The 12th annual Yellowknife International Film Festival (YKIFF) begins tonight with the premiere of local flick Elijah and the Rock Creature.

The opening film features a majority-黑料吃瓜网 cast and crew and was shot in and around Yellowknife and Wood Buffalo National Park, outside of Fort Smith. Jeremy Emerson, YKIFF鈥檚 festival director, hails the film as an example of what 黑料吃瓜网 content creators can achieve.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 kind of an exciting time for the film community in the Northwest Territories,鈥� said Emerson. 鈥淓lijah and The Rock Creature is the second feature, narrative dramatic feature, that is made here. So it鈥檚 pretty rare, but you鈥檙e seeing more of that kind of thing happening.鈥�

Now Emerson hopes that the festival will be a way for filmmakers to come together and collaborate on future projects.

鈥淲e often find people working in isolated silos and they don鈥檛 know what their neighbours are making, or someone next door or in the next community are making, and we鈥檙e hoping that throughout the festival and seeing local work people can start collaborating (on),鈥� said Emerson.

The festival will run from this evening until Sept. 30 with numerous showings, debuts and workshops put on by industry professionals. The Grizzlies will be the feature film of the week, showing on Saturday evening. The Grizzlies is based on a real story from Kugluktuk, Nunavut. It received three standing ovations at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) earlier this month.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the last film on our program this year, so people should come check it out,鈥� said Emerson.

In addition to the film screenings, the festival will feature workshops that will help 黑料吃瓜网 filmmakers connect with and pitch to established industry professionals.

鈥淧itching, getting your shows made and how to get companies on board and get money to make your work,鈥� is how Emerson described the workshops.

Emerson noted that there will also be acting seminars for youth on Saturday and a class on Sunday teaching participants how to film in 360 degrees.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to see a lot of people come out and get involved and participate in the workshops and see some films,鈥� said Emerson.

A full schedule of the festival鈥檚 events can be found online.