SASKATCHEWAN — Swampy Cree filmmaker Peter Kolopenuk has been selected for Telefilm Canada’s prestigious “Talent to Watch” program, earning national support for an upcoming feature documentary exploring powwow culture across the Prairies.
Originally from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, Kolopenuk said he is one of only 17 directors selected from a pool of roughly 500 applicants from across Canada.
The Talent to Watch Program supports emerging filmmakers producing their first feature films and prioritizes diverse voices across the country’s cinematic landscape, according to the Telefilm Canada website.
“We were quite lucky that they chose ours, so we must be doing something right,” Kolopenuk said after learning his production company will split $3.4 million in grant funding.
His company, One Five Five Films based out of Moose Jaw, has spent years recording powwows, Treaty Day celebrations, cultural gatherings, and sporting events on First Nations across Saskatchewan. The company is composed of a small core team, including producer Laura Faul, who handles the heavy administrative load behind the scenes, and director of photography Anastas Maragos, who helps shape the visual storytelling. Kolopenuk described Faul as “the glue that keeps it all together” and said he and first-time feature filmmaker Maragos “just work very well together.”
The upcoming film POW WOW grew directly from those relationships.
“It all started when I was filming chuckwagon racing … from that, I met a chief who wanted me to (film) Indian Relays,” Kolopenuk explained. “From there, I started doing content on one of the nations here in Saskatchewan … then another nation saw the content and this nation wanted us, and this nation wanted us … eventually we started filming all sorts of live events.”
POW WOW will focus on the movement, teachings, regalia, and spirit found in powwows in Saskatchewan. Rather than a traditional, interview-heavy format, POW WOW aims for immersion, offering a sensory journey into the drumbeat, rhythm, and imagery that define powwow culture.
“This (film) is going to be more of an experience. We want the viewers to experience … the power of the drum and the different regalia that symbolize different things,” he said. “What do we pray to? What are those meanings? What are we dancing for? What are certain types of dances like?”
The documentary will include knowledge about sacred items, teachings surrounding the Eagle Staff, and the meaning behind specific dance styles, with half the film presented in Plains Cree (Nêhiyawêwin) and half in English.
“There’s a plethora of traditions and protocols that we’re really excited about, and we’re really excited to … demonstrate that to the world.”
The project will highlight multi-generational representation, featuring youth dancers, adults, and Elders, including those in the Golden Age category. “It’ll be quite diverse, and you’ll be able to get a perspective on the culture from basically any age,” Kolopenuk said.
Faul said the film will be unlike anything she has seen before. “When I say this documentary is one of a kind … I promise (that you have) never seen anything like this,” she said. “We just feel beyond lucky that Telefilm believes in the project too.”
According to Faul, only three Saskatchewan-based projects have been selected since the grant program launched in 2014. Kolopenuk recognizes what that means for Prairie Indigenous creatives and wants to leave a strong impression.
“We’re really trying to create things that nobody has done before,” he said. “I think that is the biggest difference that separates us from everybody else.”
Kolopenuk’s path to filmmaking was unconventional. After graduating from Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, south of Regina, and playing junior hockey with the Hounds, he enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces following 9/11.
“I was in the military for eight years in the combat arms (and) I did two tours,” he said. “I fought in Afghanistan with the artillery.”
He carried a digital camera in his vest during operations and later edited videos for his regiment.
“We would always have our digital cameras … (to capture) anything crazy … explosions and things going boom,” he recalled. “We used the PC Windows Movie Maker back in the day … That’s actually when I fell in love with editing and filmmaking.”
Following his military service, Kolopenuk spent six years in the oilpatch but struggled to find purpose. Remembering his passion for video, he turned to filmmaking, teaching himself through online tutorials, seeking advice from industry mentors, and buying used gear piece by piece. Today, he works collaboratively with Nations across Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Kolopenuk described his approach as “Indigenous cinematic storytelling.” “We really focus on the storytelling, and then on the cinematics behind the storytelling,” he explained.
His recent 27-minute documentary on Indian Relay, In It 2 Win It, was published in 2024 and earned 17 awards internationally, including from the IndieX Film Fest. The film was sold to Paramount+ and will premiere on the streaming service in May 2026.
“I want the viewer to have an experience. I want them to extrapolate something from it. I want them to learn from it,” he said. “The best way to do that is by captivating somebody and entertaining somebody at the same time. When we make content, it’s very on the edge of your seat — it’s exciting.”
That focus on learning drives the upcoming POW WOW film’s visuals and reflects his broader mission.
“There are so many people across Canada and, really, all over the world who don’t know much about the culture in itself — the traditions, the protocols, and things like that,” he noted.
Filming for POW WOW is scheduled to begin in spring 2026, continuing through summer and fall. Post-production will carry into early 2027, with the team planning to enter the documentary into film festivals before pursuing distribution. The film’s teachings will be managed in consultation with dancers, cultural advisors, and community representatives from multiple Nations.
For young Indigenous viewers, Kolopenuk hopes the message is clear: their stories belong on major screens.
To learn more, visit OneFiveFiveFilms.com.
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