Rebellious Spirit: International Indigenous Short Films
Overview
NEW AND RECENT WORK BY INDIGENOUS FILMMAKERS WHO DEFY EXPECTATIONS
Tying together the disparate and richly textured films in this shorts program are messages of rebellion, tradition juxtaposed with visions for the future, spectral visitations and ecological justice, and the interplay between personal introspection and fantastical worldbuilding. Presented in conjunction with the special exhibition, Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me, this showcase of new and recent films offers global Indigenous perspectives across narrative, documentary, and experimental genres. A core message in Gibson’s practice is that Indigenous cultures have not been extinguished or erased but are thriving—and we see direct evidence of that sentiment in this selection of work by filmmakers who defy expectations of what those cultures can or should look like. Curated by Bird Runningwater, former Director of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, who has worked to build an Indigenous Film and Television presence for 25 years, championing Indigenous storytellers and creating representation of Indigenous peoples globally.
Introduction and post-screening Q&A with Bird Runningwater and filmmakers Roberto Fatal, Fox Maxy, and Adam Piron.
About the Films:
Aht-Kahn-Hain (Time Without End)
Adam Piron | 2021 | 7:44 min | USA
Inspired by the discovery of his ancestor in a silent film, Aht-Kahn-Hain (Time Without End) builds a reflection of filmmaker Adam Piron's exploration of Kiowa concepts of time, memory, and communication from traditional calendars, archival footage, and excerpts from Pulitzer Prize willing Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday's 1992 address to the UN.
In My Hand
Marja Helander and Liselotte Wajstedt | 2025 | 23:23 mins | Sápmi Norway/Finland/Sweden
A compelling true story narrated by Niillas Somby which explores the personal and historical struggles of the Sámi people. The film navigates between imprisonment, protests, and surreal encounters, providing unique insight into one man's extraordinary journey. It concludes with a powerful call to action for the preservation of nature.
INKWO: For When the Starving Return
Amanda Strong | 2024 | 18:27 min | Canada
Dove, a young, enigmatic, gender-shifting warrior, discovers the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters. A call for action to fight and protect against the forces of greed around us.
En Memoria
Roberto Fatal | Written and produced by Roberto Fatal and Ali Meyers-Ohki | 2024 | 10:56 min | USA/Mexico
In a dystopian future, a mother struggles to finish making her daughter’s Quinceañera dress.
Dreams of Sunlight Through Trees
Theo Jean Cuthand | 2024 | 15:58 min | Canada
A middle-aged trans man starts taking hormones at 44 and observes his changes over a year and nine months, set against an ongoing news cycle of anti-trans legislation.
F1GHTING LOOKS DIFFERENT 2 ME NOW
Fox Maxy | 2022 | 16:49 min | USA
Fragments of Southern California landscapes. A story about land holding memories. The film captures an ongoing dispute within a pop culture–inflicted collage. In the words of its maker, “This film is me speaking for me and that’s it.”
Picking Crew
Tanu Gago | 2024 | 11:30 mins | Aotearoa New Zealand
Tomasi, a young urban Samoan man, joins a rural apple orchard, managed by his aunty and operated by young Polynesian men. In the middle of nowhere, he befriends Api, also Samoan, and they steal what privacy they can, sharing stories of home and family. Burdened by the uncertainty of his own identity, Tomasi connects with Api, who moves through his own beliefs with ease and conviction. Together they navigate their claustrophobic environment and the pressures of masculinity. The pressure to adhere to the masculinity mold threatens to oust Tomasi from the group. Surrendering to his truth, he allows Api to see him at his most honest.
Anywhere (Nooj Goji)
Evelyn Pakinewatik | 2024 | 19:18 min | Canada
While the pandemic rages on and regulations are abandoned, immunocompromised lovers George and Eileen struggle to navigate their long-distance relationship. Dreams and stories lead George to seek answers through medicine.
Image Credit: Film still from Anywhere (Nooj Goji), directed by Evelyn Pakinewatik, 2024, 19:18 min
Tickets includes same-day access to The Broad, including Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me and our third floor rotating collection galleries from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Tickets to this event do not include access to Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013), and must be booked separately.
To learn more and plan your trip, visit Know Before You Go & FAQ. Visitor policies are subject to change.
Get TicketsBiographies
Adam Piron
Adam Piron (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and Mohawk) is a Southern California-based filmmaker, writer, and curator. He is currently the Director of Sundance Institute's Indigenous Program, and he is also a co-founder of COUSIN: a film collective dedicated to supporting Indigenous artists experimenting with, and pushing the boundaries, of the moving image. He has served on Sundance Film Festival’s Film Programming Team since 2013, was the Film Curator for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and he has guest-curated film programs for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, TIFF Lightbox, the Autry Museum of the American West, Metrograph, and various other film festivals and venues. His films have screened at the New York Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, MoMA Doc Fortnight, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and various other festivals and programs.
Photo courtesy of the filmmaker
Marja Helander and Liselotte Wajstedt
Marja Helander (b. 1965) is an award-winning Sámi artist and filmmaker from Finland. She graduated from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in 1999. Her earlier work explored her identity between the Finnish and Sámi cultures. Her recent photographic work has focused on the northern landscape, exploring the link between the mining industry and today’s standard of living and culture of consumption, particularly the impact of mining on the sensitive northern nature. Her latest works include ÁFRUVVÁ (2022) and BIRDS IN THE EARTH (2018).
Liselotte Wajstedt (b. 1973) is a Sámi artist and filmmaker whose work spans from film and video to collage, painting, photography, sculpture, textiles, and installation. She has an education in painting and arts from The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, in addition to animation and experimental filmmaking with special emphasis on documentary storytelling and scriptwriting from the and Gotland University. Her experimental moving image body of work comprises over two dozen shorts and feature-length films. Her latest works include the short film EADNI (2023) and the feature documentary THE SILENCE IN SÁPMI (2022).
Photo courtesy of the filmmakers
Amanda Strong
Amanda Strong is a filmmaker of Cree/Métis and European ancestry who gives vital expression to Indigenous oral traditions. She is the founder of Spotted Fawn Productions, the mission statement of which is: “Through acts of reclamation and collaboration we are telling our own stories, in our own voice, lifting up and empowering the future of Indigenous storytelling in film.”
Photo courtesy of the filmmaker
Roberto Fatal
Roberto Fatal (they/them/ellos) is a Meztize Chicana filmmaker and storyteller from Rarámuri, Genízaro, and Spanish ancestry. Their Queer, gender fluid, Mestize/Mixed identity informs their films, which use genre to tell stories about survival, empathy, human connection, mixed identity, culture, and love. Fatal is a Sundance Film Institute Native Film Lab Alum and a 2025 Sundance Screenwriters lab participant. Their newest short film, En Memoria, was selected to screen in competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Shorts film program.
Photo by Anna Mildegrasse
Theo Jean Cuthand
Theo Jean Cuthand has made 38 short experimental narrative films and videos about sexuality, madness, Queer identity and love, and Indigeneity, which have screened in festivals internationally. He is of Plains Cree and Scots descent, a member of Little Pine First Nation, and currently resides in Toronto, Canada.
Photo courtesy of the filmmaker
Fox Maxy
Fox Maxy is a San Diego–based film director from the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians. She is Payómkawichum and Iipay Kumeyaay. Her work blends experimental form with themes of kinship, mental health, nightlife, and Indigenous futurism. Her debut feature, Gush, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, followed by Guts and Glitz, now streaming on MUBI. In 2024, she received the Chanel Next Prize. Her films have screened at MoMA, TIFF, LACMA, and IFFR, where Maat won the Ammodo Tiger Short Award. Maxy is currently developing narrative scripts and building a path toward commercial and genre filmmaking.
Photo courtesy of the filmmaker
Tanu Gago
Tanu Gago (MNZM) is a Samoan award-winning interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. Gago was awarded a Queens Order of Merit for services to Pacific arts and the LGBTQIA+ community in 2019. He is also the 2020 Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika recipient of the Contemporary Pacific Artist Award. The same year Gago became an NZ Arts Laureate through his work as a co-founder of the critically acclaimed Queer Indigenous arts collective, FAFSWAG. In 2023, after a decade of service, Gago was awarded the Trailblazer Award and deemed Legendary Godfather of Ballroom Aotearoa. His film writing credits include the documentary series “Fafswag-vogue” and the augmented reality experience ATUA.
Photo by Pati Solomona Tyrell
Evelyn Pakinewatik
Evelyn Pakinewatik (Nbisiing Anishnaabe/Irish, Nipissing First Nation) is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. In their childhood, Evelyn worked alongside their parents to preserve and disseminate traditional arts in Indigenous communities across Ontario and Québec. Interconnectivity and reciprocity continue to motivate Evelyn’s creative process as they seek to practice anti-colonial survivance through an inclusive lens.
Photo courtesy of the filmmaker
Bird Runningwater
Bird Runningwater belongs to the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Nations and was reared on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico. He has worked to build an Indigenous Film and Television presence for 25 years, championing Indigenous storytellers and creating representation of Indigenous peoples globally. In 2019, he was listed in Time Magazine’s Optimist Issue among “12 Leaders Who Are Shaping the Next Generation of Artists” and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Runningwater guided the Sundance Institute’s commitment to Indigenous Filmmakers for 20 years, nurturing new generations of filmmakers through the Institute’s Labs and Sundance Film Festival and served as the Director of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and Artist Programs.
Photo by Josh S. Rose
Filmmaker Biographies Coming Soon
