More than $3.4 million in grants awarded to local arts and culture organizations

Upstander Project is thrilled to be one of the grantees as part of this year’s Boston Cultural Council/Reopen Creative Boston funding!

Cherokee filmmaker Brit Hensel secures place in Sundance Film Festival history

Congratulations to Reciprocity Project team member Brit Hensel who is the first woman who is a citizen of Cherokee Nation to direct an official selection at the Sundance festival!

Sundance puts spotlight on Indigenous films

“Hensel is among nine Indigenous filmmakers featured at this year's acclaimed Sundance Film Festival, telling stories of traditions, ambitions and aspirations in short and feature-length films and multimedia productions. The festival runs Jan. 20-30 in Park City, Utah, but will not feature in-person events this year because of the pandemic.”

New Film ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They've Been Taught) to Make World Premiere at 2022 Sundance Film Festival

ᎤᏕᏲᏅ "Udeyonv" (pronounced oo-de-yo-NUH), a new documentary short film by Brit Hensel with Keli Gonzales, is an official selection in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. This film is one of seven films from season one of Reciprocity Project, a co-production of Nia Tero and Upstander Project.

Yo-Yo Ma visits the Grand Canyon to play and listen to Indigenous perspectives

This piece looks at the famous cellists second trip in “a project to explore how culture can help us strengthen relationships to nature and to each other.” His first trip, to Maine, is documented in one of Reciprocity Projects forthcoming short films.

Penobscots don’t want ancestors’ scalping to be whitewashed

“In “Bounty,” the three participants describe having nightmares of Penobscots being chased through the woods, and discuss the dehumanization and massacre of their people.

“When you learn about a people’s humanity, that affects how you treat my kids, how you vote on public policy, how you may view my people,” Dana said.”