Alanis Obomsawin, who received a retrospective at the first festival
Shirley Cheechoo, the first Aboriginal Canadian to direct a dramatic feature, who’s presented lots of works at the fest, including Johnny Tootall
Zacharias Kunuk, whose Atanarjuat opened the 2002 festival after wowing Cannes and Toronto
Lorne Cardinal (Corner Gas) and Jennifer Podemski (Degrassi: The Next Generation), better known as actors, who debuted as directors at the festival
Shane Belcourt, whose Tkaronto closed the fest in 2007 and got a rare theatrical release in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon in 2008
