Female filmmakers at imagineNATIVE

Aboriginal women take centre stage at indigenous film festivalAboriginal women are taking centre stage at one of the world's largest film festivals to feature work by indigenous artists, with grandmothers at the forefront of the week's biggest screenings.

The imagineNATIVE film festival kicks off Wednesday in Toronto with a documentary about a Winnipeg grandmother who struggles to accept her aboriginal heritage and an Australian film in which an aboriginal grandmother leaves behind her tribal culture to become an actress.

Artistic director Danis Goulet says more than 40 per cent of the festival's 105 films come from female filmmakers, a slightly higher ratio than previous years for the five-day movie marathon.

"All of these films ... are really focusing on the perspectives of women and the stories of women, but I would say specifically the courage of women," says Goulet.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Native Documentaries and News.