FILMS AND FESTIVALS 
Online and In-person

Indigenous Film & Arts Festival – Monthly Series
“Indigenous Film: New Paths on Old Trails”

Wed, Apr 12, 7:00-8:15 pm MT

New short films followed by a live Zoom discussion with filmmaker Fritz Bitsoie (Diné), moderated by Mervyn Tano, president of IIIRM. Preregistration required to get links to films and discussion. Audience questions are encouraged! Presented in partnership with the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management and the Denver American Indian Commission.

Nimeshkanaminan (Our Path) Laura Fontaine, Yasmine Fontaine (Innu). Produced by Wapikoni Mobile. In French with English subtitles. Two young Innu women take up the old portage trails of the past to revive the identity of their Nation; a tribute to the Elders, the territory and the Innu people. The Trails Before Us Fritz Bitsoie (Diné). This documentary follows Diné mountain biker Nigel James as he hosts the first Enduro race in the Navajo Nation. By revitalizing old livestock and wildlife trails on his grandparents’ land, Nigel and a new generation of riders honor their connections to their land, community, and culture.

Phoenix Film Festival

Sat Apr 1. Tickets. In-person in Phoenix

Lakota Nation vs United States Documentary feature. US. Jesse Short, Laura Tomaselli. With Nick Tilsen, Phyllis Young, Milo Yellow Hair, Nick Estes, Krystal Two Bulls, Henry Red Cloud, Candi Brings Plenty, Alex Romero-Frederick, Craig Howe, Mary Kathryn Nagle. It is the most sacred place on earth, the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Očéti Šakówiŋ since time immemorial–the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Yet with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1492, the sacred land has been the site of conflict between the people it has nurtured and the settler state seeking to exploit and redefine it in its own image. This powerful new documentary is a searing testament to the strength of the Oyate and a visually stunning rejoinder to the distorted image of a people long-shaped by Hollywood.

Minnesota Film Festival

Apr 1-2. Tickets. In-person in Duluth, MN

Apr 1  A Winter Love Narrative feature. US. Rhiana Yazzie. Cast: Rhiana Yazzie, Brian Watson, Chris Trapper, Lini Witkins, Payton Counts. A Navajo, singer-songwriter has lost her creative spark while making her way through another frigid Minneapolis winter. When she meets a young Lakota, law school dropout, she feels like she may have regained her edge, for a while.

Apr 2 Broken Angel Jules Koostachin. Cast: Sera-Lys McArthur, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Asvik Koostachin. Angel, a beautiful and once-vibrant Cree woman, escapes into the night from her abusive partner to a women’s shelter on the reservation. As the prospect of a new beginning comes to light, he tracks her down and she is forced to flee or fight.

Apr 1 “AICHO Shorts” 10 short films including Chase to a Certain Place (dir: Khayman Goodsky), Seeds (dirs.. Morningstar Angeline, Ajuawak Kapashesit), Tiny (dirs. Richie Hemphill, Ryan Haché), Mitata/Grandfather(dir.Desmond Simon), Mirror Man (dir. Ginew Benton)

New Directors/New Films: “Fox Maxy”

April 1-2. Tickets. In-person in New York City. Available online for Museum of Modern Art members

Pieced together from a decade’s worth of personal archives, Sundance Institute 2022 Merata Mita Fellow, Fox Maxy’s Gush delivers a kaleidoscopic look at horror and survival. The experimental film which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January, weaves through a stream-of-consciousness meditation on the impact of sexual violence and healing

Skoden Film Festival
Simon Frasier University

Fri, March 31-Sat, Apr 1. Tickets. In-person in Vancouver

This student-led festival presents films by Indigenous creatives and this year showcases a feature documentary and 5 programs of short films.

Ever Deadly Canada. Feature documentary. Tanya Tagaq, Chelsea McMullan. Exploring the innovative performer’s transformation of sound with an eye to colonial fallout, natural freedom, and Canadian history. The film weaves concert footage with stunning sequences filmed in Nunavut. Preceded by Windigokan Niimi dir. Colleen Simard.

Skylight Pictures: “Dictator in the Dock Series”

Free. Online on FB. No account needed to watch. Episodes are re-released between Mar 27 and May 10

Ten years ago, General Efraín Ríos Montt was put on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Maya-Ixil people of Guatemala. It was the first time anyone had been tried for genocide against Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Ever. It took a 30 year quest for justice on the part of the survivors and their legal representatives, plus the political will of bold judges and jurists in Guatemala to reach this moment.

Skylight gathered a group of filmmakers from Guatemala, Colombia, and the U.S. to document the whole trial in real time, from the first gavel strike to the last word of Judge Yassmín Barrios’ verdict. Every few days they uploaded a new episode, a few minutes long, of highlights from the trial in order to throw the doors of the courtroom open to the entire world. This became a 24-part web series and later the basis for Skylight’s feature documentary, 500 Years dirs. Paco de Onís, Pamela Yates.

TALKING ABOUT

National Museum of the American Indian 
NMAI Youth In Action: “Film Futures” | Juventud en acción: “Futuros del cine”

Apr 1 – 30. Livestream on Sat, Apr 1, 1-2 pm. Free. Continues online. Advanced registration required to obtain link. Recording available following the premier. In English with English and Spanish captions.

How are emerging filmmakers using film as a force for activism? Moderator James Lujan (Taos Pueblo), Anpa’o Locke (Húŋkpapȟa Lakota/Ahtna Dené), Lejend Yazzie (Diné), and Petyr Xyst (Laguna Pueblo) discuss how Native film is changing perceptions about Indigenous peoples and what the future holds. Part of the “Youth in Action: Conversations about Our Future” series, which features young Native activists and changemakers from across the Western Hemisphere who are working towards equity and social justice for Indigenous peoples.

Native News Online
“Native Bidaské with Jhane Myers”

A conversation between Emmy award-winning producer Jhane Myers (Blackfeet, Comanche) and NNO publisher and editor Levi Rickert on her noted recent feature film, Prey.

The Shed 
“The Yanomami Struggle”

Last exhibition day: Apr 16. Programs are free with admission to the exhibition. In-person in New York City.

As part of the exhibition “The Yanomami Struggle,” (Feb 3 – Apr 16) programs are being presented to discuss related issues.

Sat, Apr 8, 12:30 pm. Seating is limited. On the Ground. How are the rights of Indigenous people worldwide connected to environmental justice? How can art and activism contribute to struggles for Indigenous sovereignty? In partnership with Princeton University’s Brazil LAB, this event brings together two of the most prominent voices in the fight against climate change, Samara Pataxó and Txai Suruí, for a conversation moderated by João Biehl on their experiences and struggles in advocating for Indigenous rights in Brazil. This conversation takes place in Portuguese. Consecutive translation from Portuguese to English is available. 

Sat, Apr 8, 3:30 pm. Seating is limited.A Lenapehoking Anthology, recently published by the Lenape Center and the Brooklyn Public Library, explores the personal journeys and history of Lenape people working towards a return and presence of their ancestral homeland. The book discusses subjects like the myth of the purchase of Manhattan and the self-curation of Indigenous art and culture. Contributors to the anthology will read from their work, as well as address the continual impacts of resource extraction, making connections between a history of extraction that began in 1609 in the Lenape homeland and the history of these harmful practices in Brazil that continues to this day in Yanomami territory.

Sat, Apr 15, 1 pm, 2 pm, 5 pm. In the GalleryCollective Reading of the United Nations’ Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Artist george emilio sanchez stages a collective reading of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), an international resolution that addresses the foundational principles directly linked to the rights and the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples that have been attacked, erased, or diminished through European colonization. 

In addition Exhibition Tours with knowledgeable educators are free with admission to “The Yanomami Struggle” exhibition and are available:

Wednesdays at 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm
Fridays at 12 pm, 2 pm, 6 pm
Saturdays at 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm

Whitney Museum of American Art 
“Mapping the Apocalypse: Cycles of Collapse in Works by Josh Kline and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith”

Wed, Apr 12, 12 pm ET and Wed, Apr 26, 6 pm. Whitney Museum members’ event online, via Zoom. Registration information provided by email.

Is the world on the verge of collapse? Or have we simply repackaged collapse as the norm? This online program, led by Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow Angela Brown, will take on these questions through works on view in exhibitions of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Josh Kline, on view at the Whitney this spring. Through vastly different approaches and experiences, each artist examines how we are distorted and defined by property, labor, and land and questions what stories we take to be true and ask us what we intend to do about it.

AWARDS and HONORS

National Humanities Medal
“Native America Calling”

Koahnic Broadcast Corporation’s daily public affairs show “Native America Calling” is a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from The National Endowment for the Humanities. The award was presented to Koahnic’s President and CEO, Jaclyn Sallee, by U.S. President Joe Biden at a White House ceremony March 21.

Since 1995, the live call-in program “Native America Calling” has brought public radio stations, listeners, and online audiences together every weekday for a thought-provoking national conversation about issues specific to Native communities. Shawn Spruce (Laguna Pueblo) is the Host and Producer of the program. Each “Native America Calling” program connects noted guests and experts with callers throughout the United States, and is the only program of its kind that focuses on Native American issues and is heard on nearly 90 public, community and tribal radio stations in US and Canada.

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, is a prestigious honor presented to 12 or fewer awardees per year whose work has “deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.” Past honorees include public radio host/producer Terry Gross, director Steven Spielberg, The Iowa Writers Workshop, novelist Toni Morrison, and musician Elton John. “Native America Calling” is the first non-individual Native honoree to-date.

Vera List Center for Art and Politics Awards

The following Indigenous artists have received recent awards from the Vera List Center at The New School in New York City.

  • Vera List Center Fellow 2022-23: Fox Maxy for Watertight project
  • Sámi Artist Fellow 2022-23: Matti Aikio, Tromsø, Finland
  • Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice 2022-24: Colectivo Cherani, Cherán, Michoacán, Mexico. An activist collective of Purépecha artists

2023 Canadian Screen Award Nominations

Among the productions and creators nominated for Canada’s annual motion picture and television awards are the following Indigenous films and programs.  

Narrative Features

  • Bones of Crows 6 nominations including Best Original Screenplay (Marie Clements); Original Song (“You Are My Bones”); Best Visual Effects
  • ROSIE Achievement in Casting

Short Films

  • Arctic Song Best Animated Short, dir. Germaine Arnattaujuq, Neil Christopher, Louise Flaherty, Alicia Smith, David Christensen, Nadia Mike
  • Bill Reid Remembers Best Short Documentary, dir. Alanis Obomsawin

Documentary and Live Action Films and Programs

  • Beautiful Scars dir. Shane Belcourt Best Biography or Arts Program; Best Direction, Documentary
  • My Indian Name dir. Abraham Côté, Jason Brennan Best Social/Political Documentary Program
  • The Pretendians Best Social/Political Documentary Program; Best Writing, Documentary (Drew Hayden Taylor, Paul Kemp, Jonathan Baltrusaitis)
  • Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children Best Direction, Documentary (Barri Cohen); Best Writing, Documentary (Barri Cohen), Best Visual Research, Best Original Music, Documentary
  • Skindigenous Best Biography or Arts Program or Series
  • Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On dir. Madison Thomas. Best Direction, Documentary;Best Writing, Documentary (Madison Thomas, Andrea Warner); Best Visual Research
  • Buffy Sainte-Marie: Starwalker Best Performing Arts Program; Best Sound, Lifestyle, Reality, Entertainment
  • Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet Best Lifestyle Program; Best Photography, Lifestyle, or Reality/Competition
  • Friday Night Thunder: You Gotta Push the Limits or Stay Behind Best Original Music, Factual; Lifestyle, Reality, Entertainment
  • Best in Miniature: Cakes & Dining Best Photography, Lifestyle, or Reality/Competition
  • Impact & Influence: A Truth & Reconciliation Day Special Best Variety Special

News and Information Programs

  • “APTN National News”
  • “APTN Investigates”
  • ET Canada Presents “Indigenous Artists & Icons: Celebrating the Future”
  • “National Day of Truth and Reconciliation”
  • “Indigenous Day Live 2021”
  • The National: “Kidnapped by a Nun: Residential School Survivor Story”

Best Host

  • Chuck HughesChuck & the First Peoples’ Kitchen
  • Drew Hayden TaylorGoing Native

2023 Academy Award Nomination

Best Short Film (Live Action)

Ivalu dir. Anders Walter. Cast: Nivi Larsen, Angunnguaq Larsen, Mila Heilmann Kreutzmann. An emotional thriller tells the story of a young Inuit girl in Greenland who is deeply affected by the disappearance of her sister, Ivalu. At night she dreams of a Raven that leads her to Ivalu. A trailer and a video discussion with the actors, produced by Arctic Arts magazine in February, are available here. 

2023 DCEFF/Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital Award

William W. Warner Beautiful Swimmers Award “for reflecting a spirit of reverence for the natural world”

Delikado dir Karl Malakunas. In the idyllic Philippine tourist destination of Palawan, a small troop of environmental crusaders risk their lives to catch those responsible for destroying forests. N. B. – The Palawan Biosphere Reserve is a cluster of islands composed of one long main island and smaller groups of islands around it. The film focuses on the key issues facing resource-rich places world-wide in biospheres that are often inhabited predominantly by Indigenous peoples. The population of Palawan BR is quite diverse, consisting of people of 57 ethnolinguistic groups from Asia, Africa, Europe including 3 Indigenous peoples, the Tagbanua, Palaw’an and Bataks.

RNCI and AMC Networks 
2023 Native Women Write

These 3 finalists meet with AMC executives and RNCI with their scripts and the winner selected will receive a special opportunity with AMC Networks.

  • Loretta Todd for Warsong
  • Heather Dawn for Mulholland Tribe
  • Julianna Maggrah for A Beautiful Night