Tribeca All Access
New York, New York
Submission deadline: December 1, 2007
Tribeca Film Festival will be held April 23-May 4, 2008
Tribeca All Access (TAA) is calling for submission of film projects and scripts for possible inclusion in the TAA's networking and career development forum, held in New York during Tribeca Film Festival. The call is made to directors and screenwriters from communities that are traditionally under-represented in filmmaking. TAA will select approximately 18 narrative projects and 12 documentary projects and give the participants the chance to network, and present their projects to industry professionals for potential development. At its conclusion TAA gives awards to winning narrative and documentary projects. The Creative Promise Award was won in 2006 by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek) in the Narrative Session. To RSVP for an info session about Tribeca All Access or to apply to the program, go to www.tribecafilminstitute.org.
10/9/07

Submission deadline: January 18, 2008, 4:30 pm CT
NSI Storytellers Program
National Screen Institute-Canada
Winnipeg, Manitoba
The National Screen Institute-Canada is inviting First Nations filmmakers to apply for the NSI Storytellers producers' program. The program offers the opportunity to develop television producing skills through an intensive training week and an internship in a television series planned for broadcast in Canada. The training is offered by the National Screen Institute in association with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
1/06/08

All Roads Film Project
In 2004 National Geographic launched new initiatives: All Roads Film Project, All Roads Film Festival and All Roads Indigenous Photographers Program. The All Roads Film Project offers seed grants of up to US$10,000 to support film or video production by indigenous and minority-culture filmmakers. Supported films are also considered for inclusion in the All Roads Film Festival and for broadcast on the National Geographic Channel.

2005 Recipients

• Patty Kim for Divided Land (US/Korea)
  
• Cherien Dabia for Make a Wish (Palestine/West Bank)
  
• Ron Morales for Following Rosa (Philippines)
  
• Andrei Nerrasov for Tuva, My Future Ancestors (Russia)
  
• Chad Burris for Goodnight Irene (US)
  
• Eric Oldrin for Beyond Freedom: A Decade of Democracy (South Africa)

2004 Recipients

• Taika Waititi (Maori), Cliff Curtis (Maori), and Ainsley Gardiner (Maori) for Tama Tu, a comic short about a Maori battalion in World War II.
• Jeff Bear (Maliseet) for Defining Fourth Cinema: A History of Indigenous Media and Cinema Culture, a television series documenting the growth of indigenous filmmaking.
• Chris Kientz (Cherokee) and Simon James (Kwakwaka’wakw) for Raven Tales, an animated series of traditional Haida stories.
• Santi Hitorangi (Rapa Nui) for Mae'a Maeha-Rocks of Enlightenment, a feature documentary about petroglyphs on Rapa Nui.

12/29/07

Spark Plug Program
Telefilm Canada announces 17 winners in its 2005 Spark Plug Program, selected from 53 applications. The purpose of the program is to further the development of Canadian television drama by increasing opportunities for minority and Aboriginal filmmakers. The program has two components, first focusing on project development and then on training, with two intensive immersion programs in 2005. It culminates with participation in the Banff Television Festival, June 12 - 15. The Spark Plug Program began in 2003 with funding from Telefilm Canada and, through an agreement with the Canadian Television Fund, an allocation from its Aboriginal-Language Productions Special Initiative. The first program year was in 2004.

The 2005 First Nations winners are:

• Jennifer Podemski, Redcloud Studios in Ontario, for Capitol City
  
• Shirley Cheechoo, Spoken Song Productions in Ontario, for Transit
• Ron Scott, Prairie Dog Productions in Alberta, for Mixed Blessing
  
• Jeremy Torrie, High Definition Pictures in Manitoba, for Unhuman Nature

2/21/05

In 2005 the Canadian Independent Film & Video Fund (CIFVF) awarded $1,640,000 in production and development grants to various film and video producers. Seven grants were awarded to First Nations production companies and projects which have an indigenous focus.

• Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life. CineFocus Canada Productions
  Covering 40 years of Buffy Sainte-Marie's career, and show she overcame prejudice to become an international music icon and spokesperson for Native rights.
• Dab Iyiyuu/Absolutely Aboriginal (Season III). Rezolution Pictures International
  Unique encounters with Native elders from four cultures who provide instruction on particular skills, insights into related ceremonies and accounts of indigenous legends.
• A Heart as Wide as the World. Inner Nature Productions
  Celebrates the life of northern Saskatchewan Métis elder James Settee.
• Femmes ancestrales. Productions Kiiskakuna Inc.
  The journey of two Canadian midwives to meet traditional Bolivian midwives.
• KIVIAQ vs Canada. Kunuk-Cohen & Igloolik Isuma Productions
  Follows Inuit director Zacharias Kunuk as he documents the life and work of Canada's first Inuit lawyer, Kiviaq, and his suit against the government.
• Cisalo Ciscalo Diablo Panzon! Studi Kinetika
  Animated film based on a traditional Mexican celebration that happens during Holy Week and involves the burning of paper mache puppets and lighting fireworks.
• Legacy. Gallant Productions
  Explores the many different Aboriginal traditions and practices being utilized in this millennium.

CIFVF is a national Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the development of the non-theatrical industry through the creation of film and video projects which promote lifelong learning and are produced by Canadian independent producers.
1/12/06

ITVS-Independent Television Service
NEW Deadline: February 9, 2007. INTERNATIONAL CALL. The International Media Development Fund (IMDF) provides production funds for independent producers who are non-US citizens, helping them create documentaries for American television. Through the fund, ITVS works with producers to bring compelling international stories to audiences to increase understanding of people, cultures and viewpoint in other parts of the world. Go to the website for guidelines and applications (www.itvs.org/).

For additional questions about the International Call, contact Joy_Scott@itvs.org or call 415-356-8383 x232.
2/6/07

The "N-MOUNTAIN" Coalition
The Native Media and Technology Network (NMTN) is an exciting coalition forming in the U.S. world of Native media and entertainment with the potential for gathering the financial resources, personal contacts, and industry involvement that may make an enormous breakthrough for Native film, video, radio and new media programming. The executive organizing committee includes Frank Blythe, director of Native American Public Telecommunications; Syd Beane, community and economic development consultant of the Center for Community Change; Lyn Dennis, executive director of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; and Laura Wittstock, independent consultant and former director of MIGIZI Communications. Other affiliates include BannerCaswell Productions, Koahnic Broadcasting, Southern California Indian Centers, and SOAR Records. Among its initiatives, NMTN is working closely with Fox Television's Diversity Development on professional training and possible production opportunities for Native Americans in television.
For more information go towww.thundermountainmedia.com.
1/7/06

In Canada the Independent Aboriginal Screen Producers Association, founded as a nonprofit organization in August 2004, has received a huge vote of confidence recently with a Western Economic Diversification Fund grant of nearly $150,000 Canadian. The fund helps ASPA develop a 5-year business plan and to set up a permanent staff and office. The first in a series of National Screen Culture Roundtables was held in Vancouver in April 2005, with followup meetings planned in December. The organization has also recently issued a call for new members in several categories.

IASPA was founded to represent a unified Aboriginal voice within the film, television and new media industries through "lobbying and advocacy on behalf of the aboriginal production community of Canada, development of policies and procedures for the implementation by cultural agencies and provision of a website that acts as a central communications vehicle and information resource." In its strategic direction it is committed to "developing increased access to mainstream media and developing a national training strategy for an Aboriginal workforce in television and film."

The IASPA Executive group elected in April are: Jeff Bear, President; Jim Compton, Vice President; Dana Claxton, Treasurer; and Doug Cuthand, Secretary. The founding Board members are Jeff Bear (Maliseet), Marianne Jones (Haida), Raoul McKay (Metis), Jim Compton (Ojibway), Tracey Jack (Okanagan), Curtis Jonnie (Ojibway), George M. Henry (Tlingit), Loretta Sarah Todd (Cree/Metis), Dana Claxton (Sioux) and Doug Cuthand (Plains Cree).
10/31/05

In New York, on Saturday, November 6, at 3 pm, WNET/13 will broadcast
Vis-a-Vis: Native Tongues by Steven Lawrence and Phil Lucas (Choctaw), an award-winning documentary focused on interchange between performance artists James Luna (Luiseno) and Ningali Lawford (Walmajarri, Australia).
11/3/04

Human Rights Summit
On May 2 - 5, 2005, San Francisco State University presented "Human Genocides: The 2nd Human Rights Summit," co-sponsored by the Anthropology Department, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and the university's Public Research Institute. On May 5 the focus was on Indigenous Peoples' Rights, and the keynote speaker was Don Pascual Yaxom, an indigenous activist from Guatemala. Featured panel discussions were on sovereignty and repatriation. The day opened with a screening of works on repatriation, Bones of Contention and Thieves of Time, and on uranium mining, Radioactive Reservations.
For more information go to http://bss.sfsu.edu/bss/events/humanrights.
8/15/05

First Nations Film in London
Proboscis is a creative studio which researches, develops, and facilitates innovation. The Topographies & Tales project, developed from its two-year research theme entitled "Liquid Geography," is concerned with relationships between people, language, identity and place. On March 17 - 18, 2005, Proboscis and the Canadian High Commission organized a two-day Creative Lab at Canada House in London to explore these themes. Day 1 was an invitational brainstorming lab to stimulate ideas and models for collaborations and partnerships, and Day 2 included a public forum, linked internationally by satellite. New projects were the focus on the second day, including the closing night screening of Two Winters: Tales From Above Earth, introduced by director Carol Geddes (Tlingit). Other screenings included Arnait Video (Women's Video Workshop) productions from Igloolik: Quilliq/Oil Lamp and Ningiura/My Grandmother.
For more information go to http://proboscis.org.uk/topographies/.
8/15/05

The Mellon Workshop on Visual Sovereignty
The University of California-Riverside's Mellon Workshop on "Visual Sovereignty: Indigenous Film and Visual Culture" is a year-long interdisciplinary humanities forum. Through a series of core monthly meetings, guest lectures, and screenings, the workshop is investigating the current intellectual and theoretical trends in film and visual culture as they applies to indigenous filmmakers, photographers, choreographers, dancers, writers and theorists. Programs have included:

• February 22 - 23, 2005. "American Indian Biographies: The Quest for the Personal Voice in Film." Award-winning filmmaker Sandra Sunrising Osawa (Makah) presents screenings and discusses her work: Pepper's Pow Wow, Princess Angeline, and On & Off the Res' w/Charlie Hill
  
• January 13, 2005. Kalani Queypo (Blackfoot and Hawaiian) and Jessica Marisol Allen, dance performance and talk, "Modern Indians in Modern Media: Native American Dance in The New World"
  
• October 25, 2004. Stephanie Fitzgerald, Claremont Graduate University, speaking on "Native Sovereignty and Survivance in the Arctic: The Photography of Peter Pitseolak"

For additional information go to www.ucrmellonworkshop.ucr.edu/ or contact Professor Thomas Scanlon, Mellon Workshop Director, Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages at thomas.scanlon@ucr.edu
2/21/05

The Center for Religion and Media at New York University is one of ten "Centers of Excellence" funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts to stimulate innovative research and teaching in the interdisciplinary study of religion. The Center started officially in May 2003 as a joint project of NYU's Religious Studies Program (Angela Zito, director) and Center for Media, Culture and History (Faye Ginsburg, director; Barbara Abrash, director of public programming). Each year it focuses on a theme and convenes three year-long working groups to examine relevant topics. In 2004-2005, one working group, co-chaired by NYU professors Fred Myers and Faye Ginsburg, met throughout the year to consider "Mediating Indigenous Cosmologies," an on-going discussion of the way the beliefs and practices of indigenous peoples are seen and purposed by themselves and the impact of these being re-presented through museums, festivals and media productions. Among the presenters and topics were:

• Jolene Rickard and Paul Chaat Smith, "Curatorial Decisions: The National Museum of the American Indian"
  
• Rangihiroa Panoho, "Toward a Maori Art History"
  
• Robert Stam, Jeff Himpele, Kristin Dowell, Danny Fisher, " Mediating Indigenous Culture: Film, Television, Radio"
  
• Diana Taylor, Renato Rosaldo, Leota Lonedog, Tom Abercrombie, "Archives/Performance/Fiesta"
  
• Haidy Geismar, Paul Williams, Deirdre Brown, "Museums and Cultural Property"
  
• Aaron Glass, Cora Bender, "Circulating Performance"
  
• Deborah Kapchan, Tina Majkowski, "Sacred Music Festivals"

Other working group members included NMAI's Elizabeth Weatherford and Raquel Capa of NYU's Hemispheric Institute.
3/15/06

CSI Aboriginal Youth Media Project
Winnipeg
In Fall 2004 the National Screen Institute-Canada inaugurated a new NSI Aboriginal Youth Pilot Project, designed to provide First Nations young people, ages 18 - 30, with exposure to opportunities in film and television. Up to 12 participants with post-secondary education and/or industry experience and/or work experience in a related field are to be selected. The program lasts for 16 weeks, in two sessions held in Winnipeg. In the first 4-week session, workshops and seminars provide career information, including story development, writing styles, producing, job positions. In the following 12-week session participants receive a Work Experience Internship Placement with broadcasters and independent production companies in Winnipeg.

The pilot, based in Winnipeg where NSI is headquartered, is a prototype for a future national program. NSI is one of Canada's four nationally-recognized film and television training schools; over 80% of NSI graduates find work in the film and television industry. It operates with on-going funding from Telefilm Canada through Canadian Heritage and Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism. Additional support comes from Global Television Network, CTV and CBC Television, and from Warner Bros. Canada Inc. For more information contact Chris Vajcner, NSI Media Relations, at 204-957-2998 or email chris.vajcner@nsi-canada.ca.
11/18/04

Deadline: September 25, 2006
Independent Lens Seeks Submissions
for Fall 2007 - Spring 2008
Independent Lens, a 29-week national PBS series showcasing
independent documentary programming and dramas, is seeking
submissions of completed films for consideration for broadcast during
the October 2007 - June 2008 season. Jointly curated by ITVS and PBS,
Independent Lens welcomes the full spectrum of film -- from history
to drama to animation to shorts to social-issue subjects.
For more information, visit: www.pbs.org/independentlens/submissions.html
2/27/07

Deadline: January 19, 2007
Media That Matters Film Festival
The 7th annual Media That Matters Film Festival, organized by MediaRights.org, selects high-impact film and video shorts, digital stories and new media for streaming online with links to "Take Action" websites. Works are also touring the country through community screenings, and a DVD of the Festival is available for educators and activists. Although no Native productions were included this year, producers of short films should consider applying at the next call for entries. This festival's commitment to diversity, youth involvement, and community is excellent, and MediaRights.org's use of the Internet to bring independent media about issues to more people is inspiring.
For more information go to www.mediarights.org.
2/27/07

NAPT announces Producer Opportunity Fund
With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NAPT has established the Producer Opportunity Fund, with quarterly application deadlines. The purpose of the fund is to provide up to $500 in matching grants to Native film and TV producers to help them with professional development through attending workshops, film festivals, or appropriate conferences. Sources for matching funds might include the producer's tribe, state arts agencies or other organizations.
The application form and guidelines are available on-line at www.nativetelecom.org/producers_guidelines_oppfund.html.
8/22/05

Producer Opportunity Fund
Native American Public Telecommunications
NAPT announces a funding initiative to encourage participation by filmmakers in professional development activities that enhance knowledge of areas such as TV production, marketing, business development, or involvement with PBS-sponsored workshops. The fund is open to individuals with a track record in production of programs about Native American subject matter. Awards are for no more than $500. Applications are reviewed quarterly and must be received by October 15 for activities scheduled after December 1, January 15 for activities after March 1, April 15 for activities after June 1, and July 15 for activities after Septembr 1.
For information e-mail native@unl.edu or go to www.nativetelecom.org and click on "Festivals & Workshops."
8/07/05

Interactive Technology Project is a laboratory-like setting for the development of interactive computer environments, installations and instruments. It is an initiative of New York's Harvestworks with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. National and international artists are invited to submit proposals for the creation of new works. For more information go to www.harvestworks.org and click "Artist's Opportunities" or contact info@harvestworks.org.
11/18/04

Deadline: January 30, 2006
IMAG Media Arts Training Program, Production & Post Production
Vancouver, British Columbia
The Indigenous Media Arts Group (IMAG) is pleased to announce four month-long art and video workshops for emerging indigenous artists. Participants will make art projects on CD, the Internet, or video. Students will receive feedback on their work, learn interpretative theories on media, and construct an arts resume. Major funding is provided by Canadian Heritage through its National Arts Training Contribution Program. Classes are free and will be limited in size.
For more informationgo to www.imag-nation.com/youthprogram.html or call 604-871-0173. Application materials may be sent to imag@telus.net.
2/27/07

Applications accepted throughout the year
ABC Talent Development Internship Program
Paid internships are available for qualified undergraduate and graduate students in film and television. Full-time positions are available during the summer months, part-time positions during the school year.
For information and applications, visit www.abctalentdevelopment.com.
5/27/04

Deadline: applications are only accepted between April 15th and the May 15th postmark deadline
Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media
Named to honor the famous singer, actor and civil rights activist, the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media is part of the Funding Exchange. It supports media activism and grassroots organizing by funding pre-production and distribution of social issue film and video projects, and the production and distribution of radio projects. The maximum grant award is $20,000 and most grants range between $5,000 and $15,000. See the Funding Exchange Website for complete program guidelines and application instructions at www.fex.org.
2/27/07

The Independent Television Service (ITVS) offers funding initiatives for US and international producers for American television. For the most recent funding awards, go to www.itvs.org/producers/recentlyfunded.html. For more information about each fund and for application guidelines and forms go to www.itvs.org/producers/funding.html. "Additional Resources" provides pointers about making the application. The 2006 ITVS deadlines have been announced:

• Deadline: January 20, 2006. INTERNATIONAL CALL. The International Media Development Fund (IMDF) provides production funds for independent producers who are non-US citizens, helping them create documentaries for American television. Through the fund, ITVS works with producers to bring compelling international stories to audiences to increase understanding of people, cultures and viewpoint in other parts of the world. Go to the website for guidelines and applications. For additional questions about the International Call, contact Joy_Scott@itvs.org or call 415-356-8383 x232.
  
• Deadline: February 10, 2006 OPEN CALL. The ITVS Open Call 2006 is "an open invitation to independent producers to propose single public television programs on any subject, from any viewpoint and in any genre, including drama, documentary, docudrama, animation, experimental work and innovative combinations. Producers applying must already have begun production, and funded projects must be completed within one year and in the main be of standard broadcast length for public television. ITVS provides clear guidelines on-line for making the proposal and tips for succeeding in the application. Projects in any genre and in any stage of development that "break traditional molds of exploring cultural, political, social or economic issues, take creative risks or give voice to those not usually heard." ITVS monies must be sufficient for completing the production. All production funding requests must be submitted according the Open Call guidelines, available on-line, and must be in the ITVS offices by August 5. Winners of previous Open Calls are posted on the website and in the ITVS publication Beyond the Box. Go to the ITVS website for application information. For additional questions about Open Call e-mail erin@itvs.org or call 415-356-8383 x259.
  
• Deadline: March 31, 2006. Diversity Development Fund (DDF). DDF seeks talented minority and indigenous producers to develop projects for public television. ITVS wants to support these artists to tell their stories and reach audiences often overlooked by conventional programming. Projects must be in the research or development phase, and cannot have begun production. Go to the ITVS website for applications. For more information email Kathryn_Washington@itvs.org or call 415-356-8383 x258.
  
• Deadline: May 25, 2006. LinCS. Local Independents Collaborating with Stations Fund (LInCS) provides matching funds (up to $100,000) to partnerships between public television stations and independent producers. To apply for LinCS funds, independents must first approach a public television station and establish a partnership. Single shows in any genre will be considered. Projects may be in any stage of development. Go to the ITVS website for applications. For further information email Rod_Minott@itvs.org or call 415-356-8383 x270.

1/12/06

The Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) fosters the development of the arts in Canada through grants, services and awards to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations. All programs are accessible to First Nations artists or arts organizations, and a special Collaborative Exchange program exists for travel to other Aboriginal communities.

• Grants to Film and Video Artists - Deadline: March 1 & October 1. The Grants to Film and Video Artists program assists Canadian artists working with film and video as means of artistic expression. This program offers Research/Creation Grants, Production Grants and Scriptwriting Grants.
• Travel Grants to Media Arts Professionals - At least six weeks before departure. Travel Grants assist Canadian, professional independent media artists to travel outside their home region on occasions important to the development of their artistic practice or career.
  
• The Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange Program assists individual artists or artistic groups from Aboriginal communities to travel to other Aboriginal communities to share traditional and/or contemporary knowledge or practices that will foster development of their artistic practice. Deadline: Feb. 1 for grants over $2,500. No deadline for grants under $2,500.
  
• Aboriginal Media Arts Program - Next deadline: April 1, 2006. The program offers grants to Aboriginal media artists to help them develop their careers and produce independent media artworks.

For more information and a list of alternate funding sources visit the CCA's website at www.canadacouncil.ca.
1/14/06

Applications accepted throughout the year
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
CPB has allocated up to $2 million to create "New Voices, New Media Fund" whose objectives are to harness new media by supporting the creation of mission-driven, diverse works, and to help artists develop the skills that new media demand. Project applications are accepted through the year.
For information go to www.cpb.org/tv/funding.
11/18/04

Applications accepted throughout the year
All Roads Film Project Seed Grants
National Geographic's new All Roads Film Project is now accepting submissions for applications for up to 10 seed grants to be awarded in 2004 for indigenous and minority filmmakers, with production classes and networking sessions with studio executives. The Project is also launching in 2004 the All Roads Film Festival.
For information and application form go to www.nationalgeographic.com/allroads (links are at the bottom left of the page) or contact the project by phone at (+ 1) (202) 857-7660 or by email at allroads@ngs.org.
2/12/04

Applications for scriptwriting and for film/video due: October 27, 2006
Applications for music composition due: November 3, 2006
Bush Artist Fellowships
The Bush Foundation provides significant financial support for the work of individual artists, including scriptwriting for stage and screen, for film and video, and for music composition. Eligible artists must be at least 25 years of age, and resident of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and one of 26 counties of western Wisconsin for at least 12 of the 36 months preceding the deadline. Artists are urged to attend one of the information meetings held in the region between August 30 and October 1. Final selection of the recipients will be made in April 2005 by an interdisciplinary panel.
For more information go to www.bushfoundation.org/fellowships/artists_overview.asp or contact Kathi Polley, program assistant, at 651-227-5222 or 800-605-7315. Email kpolley@bushfoundation.org.
2/27/07

Roy W. Dean Film & Video Grants and Workshops
Carole Dean, executor of the Roy W. Dean grants program and author of The Fine Art of Funding Your Film, conducts popular professional workshops for media makers throughout the US. In Spring 2004 these will be held in New York, San Francisco, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago and other cities, with proceeds going towards the organization's grants. Applications for Roy W. Dean Film and Writing Grants are due for the NYC grants on April 30, 2004 and for LA film grants on June 30, 2004. Applications for editing grants are due on September 30, 2004. Additional grants for video and for writing are described on the website.
For information on grant applications and for a list of the 2004 workshops go to www.fromtheheartproductions.com.
4/6/04

LEF Foundation consists of two organizations funding independent media. LEF, based in California, accepts proposals from throughout U.S. (except New England) for grants to "experimental film and video projects in any phase of production that challenge audiences with new ways of perceiving the world" and documentary projects about "lesser known culturally significant persons or events." Grants average $10,000. Filmmakers in New England should apply to the Moving Image Fund, that gives maximum grants: $5,000 for development; $25,000 for production and postproduction; and $5,000 for distribution. Nonprofit fiscal sponsorship is required. Among recent funding recipients is the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.
For more information visit www.lef-foundation.org. Call California at 707-963-9591 and New England at 617-492-5333.
2/20/04

Proposal Deadline: July 12, 2006
Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT)
Public Television Program Fund
NAPT is requesting production proposals for programs intended for national public television broadcast. Genres include documentary, performance, and cultural public affairs. This RFP is intended for projects that are ready for production or completion. Average awards are between $25,000 and $100.000.
Consideration will be given to:

• Works that focus on underrepresented or unheard voices
• Works that are innovative, original and compelling to a national audience
• Works that explore issues of universal interest from a unique Native American perspective
• Works that view the history of Native Americans through contemporary stories
• Works that use new technology and/or provide new models for television production

For more information and an application form contact: Native American Public Telecommunications, 1800 N. 33 St., Lincoln, NE 68583, Phone: (402) 472-3522 Email: native@unl.edu, www.nativetelecom.org/
2/27/07

NYFA Source
The New York Foundation for the Arts announces the launch of its new free information Website, the nation's most extensive database of awards, services, and publications for media makers and artists of all disciplines. Responsible for its development is NYFA program officer Matthew Deleget, who participated in the 2000 Native American Film and Video Festival's Native Networks workshop. NYFA Source identifies more than 2,700 awards, 2,100 services, 800 publications for artists. Artists may also receive over-the-phone personal assistance at 800-232-2789 (M-F, 1 - 5 ET)
Go to NYFA Source at www.nyfa.org
1/15/03

The MediaRights.org and AIVF Independent Producers' Outreach Toolkit
For a sneak peek of the toolkit, now available for purchase, go to http://mediarights.org.
1/15/03

Digital Futures: A Need to Know Policy Guide for Independent Filmmakers
From the quagmire of copyright to the broadband revolution, digital technology has changed the game for independent filmmakers everywhere. Digital Futures is a free guide designed to help independent filmmakers survive and thrive in the digital age. Funded by The Ford Foundation and presented by ITVS and the Center for Social Media at American University, the 51-page guide includes:

• explanation and glossary of digital technology terms
• expert analysis of today's legal, distribution and funding landscape
• directory of resource organizations for indies.

You can download the Digital Futures policy guide at www.itvs.org/digitalfutures
2/20/04

Fiscal Sponsorships
Fiscal sponsorship for media makers enables your media project to apply to funds that require tax-exempt status, which is required by many foundations and government agencies, under the sponsorship organization's tax-exempt status. Since contributions made to a fiscally sponsored project are tax-deductible, this may also encourage potential donors to support your media project. Seek out fiscal sponsorship from nonprofit media arts membership and technical services organizations in your area. Three in New York City are:

• Film/Video Arts Fiscal Sponsorship. No deadline for applications. Provided for FVA members. For information go to www.fva.com/membership/fiscal_main.htm.
• New York Foundation for the Arts Fiscal Sponsorship. No deadline. Sponsorships are for emerging organizations, with more than 75 organizations being sponsored currently. For more information call (212) 366-6900 ext. 230 or email sponsor@nyfa.org or go to www.nyfa.org and click on "For Artists" and then "Fiscal Sponsorship"
• Women Make Movies Fiscal Sponsorship. Application due March 15, 2004. For information go to www.wmm.com/assist/fiscalsponsorship.htm

2/20/04

Articles and E-publications

• The Fall 2005 issue of E-misferica, the on-line journal of NYU's Hemispheric Institute, is on Sexualities and Politics in the Americas. Edited by Antonio Prieto Stambaugh, the issue includes:Kerry Swanson's "The Noble Savage Was a Drag Queen: Hybridity and Transformation in Kent Monkman's Performance and Visual Art Interventions" On the work of the First Nations contemporary performance artist and Ana Cristina Ramírez Barreto's "Eréndira a caballo. Acoplamiento de cuerpos e historias en un relato de conquista y resistencia." On the representations of Eréndira, a Purepecha woman in colonial times.
  3/29/06
• The Summer 2005 issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly is focused on Indigenous Peoples Bridging the Digital Divide with articles on various key areas.

  Native film and video:

  • Jeremy Torrie's "An Epic Battle of Whales, Rabbits & Warriors" on the power of indigenous filmmakers to tell Native stories
    
  • Amalia Cordova's "The Money Problem" and "Resources for Indigenous Film and Video Makers" on funding and other resources
  • Agnes Portalewska's "Video for Life" on a Maya project in Guatemala

  Journalism and Native radio:

  • Guy Buchholtzer's "Missing: Where are the First Nations in the National Media"
    
  • Mark Camp and Agnes Portalewska's "A Question of Frequency: Community Radio in Guatemala:

  Activist technology and cyberspace:

  • Karen Oman's "Activist Technology 101"
    
  • Jason Lewis and Skawennati Tricia Fragnito's "Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace"
    

  Among the other articles is one on a Cultural Survival project to develop cultural exchange among young people in Brazil through the Warã Archive Tour of Xavante artifacts and photographs. As an organization, Cultural Survival is concerned with defense of the human rights of indigenous and ethnic minority peoples throughout the world.
  For additional information go to www.cs.org.
  8/6/05

• The Hemispheric Institute at New York University has announced the transformation of its newsletter into a new e-journal E-misferica, Performance and Politics in the Americas, a peer-reviewed, biannual publication. Issues are thematically structured and prepared by guest editors around topics that explore the different uses and interrelations between performance and politics in the hemisphere. Guest editors are responsible for assembling each issue's written, digital, and interactive materials, thus fostering a dialogue between artists, academics, and activists from throughout the continent. Each issue has regular features, such as book and performance reviews and a comments area. For questions or comments, contact Marcela Fuentes, newsletter/ e-journal managing editor, at hemi.ejournal@nyu.edu with any questions or comments.
  The Spring 2005 issue of E-misferica is on Indigenous Performance, edited by Raquel Chapa and Jolene Rickard, and includes

  Essays:
  Tamara Underiner's "Performance and Mayan Identity on the Yucatan Peninsula"
  Sarah Jo Townsend's "Black Indians and Savage Christians"
  Claudia Briones and Ana Ramos' " La historia de 'Benetton contra los mapuches'"
  Candice Hopkins' "'Cistemaw iyiniw ohci:' A Performance by Cheryl L'Hirondelle"
  Erick Bessa Pinheiro's "A identidade do Amazonas expressa no folklore do Boi-Bumbá"

  Short Articles
  John Mohawk's "Bolivia's Indians Confront Globalization"
  Luke Warm Water's "South Dakota is the Mississippi of the North"
  George Horse Capture's excerpt from book on Powwow
  Terry Jones' "Casino Nation"
  Kristin Dowell's "Dana Claxton"

  Multimedia by Native artists on-line-an installation by Gail Tremblay, programs from Native radio stations in the US and Canada, profiles selected from NMAI's "Living Voices" radio series, and "Sovereignty" a video project by Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie.

  Book Reviews of
  Diana Taylor's The Archive and the Repertoire, Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas
  Lourdes Arizpe, ed., Los retos culturales de Mexico (review in English)
  Jan Rus, Rosalva Aido Hernandez Castillo and Shannan Mattiace, eds., Mayan Lives, Mayan Utopias: The Indigenous Peoples of Chiapas and the Zapatista Rebellion (review in Spanish)
  
  Performance Reviews of
  Brazilian show: Contos Indigenas/Indigenous Tales
  James Luna's The Shame-man
  Douglas Miles' production, Pop Life 2 presented at Princeton University

  Regular features on the Hemispheric Institute site include interesting Links and an E-gallery. In this issue "Visualizing Indigeneity" posts websites of artists who attended the 2005 Hemispheric Encuentro in Brazil: Katsitsahawi Capozzo, Pedro Linger Gasiglia, Quetzal Guerrero, James Luna, Joaquin Newman, Julio Pantoja, Jolene Rickard, and the Chiapas Photography Project.

  E-misférica is a richly-rewarding web journal with interactive elements, media, and reports on exciting new work in performance and media arts and is available at www.hemisphericinstitute/journal.
  10/24/05

• The Spring 2005 issue of American Indian magazine features an interview with Alanis Obomsawin by Micol Marotti, pp. 36-41. Among the filmmaker's recent awards are the Order of Canada and the Pioneer Award for Non-fiction Filmmaking of the International Documentary Association. She is serving on the Board of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and the Advisory Committee for Multiculturalism and Issues of Equity at Concordia University.
  10/24/05
• The July/August 2004 issue of The Independent, a national publication for independent film and videomakers, features "Native Visions: The National Museum of the American Indian's Film and Video Center" by Sarah Wildberger (pp. 32-24), which describes the work of NMAI's FVC, including comments about the Center from a number of notable Native and other independent filmmakers. This issue is entitled "The Race Issue" and its editor refers to FVC as one of three "exceptionally cool organizations" working for the strength of culturally diverse media that are featured in this issue. Illustrations for the article came from Evan Adams and Jan Padgett's Kla Ah Men and Vincent Blackhawk Aamodt's The Ghost Riders.
  For information contact www.aivf.org.
  7/01/04
• In the Winter 2004/2005 issue of the cultural magazine Bomb, the feature article on film, "Daniel Flores y Ascencio" by Carlos B. Córdova, discusses the Salvadorean poet and filmmaker's documentary Ama: The Memory of Time, about the 1932 indigenous uprising in El Salvador that led to the massacre of more than 40,000 Indians by the National Guard, and speaks with the filmmaker about the legacy of El Salvador's civil wars.
  6/22/05
• New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has launched NYFA Current as a free national e-publication, reporting on latest news and happenings in the arts world, but with greater emphasis on the artist's voice. NYFA is an organization actively engaged with thousands of contemporary artists from across the country.
  To subscribe visit www.nyfa.org/current or email current@nyfa.org.
  8/12/04
• In the April 2004 issue of The Independent, editor-in-chief Rebecca Carroll honors public television; the versatile journalist played The Interviewer in Sherman Alexie's The Business of Fancy Dancing. In this issues' feature, "Diversity Initiatives: Are They Really Making a Difference," author Angela Tucker reviews the impact of The National Black Programming Consortium, The Sundance Institute's Native American Initiative, Tribeca All Access Program, and IFP/Los Angeles Project Involve.
  The Independent is published monthly by the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. For more information go to www.aivf.org.
  4/17/04
• In the April 2004 issue of Native Peoples, a feature article "Native Youth Media Project" by Valerie Taliman (Navajo) focuses on the work of the Akatubi Digital Film and Music Academy of the Owens Valley Career Development Center in Bishop, California. This energetic youth program is headed by Paul W. Chavez (Bishop Paiute), formerly tribal chairman, who has devoted 25 years to economic development initiatives, and created this project to develop career opportunities in film and music. The all-star faculty includes actor/director Kimberly Norris-Guerrero ( Colville/Salish-Kootenai/Cherokee) and her husband-producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Johnny Guerrero (Yaqui and Tarahumara), actor/producer Yvonne Russso (Sioux), and film director Randy Redroad (Cherokee). Other instructors are producer/director Heather Rae (Cherokee), Native writer/editor William Thoms and Native performer/songwriter Star Nayea, who won Best Independent Recording at the 4th Native American Music Awards.
  For more information go to www.nativepeoples.com/.
  4/19/04

Books and Catalogs

• Wiping the War Paint off the Lens by Beverly R. Singer (2001, University of Minnesota Press) traces the history of Native experiences as subjects, actors, and creators of films, and develops a critical framework for approaching Native film and video. In both cultural and personal terms, Singer sees Native media as part of a larger struggle for "cultural sovereignty"--the right to maintain and protect cultures and traditions.
  8/12/04

• Wicazo Sa Review, edited by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (Crow Creek Sioux) and published by University of Minnesota Press, announces the publication in fall 2001 of a special issue on film and video, Vol. 16, No. 2
  Articles include:

  • Luana Ross and Daniel Hart, "Guest Editors' Introduction"
  • Thomas Grayson Colonnese, "Indian Summer"
  • Frank H. Tyro, "Localism and Low Power Television on the Flathead Indian Reservation"
  • Darryl Robes Kipp, "Images of Native People as Seen Through the Eyes of the Blackbird"
  • Beverly R. Singer, "Video América Indigena/Video Native America"
  • Steven Leuthold, "Rhetorical Dimensions of Native American Documentary"
  • Sam Pack, "The Best of Both Worlds: Otherness, Appropriation, and Identity in Thunderheat"
  • Robert J. Conley and Sean Teuton, "Writing Home"
  • John Mihelich, "Smoke or Signals?: American Popular Culture and the Challenge to Hegemonic Images of American Indians in Native American Film"
  • Ronald McFarland, "Teaching Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues"

  For more information go to http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/wic/

Websites about Independent Media

• Independent Lens
  The ITVS publication online has an excellent Resources List for viewers and for indie filmmakers.
  www.pbs.org/independentlens/resources.html
• Media Rights.Org
  A on-line organization for media arts producers with comprehensive information, extensive listings and more
  http://mediarights.org
• The Documentary Centre
  On-line information on National Film Board of Canada films
  www.onf.ca

Internet sites providing Native news in areas including media arts, film, radio and television, or links to numerous Native Internet sites and directories

• American Indian Directories and Links (by Jesse Cooday)
  http://cooday8.tripod.com/resource.htm
• Index of Native American Video
  Resources on the Internet Links to media, as part of a general reference Internet site
  www.hanksville.org/NAresources/
  
• Native American Sites (by Lisa Mitten)
  Links
  www.nativeculture.com/lisamitten/indians.html
• NativeWeb
  Abundant news and well-chosen highlights such as recommended publications and Internet sites
  www.nativeweb.org
• Turtle Island
  www.turtleisland.org
  For information on film and video, enter Website. Using pull-down at the left, select "Movies" and a Web page on Film/Video will appear. Using pull-down on this page, click on the topic to read article.

Application postmark deadline: August 31, 2005
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation
Film Scholars Program
This program "supports the creation of innovative and significant works of film scholarship about aesthetic, cultural, educational, historical, theoretical, or scientific aspects of theatrical motion pictures." Award: $25,000 each for two film scholars. Eligible applicants must be established scholars, writiers, or researchers with a significant record of achievement seeking funding for an English-language book, multimedia presentation, curatorial project, CD-ROM or Internet site. Students are ineligible.
For information contact program coordinator Greg Beal at gbeal@oscars.org. Phone: 310-247-3010. www.oscars.org/foundation.
7/31/05

In May 2004, as part of Native Lens, a new initiative in partnership with youth from the Swinomish Reservation spent two working with local filmmakers, producers, and actors Eddie Spears (Lakota) and Cody Lightning, exploring images of American Indians in the media, and learning the skills to create their own short works. Finished productions are available to view at www.nativelens.org. The Native Lens project is "dedicated to developing sustainable youth media programs in partnership with Pacific Northwest tribes that give Native youth the skills it takes to tell their own stories through digital media making."
For more information call 206-778-8394, or email Annie Silverstein or Tracy Rector at nativelens@mac.com.
7/12/04

Deadline: April 14, 2006
CPB/PBS Producers' Academy
Up to tweny scholarships will be offered to producers for a seven-day training workshop at WGBH in Boston, June 17 - 23, 2006. Seminar topics will include proposal writing, production planning, directing, screenwriting, editing, and post production. Critiques of current projects will also be given. To apply, go to www.cpb.org/grants/06producersacademy.
3/29/06

The September/October 2005 issue of Release Print includes Daniel Schott's "Life Support for Artists," an interview with Ruby Lerner of Creative Capital on current funding landscapes and the "way to stand your ground."
10/24/05

The September 2005 issue of The Independent includes "Looking for Funds In All the Possible Places" by Derek Loosvelt; a profile of Cynthia Lopez, marketer for P.O.V.-The American Documentary, by Kate Bernstein; and a review of a new biography of Spike Lee. The "Doc Doctor" column focuses on calculating the need for archival footage and the best classes for mid-career filmmakers. "Festival Circuit" looks at the Silverdocs Summit.
10/24/05

The Cadernos de Antropologia e Imagem, published annually by the Center for Anthropology and Image at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, focused in Volume 18 on "Photography, cinema and the internet." The issue includes "O gigante de Martin Chambi" by Fernando de Tacca, an analysis of a photo by the Quechua photographer, Martin Chambi (1891-1973), who worked in Cuzco and its environs between 1920 and 1959.
10/24/05

The Spring 2004 issue of Visual Anthropology Review published Carlos Y. Flores' "Indigenous Video, Development and Shared Anthropology: A Collaborative Experience with Maya-Q'eqchi Filmmakers in Post-War Guatemala," pp. 31-44.
10/24/05

The Film + Video Center is putting together a selection of published articles and reviews about Native American films for study at the National Museum of the American Indian. The first is a "Companion to Powwow Highway," in honor of the DVD release of the film and its screening at NMAI in December 2004. The "Companion" can be read on-site at the NMAI's Resource Centers in New York and Washington, DC.

Deadline: May 12, 2006
NSI New Voices
Winnipeg, Manitoba
The National Screen Institute of Canada is inviting applications to NSI New Voices, a training program for young Aboriginal Canadians, aged 18 to 35, who want to work in film and television. NSI New Voices, formerly known as the NSI Aboriginal Youth Pilot Project, will be co-managed by executive producer Lisa Meeches and screenwriter Melissa Kajpust. Up to 12 participants with post-secondary education and/or industry experience and/or work experience in a related field are to be selected.

The program lasts for 14 weeks, in two sessions held in Winnipeg. In the first 6-week session, workshops and seminars provide career information, including story development, writing styles, producing, and professional roles. In the following 8-week session participants receive a Work Experience Internship Placement with broadcasters and independent production companies in Winnipeg.

The program, based in Winnipeg where NSI is headquartered, is a prototype for a future national program. NSI is one of Canada's four nationally-recognized film and television training schools; over 80% of NSI graduates find work in the film and television industry. It operates with on-going funding from Telefilm Canada through Canadian Heritage and Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism. Additional support comes from Global Television Network, CTV and CBC Television, and from Warner Bros. Canada Inc.
To apply, go to www.nsi-canada.ca/newvoices/registration.shtml.
4/5/06

Independent Lens, produced by ITVS for American public television, is a first broadcast venue for major independent documentaries and features. Among the works being screened in the new Fall 2005 season is the feature documentary Trudell (director: Heather Rae (Cherokee)). Two other productions taking up Native issues in US and Bolivia are Race is the Place (directors: Rick Tejada-Flores and Ray Telles) and The Devil's Miner (directors: Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani).
8/4/05

Application deadline: September 30
Apprenticeship and Internship Opportunities in the Arts for First Nations Youth
Canada's National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) invites applications for financial assistance for Aboriginal Canadian residents who are:

• Enrolled in an undergraduate programs at accredited Canadian universities/technical colleges in arts fields, including media arts.
• Enrolled in graduate programs Fine Arts Studies inside or outside of Canada
• Accepted for an apprenticeship, internship with a media center, provided you have completed formal studies

Applications are accepted no sooner than two weeks prior to deadline.
NAAF is devoted to excellence and providing the educational tools necessary for Aboriginal youth to achieve brighter futures.
For more information contact: Lorre Jensen ljensen@naaf.ca or Jill James jjames@naaf.ca Tel: 1 800 329-9780, www.naaf.ca.
7/12/04

The Independent Television Services (ITVS), has named director Chris Eyre to the advisory board for the public television series Independent Lens. ITVS panelists who evaluated funding proposals for this year's awards included Native indies Dan Bigbee, Lena Carr, and Lisette Marie Flanary, and film programmer Bird Runningwater.
8/30/04

The Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) announced its 2003 television award winners at their 19th annual convention in Green Bay, WI, June 18 - 21. For General Excellence in Television News, Mary Kim Titla of KPNX-TV took 1st Place and Carol Morin of CBC Radio One took 2nd Place. Individual Native producer Duncan McCue of CBC-TV News took 1st Place for Best News Story Public Apology, and took 1st and 2nd Places for Best Feature Story, The Burns Lake Banker and Wrestling with the Referendom. For Best Documentary, Tracey Jack of CHBC-TV took 1st Place for Crying in the Dark and 2nd Place for REZcovery. The Richard LaCourse Award was given to Duncan McCue for The Protectors.
For more NAJA information go to www.naja.org.
1/31/04

Twelve Native American and Pacific Islander storytellers, writers, producers and directors have been selected to participate in the NAPT/PIC Workshop in Storytelling for the Screen sponsored by Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) and Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), September 7 - 11 in Honolulu, HI.

NAPT has selected:

• Juliana D. Brannum (Comanche) for a documentary The Creek Runs Red
• Michael Chapman (Menominee) for a documentary Water Flowing Together: The Life and Career of Jock Soto
• Michelle Marie Danforth (Oneida), Three Corners of Oneida
• Charles Red Corn (Osage), narrative film, A Pipe for February
• Lily E. Shangreaux (Oglala Lakota), narrative film, Arrow Space
• Brian Wescott (Athabascan/Yup'ik), documentary Finding Caleb, Harvard's Lost Indian College

PIC selected Lisa Altieri, Ne'eiehu Anthony, Alani Apio, Vince Kealoha Lucero, Dan Taulapapa McMullin, and Meleanna Aluli Meyer. Four seasoned filmmakers and producers will work with the participants and serve as mentors throughout the year: Hanay Geiogamah of American Indian Studies Center at UCLA, Maori director Merata Mita, Donald Thoms, VP of production at Discovery Channel, and and Tsui Ling Toomer, director of digital media production at the Portland (OR) Art Institute. Both NAPT and PIC receive funding from the US Corporation for Public Broadcasting to support this professional development opportunity for producing work for public broadcast.
8/31/04

In Spring 2005 Alanis Obomsawin was honored by the 27th International Women's Film Festival at Créteil, Quebec with a large retrospective of her work, and was featured as a "rebel with a cause" by CitizenShift, a website of the National Film Board of Canada dedicated to citizen engagement,
8/7/05

Among the 2004-2005 readers and panelists for ITVS' selection process for program funding were independent producer Aaron Carr, Bird Runningwater of the Sundance Institute and Shirley Sneve of Native American Public Telecommunications.

Among the filmmakers to whom ITVS awarded 2005 funding for new public television productions are Anne Makepeace, director of Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian**, and Barbara Ettinger, a producer of the Native American film festival "Wind & Glacier Voices" presented in 1992 and 1993 in New York.
8/1/05

The 2005 Sundance Film Festival awarded the World Cinema Audience Favorite Award to Canadian independent Peter Raymont for his documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire. Raymont was the co-producer with James Cullingham in 1991 of As Long as the Rivers Flow, a series of five award-winning documentaries on First Nations issues: Starting Fire with Gunpowder (director: David Poisey (Inuit)), The Learning Path (director: Loretta Todd (Metis)), Tikanagan (director: Gil Cardinal (Métis)), Flooding Job's Garden (director: Boyce Richardson), and Time Immemorial (director: Hugh Brody).
7/31/05

Selected for the Native Forum Filmmakers' Workshop, January 24 - 28, at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival were four filmmakers: Nanobah Becker (Navajo), Na'alehu Anthony (Native Hawaiian), Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache and Navajo) and Xicana filmmaker Aurora Guerrero. The were invited to attend the festival and participate in a series of one-on-one meetings with established filmmaker and industry leaders. The Filmmakers' Workshop was made possible through a grant from the Ford Foundation New Works Initiative.
7/31/05

The Native American Journalists Association announced the NAJA 2005 Media Awards at their 21st annual convention in Lincoln, Nebraska, August 11 - 14. For Best Television News, Duncan McCue fof CBC TV News won 1st Place for "Art Works" and 3rd Place for "Toxic Shores." For Best Feature Story, McCue won 1st Place for "A Father's Dread." Best Television News, 2nd Place was won by Carla Robinson of CBC Newsworld for "First Peoples." Best Feature Story 2nd Place was won by Haven Daley for "Back Yard Bison" for WLVT-TV and 3rd Place was won by Greg Taylor for "Montana Metis" for Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
For more NAJA information go to www.naja.com.
8/22/05

IAIA Summer Film & Television Workshop
The Institute of American Indian Arts' 2nd annual Summer Film & Television Workshop was held June 13 - July 22, 2005, on the IAIA campus in Santa Fe. Major funding was provided by the ABC Entertainment Television Group Talent Development Programs and the Walt Disney Studios, with additional support from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Participants in this year's workshop were Tristan Ahtone, Jai Antonio, Angelo Baca, Kelly Byars, Reuben Chinana, Shonie De La Rosa, Rory Erler Wakemup, Leslie Gee, Sena Harjo, Melissa Henry, Terry Jones, Nigel Long Soldier, Laala Matias, Robyn Mia Pebeahsy, Doug Two Bulls, Marty Two Bulls, Jan Woomavoyah, and Thomas Yeahpau. In August during Indian Market in Santa Fe, productions from the workshop were continuously screened at the IAIA Museum in cooperation with the Native Cinema Showcase. Workshop director is Beverly Morris (Aleut) and faculty included Beverly Singer (Tewa and Navajo).
9/30/05

William Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo) and co-producer Duana Butler are the winners of the 2005 Roy W. Dean Los Angeles Video Grant for the documentary project Miss Navajo, about the 53-year-old Navajo beauty and traditional skills contest and one woman's search for a better life. The award offers both funding and numerous in-kind professional contributions to the project.
9/30/05

This year's INPUT, hosted by ITVS in San Francisco from May 1 - 6, 2005, included a special focus on indigenous media and international diversity. This annual public television conference, which first screened in 1978 in Milan, brings together program directors and commissioning editors from public television networks from around the world, as well as production companies and independent filmmakers who create works for public broadcast. This was the first INPUT to be held in the United States since 1999, and drew thousands of attendees from around the world.

With the location in the US, Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) sponsored 12 Native producers as a way of exposing them to national and international opportunities. Frank Blythe, executive director of NAPT participated in the panel "Indigenous Media: Journalism or Identity Politics?" as did James Mather, CEO of Maori Television in Auckland, New Zealand. Blythe noted that in the US the Public Broadcasting System typically airs 10 - 12 hours per year of Native American-themed programming, and looked to INPUT as an opportunity for more international networking. Among the other participating organizations was Sami Radio, the indigenous radio network for the Arctic Circle in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
For more information go to www.input2005.org
8/4/05

Director Maureen Gosling (Blossoms of Fire),on September 20, 2005, was a guest on "Everywoman" on BBC Radio, in a program concerned with "matriarchies," and spoke about the Zapotecs of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and their struggle with WalMart.
10/10/05

In American Indian's Summer 2005 issue, "Norval Morrisseau" by Carmen Robertson, pp. 46-54, focuses on the Anishnabe artist, the influential founder of a unique Aboriginal art style, who will have a major retrospective exhibition at Canada's National Gallery in 2006. Morrisseau's art is the source for the animation in Tales of Wesakechak from the series Stories of the Seventh Fire; a studio visit with the artist is featured in a documentary about making the series.
9/30/05

Indigenous Journalism in the 21st Century
On October 1 - 3, 2005, in Mexico City, an international seminar was organized by the International Indigenous News Agency on "Indigenous Peoples and the New Technologies of Communication and Information: The Way to Túnez." Approximately 30 indigenous journalists, media makers and community authorities in Mexico and other parts of the world attended the sessions, held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The meeting is in preparation for Phase II of the World Summit on the Information Society to convene in Tunisia, November 16 - 18, 2005, in which indigenous media makers and journalists will gather from different peoples and nations of the world. Phase I was convened in 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland, where 175 nations adopted a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action for a broader world-wide development platform.
10/10/05

Independent Lens On-Line Shorts
Independent filmmakers are invited to submit short works of 10 minutes or less in length and in all genres for the first-ever Independent Lens Online Shorts Festival. The Festival offers a grand prize of $2,500 and consideration for a premiere on ITVS's PBS television series Independent Lens. Ten additional winners will receive $1,000 each and will be showcased on the Independent Lens website at www.PBS.org, one of the top visited sites on the Internet.
For more information, contact shorts@itvs.org or visit www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/shortsfest/
4/3/06

Tribeca All Access Connects Program has announced 33 winning projects to be included in its 4-day gathering, May 1 - 4, 2006, during the Tribeca Film Festival. Opening day of TAA Connects will be held this year at the National Museum of the American Indian. Participating directors and screenwriters come from the African-American, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander communities. The Native American projects selected are:

• Before the Beast Returns (director/writer: Sterlin Harjo. Co-producers: Chad Burris and Ted Kroeber)
  
• Mosquito y Mari (director/writer: Aurora Guerrero)
  
• Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn & Back (director: Reaghan Tarbell. Producer: Paul M. Rickard)

More than 500 industry meetings, in one-on-one half hour sessions, will be arranged for the filmmakers in this forum, intended for established directors to debut their newest projects and for new directors to launch projects. In addition, one filmmaking team each in narrative and documentary will be awarded the Tribeca All Access Creative Awards. Among the alumni of the program are Chris Eyre, William Luther, Randy Redroad, and J. Carlos Peinado, whose film Waterbuster will premiere in this year's Tribeca Film Festival.
4/2/06

In association with its exhibition "Changing Hands 2," the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe is presenting a film series, March 19 - April 23, 2006. The exhbit, which originated at New York's Museum of Art and Design, also includes a video installation of the animation Raven Tales (director: Chris Kientz and Simon James).
Each program will be introduced by speakers, and the works selected include The Voyage Home (director: Karin Williams), Wind Grass Song: The Voice of Our Grandmothers (directors: J. Birchum and T. Breitling), and Looking Toward Home (director: Dale Kruzic. Producers: Beverly Morris and Conroy Chino). A program of short works for children will be shown on April 15. For a complete listing of films and speakers go to www.iaiancad.org/museum and click on "Calendar."
4/6/06

Friday April 21, 2006
Native Shorts at the Circle
New York, New York
The American Indian Community House will be presenting a screening of shorts by Nanobah Becker (Navajo), Terry Jones (Seneca), Sally Kewayosh (Ojibway/Cree), and Brooke Swaney (Blackfeet). The filmmakers will be present to discuss their works.
For more information, go to www.aich.org/calendar.php, or call Joseph Jeffers, 212-598-0100 x 259.
4/18/06

Deadline: August 31, 2006
Creative Spirit Script-to-Screen Competition
InterTribal Entertainment of the Southern California Indian Center is launching a Creative Spirit Script-to-Screen Short Film Competition. American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian screenwriters over the age of 18 are encouraged to submit their scripts. Screenplays of 8-12 pages in all genres will be considered, but must deal with a contemporary Native American character or subject.

From October 21 - 27, the two winning screenplays will be made into short films in workshops with Native American cast and crew. The winning screenwriters will be invited to participate in the production of the films, provided with an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles and scheduled meetings with an industry mentor. Screenwriters have the opportunity to elect to work on the production as a director, an actor, or simply as an observer. A public screening and awards ceremony will take place on October 28. A submission fee of $20 is charged for entering. For more information, go to www.geocities.com/scicproductions/SpiritInfo.html or contact jameslujan@nativefilm.com.
7/24/06

ITVS-Independent Television Service
NEW Deadline: January 12, 2007 OPEN CALL (Round 1). The ITVS Open Call 2007 is "an open invitation to independent producers to propose single US public television programs on any subject, from any viewpoint and in any genre