one fire festvial
Stories were never meant to be merely watched – they were meant to be lived, carried, and returned to the fire
take your place around the campfire
For 56 continuous hours, the fire will burn. Unwavering. Unbroken. A gathering of creators, elders, dreamers, and seekers, coming together in a space where storytelling is not performance, but ceremony – a process of relation, responsibility, and reciprocity.
It starts with fire. It always has. Before the screens, before the stages, before the written word, there was fire. It was by that light that knowledge was passed, that law was spoken, that the old ones sat in the glow and shaped the world with story. That fire never went out. It has burned through time, through memory, through generations of telling and retelling, carried by those who knew how to tend it. Somewhere along the way something happened. The stories were pulled from the flame and placed in cold storage. Archived, extracted, turned into something to be consumed instead of something to be lived.
But stories don’t survive that way. They don’t live in isolation. They need breath, voice, land. They need relation, for us all to sit around one fire.
One Fire is not just a festival. It is a gathering place, a return, a convergence of all those who know that storytelling is not a product but a process, a ceremony, a responsibility. An invitation to come back to the campfire, come back to story in its rightful place, to take it from the digital and back into the real, into those who listen, into the soil, the breath, the heartbeat of all things.
This is the VA Network’s One Fire Festival.
A movement of cultural revitalization & reciprocal storytelling, where Indigenous narratives are honored as living ceremonies, fostering deep connection to land, community, & the sacred fire of shared wisdom.
a return to story. a return to relation. a return to the fire.
One Fire is more than an event. It is an experience, an immersion, a homecoming. Set on sacred Country, where the land itself held the stories being told, this was not a festival where people came to consume. It was a place to witness, to listen, and to feel the weight of truth spoken by the fire
The VA One Fire 3 Day Festival is a groundbreaking initiative designed to redefine the traditional concept of a film festival, transforming it into a profound ceremonial gathering centered on Indigenous storytelling. Unlike conventional media events, One Fire emphasizes the lived experience of stories, their connection to land, and their role in cultural preservation and healing. For 56 continuous hours, a sacred fire at the centre of the festival will burn, symbolizing the enduring power of Indigenous knowledge and the continuity of oral traditions.
By bringing together Indigenous creators, elders, and seekers from around the world, the Festival aims to return stories to their rightful place – not as mere content for consumption, but as vital forces for transformation and reciprocity, ultimately contributing to a more just and harmonious world.
an immersive, ceremonial space for to share their stories, offering a way teturn to right relation with ourselves, each other, and the Earth.
Stories were never meant to be watched – they were meant to be lived, carried, and returned to the fire.
For three days and two nights, stories do not just live on screens – they move through ceremony, through music, through shared meals prepared by local hands, through the land that cradled each footstep, that carried each breath. It is storytelling the way it was meant to be, oven through the senses, rooted in place, guided by those who carry the knowledge of their ancestors.
In a world increasingly saturated with digital content, the essence and reason of storytelling – its power to connect, heal, and transform – is often diminished. One Fire emerges as a powerful counter-narrative, a deliberate and sacred space designed to re-center the act of storytelling within its traditional Indigenous context. This is not merely an event; it is a movement, a ceremonial gathering that transcends the conventional boundaries of a film festival.
Our aim is to create an immersive experience where stories are not just watched on a screen but are lived, carried, and returned to the sacred fire, fostering deep connection to land, culture, and community. It’s a way of being with story. Films, series, artworks, are not just projected or displayed; they are held in relation to the land they come from, the language they carry, the people who tend them.
From sunrise screenings in the cool hush of morning to midnight circles where voices carried through the dark, every film, every series, every voice holds something deeper – a pulse, a heartbeat, a calling. This was not about passive observation but active participation in the great web of connection.
Stories were never meant to be consumed and discarded. They were meant to be held, carried, and cycled back into the land, into the people, into the future.
The fire does not belong to any one, or every one, it belongs to the stories. And the stories belong to Us-All.
Where Indigenous Stories Rise Like Smoke, Songs Flow Like Country, and Every Voice Rekindles the Fire of Connection.
The festival itself moves like a story, flows like a songline. Music rises with the sunrise, carrying the voices of the land. The smell of food, grown and prepared on Country, ties us to place through taste and nourishment. Live storytelling takes shape around the fire at night, the old ways of speaking and listening rekindled as voices rise into the sky and mix with the stars.
By re-centering storytelling within its sacred, ceremonial context, One Fire offers a unique and transformative experience that honors Indigenous traditions, empowers Indigenous voices, and fosters deep connections to land and community. Its commitment to reciprocity, authenticity, and measurable impact ensures that every investment is an investment in cultural revitalization, social justice, and a more harmonious future for all. We invite partners and funders to join us in igniting this vital fire, to co-create a world where Indigenous stories are not just heard, but truly lived, carried, and celebrated across the globe.
This is not just a festival; it is a movement. It is an act of reciprocity. It is a call to remember that story is not content, it is responsibility.It is something we tend, something we carry, something we pass forward, intact, alive, and burning bright for those yet to come.Â
The fire is lit. The stories are waiting. Come sit with us.
 lighting embers in places where the fire of cultural understanding and connection has grown cold.
The fire burned for 56 hours straight. Smoke curled into the night sky, carrying songs, stories, and echoes of laughter, mingling with the stars above. Beneath it, a gathering unlike any other unfolded – a convergence of storytellers, wisdom keepers, artists, filmmakers, and seekers, all drawn together by one undeniable truth: stories are not just entertainment; they are medicine.
One Fire is a welcoming space for all, regardless of background, regardless of place, regardless of religion, creed or race. It extends an invitation not only to those already familiar with Indigenous cultures but also to those searching, for those who feel something missing but don’t yet have the words for it. For those ready to listen, ready to witness, ready to gather around the fire and step into something much older, and something more meaningful than themselves.
One Fire is a sacred circle open to all, regardless of background, regardless of place, regardless of religion, creed, or race. It is an invitation extended across time and space, calling not only to those who already know the rhythms and stories of Indigenous cultures, but also to those who feel a quiet stirring, a pull they cannot yet name. It calls to the seekers, the wanderers, the ones who sense something missing in the world as it moves too fast, something vital that has been forgotten—the pulse of connection, the rhythm of belonging, the deep knowing that we are never separate from the land, from each other, from the ancestors who whisper through the wind.
It is for those ready to sit, to listen beyond words, to witness with more than eyes and hear with more than ears. It is for those willing to open themselves to the stories that carry law, responsibility, and care, stories that have traveled through countless generations and have survived because they are alive. One Fire asks of each participant not just presence, but attention, humility, and respect; it invites us to step into a lineage of caretakers, to remember that our place in the world is not taken, but held in relation with all life.
Here, around the fire, the ordinary melts away. The boundaries of self, culture, and time soften. The flame becomes a mirror, reflecting our shared humanity and the threads that bind us to Country, to spirit, to each other. One Fire is a place to feel, to awaken, to remember—to meet the ancestors in the flicker of the flames and hear the call to carry their wisdom forward, to honor the land, the stories, and the generations yet to come. It is a circle that holds all who come, a gathering where each voice matters, and each presence strengthens the fire we are entrusted to tend.
A Sacred Gathering Place: Replicating the ancient practice of gathering around a fire for storytelling, knowledge transfer, and communal decision-making.
programs & activities
The VA One Fire Festival will feature a diverse range of programs and activities, all designed to embody the Festival’s core philosophy of “story as ceremony” and foster deep, meaningful engagement. These offerings will create an immersive experience that blends traditional Indigenous practices with contemporary media, ensuring a holistic and transformative journey for all participants.
Curated Selection: A powerful selection of films, series, and shorts from Indigenous storytellers and allies around the world. Each work will be chosen for its cultural significance, artistic merit, and ability to convey authentic Indigenous narratives.
Outdoor & Site-Specific Screenings: Whenever possible, films will be screened outdoors, under the open sky, or in locations that hold cultural significance to the stories being told. This connects the visual experience directly to the land, enhancing the ceremonial aspect.
Nonstop Stories: Screenings will not adhere to rigid schedules but will flow with the natural rhythms of the day and night, with stories to watch running the entirety of festival, of the allowing for “dreamers” to watch under the midnight sky, “seekers” to greet the dawn with ceremony, and others to gather at dusk.
Filmmaker & Elder Introductions: Each screening will be introduced by the filmmakers, where present, and/or local Elders and knowledge keepers, providing context, cultural insights, and establishing the story’s relation to place and people.
Continuous Fire: The central, continuously burning fire will serve as the focal point for evening gatherings, inviting participants to sit, listen, and share.
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Elder-Led Storytelling: Indigenous Elders and traditional storytellers will share ancient narratives, creation stories, and personal histories, passing down wisdom in the traditional way.
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Open Mic Sessions: Opportunities for participants to share their own stories, poems, or songs, fostering a sense of shared community and creative expression.
Panel Discussions & Conversations on Country
Moving beyond conventional panel formats, these discussions will be interactive and deeply rooted in place:
Cultural Workshops & Demonstrations
Providing hands-on opportunities to engage with Indigenous arts, crafts, and practices.
Art display & photography competition
An art & photographic competition encouraging participants to capture the essence of the Festival, its stories, people, and the land. Selected winning photographs will be featured in the Open Air Gallery.
stay on country
community & wellness
Marketplace & Indigenous Artisan Showcase
Providing economic opportunities and celebrating Indigenous creativity.
Music & Song
The world has enough noise. What it needs now are the right stories, told in the right way, in the right place. One Fire is that place.
The One Fire Film Festival is not bound by time or tradition – it moves through both, weaving the past and future into the present. Films carry their own timelines—some speaking to the dreamers, the ones who watch under the midnight sky. Others calling the seekers, those who greet the first light of dawn with ceremony. Others still, unfolding at dusk, guiding hearts ready to remember.
But this is not just for those who already know. This fire is for everyone. For those searching. For those who feel something missing but don’t yet have the words for it. For those ready to listen, ready to witness, ready to gather around the fire and step into something much older than themselves.
As the final embers faded, it was clear: One Fire was not a moment in time. It was a shift in the way storytelling is done, the way film is experienced, the way cultural narratives are honored.
This was not about films being slotted into neat schedules and played on anonymous screens. This was about storytelling being returned to where it belongs – to the fire, to the land, to the people who hold its knowledge, to a living space where story and audience are in relation.
But this is not a festival that disappears after the tents come down and the screens go dark. It is a movement that will continue to ripple outward, carried by those who sat by the fire and felt its warmth.
Guardians of the Fire
Major Partners
For those who walk beside us, carrying the weight of shared vision and responsibility. These partners provide core funding, infrastructure, and strategic support, ensuring the VA Network thrives and expands. They are woven into the very foundation of this work, shaping the stories that are told and the impact that is made.
