The iinnii (Blackfeet for buffalo) and Indigenous filmmakers are having a moment. 4th World Media Lab alumni Ivy and Ivan MacDonald (Blackfeet siblings and filmmakers) and Daniel Glick’s (Thunderheart Films) award-winning feature documentary, Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya, will be playing at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) Cinema Uptown May 16 and 18, with the filmmakers, their families, and a new cohort of 4th “World Indigenous filmmakers in attendance. Opening this feature is the short film Tahnaanooku’, written by Indigenous filmmaker Justin Deegan (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation, Oglala, Hunkpapa) and co-produced by Seattle-based Tracy Rector. It is part of the second season of the Reciprocity Project, which includes Indigenous shorts from around the world that explore a return to land, languages, and reciprocal relationships.”

“Amber Sealey’s Out of My Mind will open the 10th annual Bentonville Film Festival, which aims to amplify female, nonbinary, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and people with disabilities’ voices in entertainment. 

The 10th edition of the festival, which was founded and is chaired by Geena Davis, runs June 10-16 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The lineup of premieres — including narrative, documentary, short film and episodic selections — was announced Tuesday by the Bentonville Film Foundation, founding partner Walmart and presenting sponsor Coca-Cola. The Hollywood Reporter is a media sponsor of the event.”

Continue reading at The Hollywood Reporter.

“Two Indigenous-made storytelling projects supported by Nia Tero have been honored by the 2023 Webby Awards. Seedcast, a podcast about Indigenous experiences of relationship to the Earth, is nominated for Best Podcast Episode in the area of Arts & Culture. Reciprocity Project, a global storytelling movement supporting Indigenous creatives, is an honoree in the category of "Websites and Mobile Sites - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion."

“Nothing but love for Kenneth Roberts, Edna St. Vincent Millay, E. B. White, and other old-school heavyweights, but the last 25 years have also given us a bumper crop of motley, memorable Maine storytelling — and not all of it on the page. We sifted through the last quarter-century of Maine media and plucked 25 gems — a sundry set of books, films, digital projects, and more — that’ll hold up in another 25 years.”

“In one episode of the docu-series Reciprocity Project, Connecticut-based educator and member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe Chris Newell teaches acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma a pow-wow song. Together, they play at sunrise, "singing up the sun" in the tradition of the Wabanaki or People of the Dawnland, a confederation of four tribes in Maine including Passamaquoddy.”

“Special mentions to Dale Dickey in “A Love Song.” Season one of the Boston-produced Reciprocity Project, particularly “Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn).” Donkeys. They deserve better. And a shout out to Providence documentary producer-director Sara Archambault (“Riotsville, U.S.A.," “No Time to Fail,” “A Decent Home”), and Boston documentary director-festival founder Sabrina Aviles (“Raising the Floor,” CineFest Latino Boston) for knocking 2022 out of the park.”

“This was the first step of many, and the right direction for healing.” Listen to an interview with filmmakers Lauren Stevens and Chris Newell.

“According to the United Nations, areas managed by indigenous peoples are among the most biodiverse and well-conserved on the planet.

The Reciprocity Project is a series of 7 Indigenous-made films exploring the concept of reciprocity in Indigenous cultures, or “the way of life that centers mutual exchange and sharing amongst all beings, past, present and future, seen and unseen, and the Earth.” And through these films and Indigenous perspectives, the project aims to spark conversation and action on the climate crisis.”