Fostering Indigenous voices: New Mexico plays huge role in Sundance Institute's Native Lab

Apr. 26—New Mexico has been at the heart of the Sundance Institute's Native Lab program.

After its inception in 2009, the program was held at the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Then in 2015, the program moved to Santa Fe.

Adam Piron (Kiowa), director of the Institute's Indigenous Program, is at the helm of the Lab which takes place from Monday, April 29, through May 4, in Santa Fe.

"The program is specifically focused on Indigenous filmmakers and writers," Piron says. "We focus on feature films and episodic pilots. It's a writing-based lab and we spend about five days learning from each other."

The Indigenous Program has built and sustained an Indigenous film circle, which now spans over three generations. It supports Indigenous stories and creators and has been part of Sundance's early work when Robert Redford founded the Institute.

Piron says the cycle of work begins by scouting for and identifying 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 Filmmakers Lab has been a vital part of supporting Indigenous filmmakers since 2004.

The lab focuses on the specific development of storytellers from Native and Indigenous backgrounds, encompassing feature film and episodic work.

During the Lab, fellows will hone their storytelling and technical skills in a hands-on and supportive environment, including one-on-one feedback sessions with advisors and roundtable discussions.

With fellows working across both feature and episodic formats, they will also explore and discuss indigenizing their creative practices in regard to writing their scripts.

The fellows work with advisors including Tai Leclaire, Kishori Rajan and Jon Raymond.

Previous Sundance Institute Native Lab Fellows include award-winning filmmakers Sterlin Harjo, Sky Hopinka, Shaandiin Tome, Erica Tremblay and Taika Waititi.

Piron says there are usually a handful of fellows and each has a project in different stages.

"The Native Lab has been in Santa Fe for around 10 years now," he says. "I feel like we have a pretty well-oiled machine. It's about getting the artist to be comfortable and trying to get them to think differently about their project."

Piron says New Mexico has played a huge part in the outreach of the program.

"I think the overarching theme of Sundance is about the quality of the work," he says. "We're at a good sweet spot. There is room for expansion, but keeping the Lab small enough to where each artist gets the attention needed to flourish. That's important and it helps keep the quality up."

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