Ronnie Dean Harris, aka Ostwelve, knew the media world was changing for indigenous people last month as he observed members of the Elsipogtog First Nation clashing with RCMP near Rexton, New Brunswick.

“I was watching a live feed from some guy’s iPad on video,” Harris told the Straight by phone from his home. “Stories are becoming real-time.”

Harris is one of the programmers of the third annual Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival, which takes place on unceded Coast Salish territory in Vancouver from Wednesday to Monday (November 6 to 11).

“A lot of this newer generation are going to school for film,” Harris said. “Some of the stuff looks amazing.”

One of the highlights of the festival will be the launch of author Kristin Dowell’s new ethnography of Vancouver’s indigenous media community, Sovereign Screens. It takes place at 6 p.m. on Friday (November 8) at the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema in the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at SFU Woodward’s.

Following a panel discussion that evening, there will be screenings of Marie Clements’s Pilgrims, Loretta Todd’s Skye and Chang, and Dana Claxton’s He Who Dreams.

Harris described Todd, a celebrated filmmaker, and Claxton, a renowned multidisciplinary artist, as two of his key mentors. “It was important for me to give them shine outside of academia—to really hold them up so they can come into the mainstream of indigenous media,” he said. “We wanted to honour them by showing their films.”

He added that the evening of Saturday (November 9) “is basically dedicated” to films by author and director Richard Van Camp at the same location.

Events will also take place at the Vancouver Public Library central branch (350 West Georgia Street), the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre (1607 East Hastings Street), the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival Salon (877 East Hastings Street), and the National Film Board screening room (111 West Hastings Street). For more information, see the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival website.