Montréal, Thursday, June 12, 2025 – The caravan of Phoebus, charmed by Okaga, the goddess of the winds, dives into the fast-flowing river of Canadian prairies, Saskatchewan, for its 7th edition of Cinédanse, to be held under the theme “Winds of Change / kâ-kâh-kwêskiyowêk “ from November 4 to 20, 2025, in Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw.
The event is organized in collaboration with lead partner New Dance Horizons and its director, an emblematic figure in Western Canadian dance, Robin Poitras; Conseil culturel fransaskois; Dance Saskatchewan; Remai Modern Saskatoon; School for the Arts; University of Saskatchewan and Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery.
“We chose Saskatchewan because it’s the origin of Canadian civil rights, universal medicare and the first North American Council for the Arts. It’s also Louis Riel’s territory.”
– declared Sylvain Bleau, Director of Cinédanse.
Among the guest artists
Mooky the clown (Regina), multidisciplinary artist Amalie Atkins (Saskatoon), the duo Andrew Denton, director of the University of Saskatchewan School of Art, and Jennifer Nikolai, dance artist, filmmaker & former associate professor at Auckland University, the dance artist and actress Johanna Bundon (Regina), filmmaker and University of Regina film professor Sarah Abbott, Métis multidisciplinary artist Edward Poitras (Regina), Cree poet and professor of Native literature at the First Nations University of Canada Jesse Archibald-Barber (Regina), Métis visual artist and performer Jessy Fulcher-Gagnon (Saskatoon), dancer and folklorist Eloi Homier (Vancouvers),
Edmonton-born choreographer and Artistic Director of the Ottawa Dance Directive Yvonne Coutts, French-born Schmutt sisters Élodie and Séverine Lombardo (Montréal) & their collaborator, Mexican director and sound artist Robin P. Gould, the filmmaker Marlene Millar and her partner, dancer and choreographer Sandy Silva (Montréal), director and choreographer Chantal Caron (Saint-Jean-Port-Joli), Atikamekw filmmaker Thérèse Ottawa (Manawan), director Béatriz Mediavilla (Rouyn-Noranda), and French-Moroccan dance artist and director Dounia Zellou (Casablanca-Paris).
The call for submissions is open for the 6th edition of the Lumière Award for short films, awarded by an international jury to an artist for an outstanding work. (See below)
New this year: the Lumière Youth Award, mentored by artist Jennifer Nikolai. This prize is reserved exclusively for Saskatchewan high school students, encouraging them to let free their imagination and explore new technologies. Developed in close collaboration with Cinédanse, New Dance Horizons and Dance Saskatchewan, this project is not open to the general public.
The Saskatchewan Prairie is a virtual sea of wind whose tendrils have danced me many times. Dancing with wind is a seminal force in my dance life.”
– Robin Poitras, director of New Dance Horizon
The opening film : “A Thousand Memories of Dance”, directed by Larry J. Bauman, about the artist Robin Poitras.
My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.
– Louis Riel, revolutionary and leader of the Métis in the Canadian Prairies.
The full list of guest artists and the detailed festival program will be unveiled in early September!
Stay tuned!
Call for submissions & Lumière Award
Submit your latest short film marrying dance to cinema and new technologies to complete the Cinédanse Saskatchewan 2025 program. Among the submissions received, we will nominate films for the Lumière Award 2025.
Eligibility criteria
- All dance shorts of any style will be considered
- Films must have been made between 2024 and
Application form
- Short description of your film (maximum 100 words)
- Technical file including : Type of film, length, main credits, country and year of production
- Full-length film via Vimeo or YouTube link only
Please send your application to info@cinedanse.ca no later than: July 18, 2025.
Thanks to all our partners!
Canadian Heritage, Employment and Social Development Canada, Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale du Québec.
New Dance Horizon, Conseil culturel fransaskois (CCF), Dance Saskatchewan, Remai Modern Saskatoon, School for the Arts, University of Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery and Petrie Raymond.
About Cinédanse
Founded by Sylvain Bleau 14 years ago, La Caravane de Phœbus, an organization driven by humanist and progressive values – producer of the Cinédanse event and related activities, works in dance and many other disciplines that revolve around it: cinema, visual arts, digital arts and poetry.
Cinédanse began in Montréal in 2012, then moved on to Québec City in 2015, Ottawa in 2019, Rouyn-Noranda in 2022, Caraquet in 2023, and Sept-Îles in 2024. Under the theme “Winds of Change”, the 7th edition of Cinédanse will be held in Saskatchewan, from November 4 to 20, in Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw.
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Sources and press relations:
Andréanne Mercier, executive and communications assistant
1-514-434-1095, prod@cinedanse.ca
