Sundance Institute - Native American Initiative

Native American Initiative

Other special initiatives of the Institute include the Native American Initiative which facilitates the participation of Native and Indigenous artists in the Institute's artistic development programs and the Sundance Film Festival. Rooted in the recognition of a rich tradition of story telling and artistic expression by Native Americans, Sundance Institute's Native American Initiative is designed to support the development of Native and Indigenous artists and the exhibition of their work by identifying Native artists for the Institute's core programs. To date the Initiative has facilitated the participation of many Native artists into the Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Producers Conference, and the Institute's Feature Film Program. In 2008 the Initiative expanded its focus to include outreach to documentarians, theatre artists, and musicians seeking financial and creative support through the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund, the Theatre Program, and the Film Music Program. As part of Sundance Institute's long tradition of supporting Native cinema, the Sundance Film Festivalprovides a world stage for compelling and innovative films by Native American and Indigenous filmmakers. The Festival also hosts the annual Native Forum, a program of panel discussions, filmmaker workshops, and networking events that provide opportunities for indigenous filmmakers to share their expertise and knowledge with each other and the larger independent film community. The Ford Foundation Fellowships bring Native filmmakers to the Festival each year.

From 1994 to 2004, the Film Festival presented Native films as part a dedicated screening category. In recognition of the evolution of Native filmmaking and as a way of introducing a broader audience to Native cinema, the Festival began incorporating Native and Indigenous films into its official film program in 2005.

Over the course of its history, the Sundance Film Festival has showcased a range of work by Native and Indigenous filmmakers including dramatic films like Sterlin Harjo's FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND, Sherman Alexie's THE BUSINESS OF FANCYDANCING, Chris Eyre's SMOKE SIGNALS, and Rachel Perkins' ONE NIGHT THE MOON, documentaries such as Heather Rae's TRUDELL, Tom Murray and Allan Collins' DHAKIYARR VS. THE KING, Aand Merata Mita's HOTERE, and short films like Gabriel Lopez-Shaw and Sherwin Bitsui's CHRYSALIS, and Taika Waititi's TWO CARS ONE NIGHT.