Festivalgoers at the Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse will discover a novel way to beat the winter blues as the world premiere of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary My Knitting Circle by local filmmaker Alexandra Knowles shows Yukoners creating a caring community-one stitch at a time.
The festival will also present the Yukon premiere of Stellat'en First Nation filmmaker Lyana Patrick's award-winning feature documentary Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again (Lantern Films/Experimental Forest Films/NFB).
And after premiering at ALFF last year, the short doc Saturday by Whitehorse director Jessica Hall is back for an encore presentation in the festival's kids program.
The Available Light Film Festival runs from February 6 to 15 in the territorial capital.
NFB selection at ALFF
My Knitting Circle by Alexandra Knowles (12 min 40 s) | WORLD PREMIERE
ALFF Shorts: Yukon Light, Sunday, February 8, at noon | Yukon Arts Centre
- Winters in the sparsely populated Yukon are long, cold and dark-a natural recipe for isolation. For newcomers like Alexandra Knowles, it can be hard to find friends. But anywhere there is a yarn store, there are knitters. And where there are knitters, there is a knitting circle, weaving together a circle of care, one stitch at a time-and reminding us of the simple ways that community is built on presence, storytelling and shared purpose.
- Alexandra Knowles is an emerging filmmaker and video editor based in Whitehorse, Yukon, who specializes in post-production and completed the Video Editing Practicum at the Banff Centre in 2015. Alexandra has worked on documentary, fiction, corporate and animation projects. She's passionate about documentary storytelling and has a love for building community, through both film and knitting.
Nechako: It Will be a Big River Again by Lyana Patrick | Yukon premiere
(Lantern Films/Experimental Forest Films/NFB; 91 min)
Wednesday, February 11, at 3:00 p.m. | Yukon Theatre
- When the Kenney Dam was built in the 1950s, the Nechako River in British Columbia was forever changed. In the face of environmental destruction, the Stellat'en and Saik'uz Nations are fighting to restore their river and a way of life.
- The film received the Mark Haslam Award at the Planet In Focus International Film Festival in Toronto and an Honourable Mention for the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Director at DOXA in Vancouver.
- Committed to elevating Indigenous stories, Lyana Patrick studied film at the Native Voices Program, University of Washington. Her acclaimed short films A Place to Belong and The Train Station have been showcased at prestigious festivals like Hot Docs, DOC NYC and the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Saturday by Jessica Hall (13 min 9 s) | Encore presentation
ALFF Shorts: Short Films for Young People, Saturday, February 14, at 10:30 a.m. | Yukon Theatre
- Katherine and her mother, Frances, spend every Saturday They go thrifting, peruse the hardware store and devote time to their shared hobby of building-and renovating-dollhouses. Saturday is a tribute to filmmaker Jessica Hall's sister and mother, chronicling their journey as Katherine navigates life with an intellectual disability. Shot in Whitehorse, the short documentary weaves in family movies of Katherine's childhood, family gatherings and their immigration to Canada, celebrating her independent and creative life.
- The film was named Outstanding Documentary Film at the Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival, Victoria, and Best Canadian Short Documentary at Cinema Under the Stars, Montreal, and received an Honourable mention for the MITY (Made in the Yukon) Professional Award at the Dawson City International Short Film Festival.
- An award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer and editor, Jessica Hall lives in Whitehorse. In addition to the encore presentation of Saturday, Jessica is also at ALFF 2026 with her new independent feature doc, Beyond the Left Hand Path.
