Indigenous Program

• Shorts Lab: Hawaii

  The Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program, in collaboration with the Honolulu Museum of Art, will host a story-focused lab on May 14-16, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The goal of this lab is to provide Indigenous artists based in Hawaii with support and mentorship by Creative Advisors as they develop their short film screenplays.

  In order to eligibly apply to this lab, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Be a Native Hawaiian or Indigenous Pacific Islander based in Hawaii
  • Submit a short film screenplay no longer than 15 pages
  • Be located in the Greater Honolulu area and/or can provide your own lodging and travel to the lab

  Applications for this event were due March 4, 2016.

Fellowships

• Merata Mita Fellowship

  Application	Application opens on October 8, 2018 and closes on November 1, 2018
  Dates	2019 Sundance Film Festival
  Fellowship Description	One artist will be selected as a Merata Mita Indigenous Women Artist Fellow. This fellow will be endeavoring to make their first feature film. Recipient will receive a cash grant and a yearlong continuum of support from the Native American and Indigenous Program and Sundance Institute. Recipient is required to attend the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
  Location	Park City, Utah
  Eligibility	Indigenous artists who identify as women. First time feature filmmaker.
  Description	The Sundance Institute Merata Mita fellowship pays tribute to the immense artistic contributions and memory of Merata Mita (Ngati Pikiao/Ngai te Rangi). Merata served as an adviser and artistic director to the Sundance Institute's Native Filmmakers Lab from 2000 to 2009 where she mentored and developed some of the top Indigenous talent in today's film industry. In her time as a screenwriter and director herself, she is the first-and only-Maori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature film. This fellowship serves to continue Merata Mita's legacy, and to cultivate a stage for other Indigenous women around the world to tell their stories.

  Apply now

  If you have additional questions, please contact native_program@sundance.org

• Full Circle Fellowship

  Application	Applications for this lab will be available Spring 2019
  Dates	2020 Sundance Film Festival
  Fellows	4 to attend the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and other TBD Native Program events
  Location	Park City, Utah
  Eligibility	Native American youths (18-24) to be selected from communities in Michigan and New Mexico
  Description	The Full Circle Fellowship aims to support the next generation of Native American storytellers. This fellowship will provide opportunities to explore a career as a filmmaker and storyteller, attendance at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, a set internship at the Native Filmmakers Lab to gain hands-on film production experience, and a trip to Los Angeles with a schedule of production facilities tours, meetings with industry mentors, and film screenings.

Labs

The Indigenous Program has built and sustained an Indigenous film circle. The cycle of our work begins by scouting for and identifying Native American and Indigenous artists, bringing them through the mechanisms of support at Sundance Institute to get their work made and shown, then bringing the filmmakers and their work back to native lands. The Native Lab Fellowship has been a vital part of supporting Indigenous filmmakers full-circle since 2004.

• Native Filmmakers Lab Fellowship

  Application	The application for the 2019 Native Filmmakers Lab will open in March 2019
  Dates	May 12-17, 2019
  Grant Pool	2 projects
  Location	Santa Fe, New Mexico
  Eligibility	Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native film artists working in the U.S.
  Description	Fellowship to provide direct support to emerging Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native film artists working in the U.S. The Fellowship will support first time filmmakers through the process of shooting a short film under the guidance of a Supervising Producer and mentoring Director.

  
  

Upcoming Events

• Coming soon - check back in mid-February 2019