and community organizer Pua Case and her two daughters — artist-activists Hāwane Rios and Kapulei Flores — who have been called to stop the telescope since 2010. Their lives quickly become consumed with frontline actions and court proceedings and immersed in ceremonies and cultural practices. As they face opposition and arrests, they are joined by a community who have dedicated their lives to protecting Mauna Kea.
Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between The Lines
by Ryan Mah + Danny Berish
2024 / Canada / 80 minutes
Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines offers an in-depth exploration of the extraordinary life of one of the 20th century's most iconic and influential modernist architects. The documentary weaves personal anecdotes and professional milestones to uncover the untold stories of Erickson’s journey, from his celebrated public achievements to his private struggles. Known for his visionary designs and groundbreaking architectural philosophy, Erickson’s work profoundly shaped the modern landscape, but behind the accolades lay a complex individual grappling with triumphs and tragedies.
Through intimate interviews, archival footage, and a look at his most famous creations, the film reveals the delicate balance Erickson maintained between his creative genius and the challenges of his personal life, offering a deeper understanding of the man and the legacy he left behind. This documentary is not just a celebration of his architectural contributions but a reflection on the human experience of creativity, ambition, and the price of greatness.
Sugarcane
by Emily Kassie, Julian Brave NoiseCat
2024 / Canada, USA / 107 minutes
81 wins/nominations including 2025 Oscar Nominee, Sundance Directing Award, and many more
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Indigeous peoples, Sugarcane, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.
Northern Ontario Premiere
Union
by Stephen Maing, Brett Story
2024 / USA / 100 minutes
16 wins/nominations including Oscar Shortlist Best Documentary Feature,
Sundance Winner US Documentary Special Jury Award, and many more
Up against a corporate superpower and with legal protections at a drastic low for workers, all odds are against the ALU. Yet this rag-tag ensemble remains unswayed in their beliefs in collective action and the dignity and power of the working-class. On April 1, 2022 a group of ordinary workers made history when they did what everyone thought was impossible: they successfully won their election to become the very first unionized Amazon workplace in America. This feat would be extraordinary for any union, let alone the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), who did it with no prior organizing experience, no institutional backing, and a total budget of $120,000 raised on GoFundMe. Heralded as the most important win for labor since the 1930s, this highly cinematic documentary captures the ALU’s historic grassroots campaign to unionize thousands of their co-workers from day one of organizing.
Spiritus: No Business like Dough Business
By Michael S. Koehler
2025 / USA / 70 minutes
This film delves into the rich history of the oldest family-run business in Provincetown, Massachusetts, SPIRITUS Pizza and Ice Cream. It highlights the challenges and resistance faced by the business, the queer community, and the AIDS crisis, all against the backdrop of the conservative Puritanical attitudes in the town during the 1970s and 1980s.
If An Owl Calls Your Name
by Zaya Benazzo, Maurizio Benazzo
2024 / Canada / 93 minutes
Patricia June Vickers, her brother Roy Henry Vickers, along with other indigenous elders, healers and activists from Esk'etemc, Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en territories reflect upon their lives as forcefully assimilated Canadians. The effects of intergenerational trauma echo through the voices of residential school survivors and their children as they heal from substance abuse, violence, and a profound disconnect from their culture. Through connection to land, ancestral wisdom and ceremonial healing they transform darkness into forgiveness and inner reconciliation. A prayer beyond religion: these stories call one into a universal yearning for belonging and the sacredness of life.
Midsummer in Prangli
by Nicola Piovesan
2024 / Estonia / 84 minutes
An observational documentary that portraits the Estonian island of Prangli and its small community, which becomes crowded during Midsummer. A week with endless daylight and charming folklore.
I Am Gitxsan
by Hossein Martin Fazeli
2024 / Canada / 70 minutes
Echoes of the Ice
by Matt LeMay
2024 / Canada / 19 minutes
I Am Gitxsan follows Phoenix Apperloo, a recent high school graduate reconnecting with his Indigenous heritage in Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada. Inspired by encounters with residential school survivors, he writes a heartfelt letter to Prime Minister Trudeau about the injustices faced by his people.The documentary highlights the impact of colonialism on the Gitxsan community, as well as their resilience through protests and legal actions.
Inuk filmmaker & Indigenous Geographic Co-founder Crystal Martin embarks on a journey to Iqaluit during late spring to delve into contemporary Inuit life and the profound impacts of climate change. From sharing a traditional meal with family to traveling with Inuit hunters to the iconic floe edge—a hub for traditional hunting and community connection—Crystal experiences firsthand the challenges and resilience of Arctic life.
White School Black Memories
by Martin Stuart Spriggs
2024 / Canada / 93 minutes
The Royal Canadian Regiment battle group is engaged in the fight for their lives during Operation Medusa in Afghanistan. Soldiers of Charles Company combat team tell their stories of courage under fire, tragedy and loss when they faced the determined and entrenched Taliban during the second battle of Panjwai in 2006. Told be those who fought the battle, this doc is based upon Company Sergeant Major John Barnes' best-selling book of the same name.
Legacy
Legacy is much more than a plaque or name on a building, it is an active project requiring the passage of knowledge and skills, maintenance and connection. This programme travels from the southern tip of Mexico, to Quebec, China, and Toronto examining the ways in which communities and families preserve themselves through time.
30 years after
by Liane Simard, Sarah Lajoie-Asselin
2024 / Canada / 58 minutes
Salut Chasseur /
Goodbye, Hunter
by Émile Dontigny
2024 / Canada / 19 minutes
30 years after the Zapatista struggle, these indigenous communities of Chiapas are still resisting oppression. How do the children of those who led this struggle still manage to be autonomous and thus take charge of their health, their religion, their education, their diet and to govern for themselves?
For several autumns, Louis-Henri has been tracking moose with his grandson, Sasha. As he turns 81, old age reminds him that his career as a hunter is behind him. For the first time this year, Sasha will leave without his grandfather.
Terry's Little Village
by Jack Kukolic
2024 / Canada / 7 minutes
The Concubine's Destiny
by Ipek Ertan
2024 / China / 9 minutes
Terry Wilson is a 70-year-old lifelong resident of Meadowvale Village, Ontario's first heritage district. As development looms and begins to destroy Terry’s favourite place in the world, he recreates pieces of history in his backyard, crafting an oasis where it feels like nothing has changed.
Following Fang Quanfu as he tries to pass down Hui Opera to his daughter, Fang Xin, and Hui Opera apprentices, the film presents a unique outlook on the development of Hui Opera.
Answering the Call
In a world with near endless Just Causes to dedicate yourself to - How to choose? Is the question that leaves one paralyzed and burnt out. In moments both current and historical these documentaries tell the stories of those who found their movement, their role, and answered the call to action.
Ahmad Alive
by Yusuf Omar, Aurelia Driver
2024 / South Africa / 21 minutes
Twig
by Claire Sanford
2024 / Canada / 39 minutes
Ahmad Alive started as a series of viral videos profiling content creator, Ahmad Ghunaim, as he turns his camera on the harrowing realities of Israel's war on Gaza. Using these videos as the building blocks of a raw and powerful film, “Ahmad Alive” is the story of a young man who risks everything to show the world what is happening in Gaza, using just his phone.
Yellow streams of sand flow across the dunes in the Kubuqi Desert of Inner Mongolia, where 81-year-old Ambassador Kwon, the former South Korean ambassador to China, plants trees with hundreds of students in matching green jackets chanting, “Save the Earth!” Kwon’s life mission? To plant one billion trees, stopping the desert in its tracks. But as the winds whip up the desert’s surface into sandstorms and Kwon’s freshly planted trees begin to disappear in the yellow winds, we are left to wonder: are these unlikely forests up to the task?
We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten
Story of Ontario Farmerettes
by Colin T Field
2024 / Canada / 49 minutes
The true and untold story of the Farmerettes, a contingent of 40,000 teenage girls who volunteered on Canadian farms and helped win the most destructive war of all: WWII.
Surviving
For the majority of the world’s population the circumstances of their lives are imposed rather than chosen. This programme shares the stories of communities who have sustained their ways despite conditions far beyond their control.
Living with the Taliban
by Siarhei Marchyk, Witold Repetowicz
2024 / Poland / 53 minutes
Women of the Amazon
by Boromir Bogumil
2023 / Brazil / 40 minutes
A powerful glimpse into life in Afghanistan after the Taliban's return to power in 2021. Through personal stories, the film portrays both the supporters of the new regime and those whose lives have been tragically altered, capturing the country's ongoing struggle between hope and despair.
A documentary about indigenous women in the Brazilian Amazon who had to leave their home and their land in order to provide education for their children. While scientists are measuring a loss in biodiversity and traditional knowledge around Amazonian cities, the indigenous communities of the Rio Negro have created the « Traditional Agricultural System of the Rio Negro », that officially became part of the Brazilian cultural heritage, to preserve their way of living and their special relationship to their environment.
Major Presenting Partners
Government Partners
Film Sponsors and Hosts
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