Place of signature of the Great Peace of Montreal, the Quebec metropolis joyfully celebrates its indigenous roots, its diversity, its exemplary living together. Montreal, where art becomes a weapon of peace, when, drawing on the oldest sources of its identity, it discovers itself as a festival-goer.
The great Joséphine Bacon will be at the opening and closing of the 2026 Indigenous Presence International Festival. Firstly with an act of love for the territory, the film Nitassinan which she co-directed with Kim Obomsawin and which will have its world premiere on August 4 and with a participation in the great concert Here was planted the tree of peace which will close in apotheosis on August 14, the most rooted and the most universal of Montreal festivals.
Proudly stands, figurehead, the large tepee on the Place des Festivals while the drums call for celebration and discovery. Films, music, theater, dance, visual arts, literature, performances, installations and participatory creations make up a journey where the boundaries between practices blur in favor of an immersive and deeply human experience.
An imposing section is dedicated to indigenous cinema which is not an art of dark rooms but an opening towards great skies unfolding with previously unseen works from all horizons of Mother Earth. This cinema generously provides, in this fertile season, treasures to true film buffs, i.e. those who dare to dive into a teeming universe to discover the rare gems that are offered there to the adventurous.
A great voice from the South Pacific, carried by ocean waves, the poet Flora Aurima Devatine, a major figure in Tahitian literature, at the source of the rebirth of the ancestral Polynesian language, will present the documentary dedicated to her.
Atolls and tundra united, poetry will flood the festival with its scents coming from territories revered by those who have found soul and nourishment there for millennia
Through the quality of its programming, the festival asserts itself as a place of reflection, transmission and celebration of cultural diversity. By establishing bridges between people, languages and imaginations, FIPA offers a privileged space for intercultural dialogue where knowledge, stories and artistic expressions meet in a spirit of openness and respect. Allegorical figure of FIPA 2026, Enukunnu, the Innu-Spider, twirls above the city. Montreal has a heart of peace, dancing on its feet and open arms to boldly creative imaginations.
The 36th FIPA will take place from August 4 to 14, 2026.