For nearly 20 years emerging filmmakers from Winnipeg and across the country have benefited from The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, but this week the federal government announced it will shut the program down to cut costs.

Alberta filmmaker Wendy Walker is in Winnipeg this weekend shooting part of her upcoming documentary. It's an educational film that examines the relationship between aboriginal people and the rest of Canada.

"The disservice they're doing to Canadians as a whole is horrific," she told CTV News. "How are we going to tell our stories?"

The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund was created in 1991 to help emerging filmmakers create social justice and educational films. Walker says it's going to be tough on her young colleagues.

Since its launch the fund has given money to 1,000 projects from across Canada.

In 2008 it supported 59 film and video projects.

The Conservatives announced this week that the fund will be terminated at the end of March, along with $9 million worth of other arts funding.

Its money the federal government says it needs for its $40 billion economic stimulus package.

Phyllis Laing, producer of The Stone Angel and Guy Madden's My Winnipeg says the funding should not be considered expendable.

"A country should never cut off its voice," she says.

Laing, who is also president of Winnipeg's Buffalo Gal Pictures, says the fund helped her as a young producer.

"A lot of new directors and filmmakers got their start through this fund and that's going to be a significant loss."

Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund plans on appealing the decision.

With a report from CTV's Shaneen Robinson