<![CDATA[Smayaykila Films]]>https://smayaykilafilms.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!m_AA!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8ddae651-bca5-43c6-a416-9c3af20e0d59_1280x1280.pngSmayaykila Filmshttps://smayaykilafilms.substack.comSubstackSat, 27 Jun 2026 06:24:26 GMT<![CDATA['Ceremony' film is hitting the trail]]>https://smayaykilafilms.substack.com/p/ceremony-film-is-hitting-the-trailhttps://smayaykilafilms.substack.com/p/ceremony-film-is-hitting-the-trailMon, 01 Jun 2026 17:14:30 GMTThe Nuxalk documentary ‘CEREMONY’ is hitting the trail. Know someone in these places? Upcoming screenings:

🎬 TORONTO: imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival June 5
🎬 SASKATOON: Ācimowin Film Festival June 6
🎬 AUSTRALIA: Sydney Film Festival June 8 + 11
🎬 OKLAHOMA CITY: deadCenter Film June 11 + 13
🎬 ARKANSAS: Bentonville Film Festival June 19
🎬 AUCKLAND NZ: Doc Edge June 27 + July 11
🎬 WELLINGTON NZ: Doc Edge July 24

Get tickets: https://linktr.ee/CeremonyFilm

Watch the trailer:

📽️ Through ramshackled Nuxalk Radio, the disappearance of the ooligan from the Bella Coola River reveals a buried history deeper than the river itself.

🏆 Winner: SXSW Documentary Spotlight Audience Award
🏆 Winner: Hot Docs DGC Special Jury Prize Canadian Feature

PRESS

OVERLY HONEST REVIEWS
When Absence Becomes the Loudest Truth

This doesn’t feel like a documentary built to inform; it feels like one built to correct something that should have never been lost in the first place.

THAT SHELF
Ceremony Review: Hot Docs 2026

Banchi Hanuse’s feature documentary, which won the Audience Award in the Documentary Spotlight section at SXSW 2026, took more than a decade to make, and that patience is felt in every frame.

FILM FREAK CENTRAL
Hot Docs ’26: Ceremony

Winner of the festival’s DGC Special Jury Prize for Canadian Feature Documentary, Ceremony is an evocative, engaging, and refreshingly…

Join ‘Ceremony’ on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smayaykilafilms/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SmayaykilaFilms/
X: https://x.com/SmayaykilaFilms
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ceremony_film
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/smayaykila.bsky.social

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]]><![CDATA['Ceremony' win at SXSW + onto Hot Docs]]>https://smayaykilafilms.substack.com/p/ceremony-win-at-sxsw-onto-hot-docshttps://smayaykilafilms.substack.com/p/ceremony-win-at-sxsw-onto-hot-docsSat, 18 Apr 2026 19:00:17 GMTCeremony, directed by Banchi Hanuse, world premiered at SXSW and received the Documentary Spotlight Audience Award.

Next stop: Canadian premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto 5:30pm April 30 + 11:30am May 1st. Help spread the word!

Tickets discount code: HDF26xCRMN (35% off)

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In June: Doc Edge Festival in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

[Watch the trailer]

With more screenings to be announced.

Thank you for your support! Subscribe:

]]><![CDATA[CEREMONY (2026) - World Premiere at SXSW]]>https://smayaykilafilms.substack.com/p/ceremony-2026-world-premiere-at-sxswhttps://smayaykilafilms.substack.com/p/ceremony-2026-world-premiere-at-sxswTue, 27 Jan 2026 04:45:55 GMTAfter 12 years in the making, CEREMONY (84 mins) is a feature documentary that will have its World Premiere at SXSW (screening dates TBA).

At ramshackled Nuxalk Radio in Bella Coola, an inquiry into the vanished ooligan run unravels a buried history of erasure and ignites the quiet revolution of a Nation that refuses to disappear.

Directed by Banchi Hanuse (Nuxalk) and created in collaboration with the Nuxalk community, the film combines firsthand testimony with watercolour animation and rare archival material.

Film & Industry Inquires: contact@smayaykila.com

Press: Nicola Pender nicola@penderpr.com

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