As global film festivals slowly begin embracing indigenous storytelling, few do it as well—and as comprehensively—as ImagineNative. The Toronto-based film and media festival, now in its 19th year, kicking off on October 17, will feature five days of programming centered around works made by indigenous artists across the world. (Call it the Native version of TIFF.) It will include over 150 different works, including documentaries, music videos, and shorts, as well as 10 full-length feature films—the most in the festival’s history.

Jason Ryle, the festival’s artistic director, hopes that this year’s event will spotlight the diverse stories and traditions found within indigenous culture—an antithesis to the stereotypical portrayals often depicted in Hollywood, for instance. “When you look at indigenous cinema, oftentimes people think of it as a genre. But it’s actually a really diverse body of work,” Ryle said. “The same way you talk about French cinema or German cinema, and all the diverse works within that, the same can be applied to indigenous cinema. We’re getting to a point now where we can look back and talk about Cree cinema, or Mohawk cinema. It completely changes how we talk about the works indigenous artists are making.”

Though the festival only accepts works made by indigenous artists, the content within the works can touch on virtually anything, challenging the idea that Native artists can and should only do Native-related material. And one can expect a wide variety: This year will feature work by 156 indigenous artists from over 109 different nations, sharing unique experiences not only through film, but other media such as video games, web series, art exhibits, and more.

The festival is only growing. Last year, it was attended by over 30,000 people, and for next year’s milestone 20th anniversary, the lineup will also be extended to six days. Despite the growth, though, Ryle said there is still much left to conquer in the world of native cinema—specifically representation. “We’re still in a time of firsts,” said Ryle. “Our opening night film Falls Around Her stars Tantoo Cardinal, one of our most famous actresses, in her first starring role ever. And Anori is the first feature film directed by a Greenlandic woman.”

Below, explore eight must-see features at this year’s ImagineNative festival.