The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) have awarded C$7,994,037 ($5.7m) to 15 Indigenous film and television productions, the two bodies announced on 5 November. The money comes from the 2026–27 round of the CMF’s Indigenous Production Program, the second the ISO has run since it took over the scheme’s administration from the CMF.
The headline sum is almost exactly what last year’s round paid out, but it is spread across fewer projects, and two-thirds of it went to the seven that received the maximum award. Seven of the 15 are documentaries, six are for children and young people and two are dramas.
Key facts
- Funders: Indigenous Screen Office (administrator) and Canada Media Fund
- Round: 2026–27 Indigenous Production Program, production stage; applications ran 15 April–13 May 2026
- Total: C$7,994,037 ($5.7m) across 15 projects; seven received the C$750,000 maximum
- By genre: documentary C$3.59m (7), children and youth C$2.90m (6), drama C$1.50m (2), FilmBunch tally
- Last year: 18 projects and C$8,032,700, per the CMF’s 2025 announcement; the ISO’s annual report gives 17 and C$7,482,700
The full list
Documentary – TAKEN, season 6: Eagle Vision Inc., Manitoba, C$750,000 – Asivaqatigilaunnga (Come Hunting With Me): Kingulliit Productions Inc., Nunavut, C$550,000 – Animal Nation, season 2: 2Ducks Productions Inc., Quebec, C$750,000 – Go North!, season 2: Nikan Productions (III) Inc., Quebec, C$750,000 – Fire of Nations: 102235914 Saskatchewan Inc., Saskatchewan, C$200,000 – Atanarjuat – The Making Of: Kingulliit Productions Inc., Nunavut, C$175,000 – My Aunt Jeanne: Umik Media Inc., Nunavut, C$416,531
Children and youth – Nunavut Little Scientists: Nunavut Little Scientists S1 Inc., Ontario, C$555,138 – Stories of the North, season 5: 102234823 Saskatchewan Ltd., Saskatchewan, C$25,000 – Tansi Time!: Tansi Time Season One Inc., Manitoba, C$512,368 – Kukum Nuapmau… (Grand-mère vois…): KAK Productions Communication Inc., Quebec, C$310,000 – Nanuk: Mosaic Entertainment Inc./1598436 Canada Inc., British Columbia, C$750,000 – Noch Noch: Noch Noch Productions Inc., British Columbia, C$750,000
Drama – Five Little Indians: Ksnsool Pictures (BC) Inc./Ksnsool Pictures Ontario Ltd., British Columbia, C$750,000 – Chasing Destiny: Rezolution Pictures International Inc., Quebec, C$750,000
Where the money goes
The 15 published awards add up to the announced C$7,994,037 to the dollar. Seven projects received C$750,000, the programme’s ceiling: the ISO’s guidelines cap each contribution at that sum or 60% of a project’s eligible costs, whichever is lower. Those seven account for C$5.25m, or 66% of the round. Quebec takes the largest share, C$2.56m for four projects, followed by British Columbia with C$2.25m for three. Manitoba receives C$1.26m, Nunavut C$1.14m, Ontario C$555,138 and Saskatchewan C$225,000. The smallest award, C$25,000 for a fifth season of Stories of the North, is one-thirtieth of the largest.
Kingulliit Productions, the Igloolik company Zacharias Kunuk co-founded with Norman Cohn in 2010, is the only producer with two projects, worth C$725,000 together. One is a documentary on the making of Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, Kunuk’s 2001 Inuktitut-language feature, which won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes. Most of the documentary money goes to returning series: TAKEN, Animal Nation and Go North! take C$2.25m between them.
At the European Central Bank’s reference rates for 5 November, the day of the announcement, the total is worth about $5.7m and each C$750,000 award about $537,000.
Compared with last year
The 2025–26 round was the first the ISO ran. The CMF announced on 12 November 2025 that C$8,032,700 had gone to 18 projects. This year’s round is C$38,663, or 0.5%, smaller, but it is spread across three fewer projects, so the average award rose from about C$446,000 to about C$533,000.
The ISO’s own annual report for 2025 describes that first round differently. It gives 17 production-stage projects and C$7,482,700, one project and C$550,000 less than the CMF announced, and a different genre split: seven documentaries, seven animation projects, two children’s productions and one drama, against the CMF’s eight documentaries, seven children and youth projects and three dramas. Neither body explains the gap. A project may have withdrawn or been approved for less after the announcement, but the published documents do not say.
What is not known
The announcement does not say how many applications the ISO received this year, how much they requested in total or how the selection committee scored them. Nor does it name broadcasters, platforms or production dates for the 15 projects. The CMF itself is financed by the federal government and by Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors.
Our reading
For Indigenous producers, the shape of this round matters more than its total, which barely moved. Fewer projects are getting larger cheques, and series renewals take a large share of the documentary money. That favours companies with a returning show and a broadcaster behind it over first-time applicants. The mismatch between the CMF’s and the ISO’s figures for last year may have a simple cause, but anyone tracking how much of the CMF’s budget reaches Indigenous production needs one number, not two. The CMF itself received C$213.4m from Ottawa’s C$600m audiovisual package. The next evidence is the ISO’s 2026 annual report, which should show what was actually paid out in both rounds. For other recent public awards, see our reports on Spain’s ICAA short-film round and the Philippines’ CreatePHFilms grants.
Sources
- Canada Media Fund, CMF to invest nearly $8M in 15 Indigenous productions, 5 November 2026
- Canada Media Fund, 18 projects to receive over $8M through Indigenous Program, 12 November 2025
- Indigenous Screen Office, Annual Report 2025 (PDF)
- Indigenous Screen Office, CMF Indigenous Production program 2026 (maximum contribution, dates)
- Indigenous Screen Office, 15 projects to receive nearly $8 million through CMF Indigenous Program, 5 November 2026
- IsumaTV, About Kingulliit Productions Inc.
- Canada Media Fund, Indigenous Production Program page (2026 application dates)
- Playback, ISO, CMF invest $8M to 15 projects via Indigenous Program, 13 November 2026
- European Central Bank euro reference rates, 5 November 2026 (USD 1.1224, CAD 1.5675)