Big Sky Launches Native Filmmaker Initiative

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Thu, 04/27/2017 - 12:14 -- Nick Dager

The Big Sky Film Institute has launched the Native Filmmaker Initiative to bring more Indigenous stories to Missoula, Montana and engage the Native Filmmaking community across the Northwest. The initiative includes a Native Filmmakers Fellowship program, an Educational Outreach arm and special programming of Indigenous films at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

The initiative is made possible in part by Film Watch grant funding from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Academy's FilmWatch and FilmCraft grant programs were established to identify and empower future filmmakers from nontraditional backgrounds, cultivate new and diverse talent, promote motion pictures as an art form and provide a platform for underrepresented artists.

Announced last week, grants were awarded to 44 organizations including the American Film Institute, International Documentary Association and the Sundance Institute, among many other prestigious film festivals, educational institutions and film scholars.

The Native Filmmaker Initiative will launch in the Fall of 2017. Programming and recruitment will begin soon.