by FilmInk Staff
The Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA), along with partner organisations Winda Film Festival and Pacific Islands Screen Artists (PISA), is thrilled to present exciting projects from Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji in Berlin for the 2025 European Film Market.
Started in 2016 and held in Sydney, the Winda Film Festival celebrates emerging and established Indigenous filmmakers from across Australia and around the world. Winda is a collective of Indigenous filmmakers who strive to create, foster, and support opportunities for Indigenous voices to empower, unify, inspire, and entertain through social, economic, innovation, and self-sufficiency programmes to advance Aboriginal cultures and stories in digital landscapes.
PISA is a professional association established in 2020 to support, encourage, and promote individuals of Pacific Islands heritage working in the New Zealand Screen sectors at all stages of their journey. Underlying our mission is respect for all screen art disciplines and to see the value in each, but also to show respect to the often-overlooked individuals within the strands of each discipline.
Winda and PISA Official Projects
MARKET SCREENING: ICA’S EFM 2025 PROMO REEL SCREENING
Thu Feb 13 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
CinemaxX 1 (Potsdamer Str. 5, 10785)
PANEL: THE NEXT DECADE OF GLOBAL INDIGENOUS CINEMA
Thu Feb 13 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Embassy of Canada, Timber Hall (Leipziger Pl. 17, 10117)
Access: Public, Free (24-hour advance registration required)
http://ica-efm2025-panel.eventbrite.com
Moderators: Jason Ryle (TIFF), Themba Bhebhe (ICA)
Panelists: Anne Lajla Utsi (ISFI), Cheryl Hirasa (PIC), David Hernández Palmar (INUTW), David Morrison (iN), Inuk Jørgensen (Film.GL), Juan Donoso (Mullu), Nikki Si’ulepa (PISA), Pauline Clague (Winda), Tracy Rector (4th World)
Description:
As the NATIVe Stand transitions into the Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA), this panel celebrates a decade of growth in Indigenous cinema and explores the path forward. ICA representatives will reflect on the development of Indigenous filmmaking infrastructure worldwide and discuss opportunities in global sales and representation.
Key Topics:
-Advancements in production and distribution
-Evolution of storytelling
-Strategies for preparing the industry for the next decade
Official Selection- Berlinale Generation
ORNMOL / WHITE OCHRE
AUSTRALIA | 2025 | 10 MIN | CULTURAL PORTRAIT | ENGLISH
Director: Marlikka Perdrisat (Nyikina Warrwa, Wangkumara Barkindji)
Producer: Marlikka Perdrisat, Jayde Harding, Anna Kaplan
Kupungarri in northwestern Australia is one of the most natural places left in the world. The small community strengthens its young people through a close connection with Country.
Excitement grows as they prepare for the biggest event of the year, the Mowanjum Festival.
Screening Times:
Tue Feb 18 09:30
Zoo Palast 1
German live voice-over | Headphones for OV
Wed Feb 19 12:45
Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
German live voice-over
Thu Feb 20 16:00
Cubix 6
German live voice-over | Headphones for OV
Sat Feb 22 13:15
Zoo Palast 2
Screening and Q&A with German Sign Language Interpreter | German live voice-over | Headphones for OV
Sun Feb 23 09:45
Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
German live voice-over
BATI
FIJI I 2025 I 83 MIN I BOXING DRAMA I ENGLISH, FIJIAN
Director: Andrew John Fakaua Ponton (Tuvalu)
Producer: Andrew John Fakaua Ponton
A compelling boxing drama set in the Fiji Islands. Representing the South Pacific nation’s first independent feature film in two decades, the story follows Sam, an aspiring boxer trying to survive in the big city. As financial pressures mount, Sam must step into the ring to provide for his family.
THE MOOGAI
AUSTRALIA | 2024 | 86 MINS | HORROR | ENGLISH
Director: Jon Bell (Bundjalung/Wiradjuri)
Producer: Mitch Stanley (Wiradjuri), Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings
Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. What should be a joyous time turns sinister when Sarah sees a malevolent spirit she believes is trying to take her child. Fergus struggles to believe her, fearing she may be the real threat.
THE COLLEANO HEART
AUSTRALIA | JULY 2025 | 90 MIN | CULTURAL PORTRAIT | ENGLISH
Director: Pauline Clague (Yaegl)
Producer: Bettina Dalton & Kate Pappas / Wildbear
The Colleano family circus, founded in remote Australia in the early 1900s, achieved international fame and worldwide acclaim. American Molly O’Donnell and her Australian cousin Deb Hescott rediscover their heritage through never-before-seen archives, intimate interviews, and a life-changing journey back to Country to honor their Indigenous history.
LET ME SERVE
AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND | SPORTS COMEDY | SAMOAN
Producer: Abba-Rose Vaiaoga-Ioasa (Samoan)
When his pastor father’s embezzlement scandal leaves him ostracized, Isaac enters a Christian volleyball tournament alone, determined to win, repay his father’s debt, and prove a son isn’t
bound to the sins of his father—one serve at a time.
TEINE MAU
AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA | DRAMA | SAMOAN
Producer: Jade Jackson (Samoan)
When foreign military police unleash a storm of bullets upon the people of Samoa, a young woman named Mele bears witness to the disaster and its aftermath. As her village’s men go into hiding, Mele rediscovers herself through a secret network of women sustaining the dream of a free Samoa.
YELLOW HIBISCUS
AUSTRALIA | DRAMA | ENGLISH
Producer: Aaliyah-Jade Bradbury (Larrakia, Torres Strait Islander)
Yellow Hibiscus follows Rosie, a pregnant Torres Strait Islander woman, as she returns home for her dying grandmother’s final days and the long-awaited tombstone unveiling of her missing aunt. As secrets unravel, Rosie confronts her family’s buried past in a haunting mystery of love, loss, and intergenerational trauma.
War Dance | New Zealand, Germany, Canada | Hiona Henare (Māori) | Languages: English, Māori, Cree, German
PITCH EVENT: BRIDGING BORDERS: INDIGENOUS CO-PRODUCTIONS
Access: Free
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Berliner Freiheit Studio (Berliner Freiheit 2, 10785)
Description:
Bridging Borders fosters global collaboration for Indigenous film projects, showcasing six innovative co-productions that seek partnerships and support to bring their unique stories to the international stage. These projects celebrate and promote Indigenous cultures through powerful cinematic storytelling, building bridges and forging lasting partnerships among Indigenous filmmakers worldwide.
About The ICA
Founded in 2015, The Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA), formerly the NATIVe Indigenous Cinema Stand, has been officially partnered with the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin since 2015. This market stand showcases market-ready feature films by Indigenous artists worldwide. Managed by imagineNATIVE, ICA represents international partners, including film festivals, film commissions, and film institutes.
Current partner organisations include founding partners imagiNATIVE and the International Sami Film Institute (ISFI), alongside 4th World Media Lab, Film Greenland (Film.GL), Pacific Islanders in Communications, Winda Film Festival, If Not US Then Who?, MULLU, and PISA.
