Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
OPENING RECEPTION OF THE GIMLI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Johnson Hall, Gimli Waterfront Centre
Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 6:00 p.m.
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Fellow Manitobans and lovers of the moving image – welcome to the 25th Anniversary of the Gimli International Film Festival.
It’s a pleasure to join you here in this beloved lake community – in Treaty One land and in the homeland of the Red River Metis. As we celebrate a vital institution of our province’s arts community, we acknowledge that Manitoba is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, and Dene nations and the homeland of the Red River Métis and on northern lands were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
As Manitobans, we are committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration and in celebration of our diverse and thriving culture.
Manitobans are justifiably proud of the exciting, creative and diverse arts and culture community we have built here. This year’s celebration of 25 years of the Gimli International Film Festival demonstrates the important role that film has here.
For makers and lovers of film – homegrown or produced all around the world – a quarter century of this festival is truly something to celebrate.
The same strong community spirit that has built festivals like this has inspired support for Manitobans affected by the worst fire season since records began to be kept. Firefighters and essential workers and families waiting for a chance to return to fire-threatened northern communities are very much on the minds of their fellow Manitobans.
Concerns about social justice and the environment and the lived experience of Indigenous people and people of the north are, of course, a large part of the programming at this festival.
The Gimli International Film Festival has provided a venue for voices and visions that we don’t often hear and see on our screens.
It has supported local, films from the circumpolar world, films that take artistic risks and that explore issues in need of examination.
And as we have seen for two and a half decades, this province has an appetite for a wide range of film – features and shorts, documentary and fiction.
To all who have supported the growth of the Gimli International Film Festival and to all of those who make this weekend a personal summer highlight – congratulations on this special anniversary.
Thank you for bringing light, action and, of course, cameras to Manitoba.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. And Shalom to all.
