WHITEHORSE - Yukon stories, films, and filmmakers will feature prominently at the Yukon International Film Festival, June 21 to 25, in Whitehorse.

"We are pleased to be able to highlight the opportunities for filmmakers in the Yukon," said Minister of Economic Development Jim Kenyon. "With our scenery, incentives and expertise, Yukon is a premier location for filmmaking."

A number of the films at the Yukon International Film Festival feature Yukon stories, films, and filmmakers:

•  The drama Artifacts (2006) directed and produced by Yukon filmmaker Andrew Connors, portrays a young man from the city who travels to a silver mining ghost town on a quest to answer the mystery of his grandmother's disappearance and his grandfather's guarded past. Artifacts was shot in Keno City, Yukon in the summer of 2005, and features Yukon actors Brian Fidler, Roy Ness, and Celia McBride.
  
• The documentary CANOL: Strange Invasion (2006) was produced entirely in the Yukon by Yukoner Allan Code. Kaska First Nations hunter, trapper, and prospector Arthur John Sr. takes viewers through the area where he led army engineers 60 years ago during the project to lay a pipeline between the Mackenzie and Yukon rivers.  With his hindsight we learn who profited from the ill-fated project and who bore the loss from this "strange invasion".
  
• Through Arctic Eyes (2006) by Yukon filmmaker Tookie Mercredi, documents a journey through the interior of Yukon and Alaska, revealing the knowledge of elders, leaders, and scientists about climate change and its impact in their area of the Arctic.
  
• The Challenge In Old Crow (2005) tells a compassionate and insightful story about how Glenna Tetlichi, Father Jean-Marie Mouchet and a group of Old Crow parents took control of the health and social problems facing their community.

The Yukon International Film Festival will present over 30 films and documentaries.  The combination of indigenous, environmental and independent films with those shot in Yukon provides an opportunity to highlight location and filmmaking opportunities within the Yukon.

Tickets for the Yukon International Film Festival are now on sale at Hougen's Box Office and the Yukon Arts Centre. For a complete festival film schedule and a list of special guests and events, please visit www.yukonfilmfest.com.

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