"Each year Native Forum continues to raise the profile of Native and Indigenous Cinema, and showcases works by a range of talented filmmakers," says N. Bird Runningwater, Associate Director, Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Initiative. "The Forum activities this year will continue to connect Native and Indigenous Cinema with the marketplace of independent film. Through the Film Festival as well as the labs, workshops and other programs, Sundance Institute brings together the writers, directors and producers of Native and Indigenous Cinema as part of a global filmmaking community."   

THE 2008 SUNDANCE INSTITUTE/FORD FOUNDATION FILM FELLOWS 
Through support from the Ford Foundation, the Native American and Indigenous Initiative operates the Sundance Institute/Ford Foundation Film Fellowship which supports emerging next generation Native and Indigenous filmmakers whose work is defining the next wave of Native Cinema. Each year the Initiative selects four recipients with a project in development who attend Sundance Film Festival to participate in one-on-one meetings with established filmmakers and industry leaders. The Fellows also attend a World Cinema screening series and Native Forum activities.  After the Festival workshop, the Native American and Indigenous Initiative provides on-going support throughout the year to help bring the projects to fruition.   

This year's Fellows are: 
Sherwin Bitsui (Diné)
THE WHISPERING  - A young man and his family encounter an old woman sitting on the side of the road as they travel home during a snow storm. 

Sonya Oberly (Nez Perce/Osage/Comanche)
TRIBAL COURT  - Sabine Miller, a young professional questions her career path and choice to Sherwin Bitsui, Diné (Navajo) poet, is the author of Shapeshift, his first poetry collection, and a recipient of the 2006 Whiting Writers' Award. Other honors include an Individual Poet Grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, a Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship, and a University of Arizona Academy of American Poets Award. His work has appeared in several literary journals including American Poets, The Iowa Review, Frank, Red Ink, and others. He also collaborated with filmmaker Gabriel Lopez-Shaw on the experimental film CHRYSALIS that debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Sherwin Bitsui's work draws from his experiences of living between languages, place and culture. This middle ground allows him to navigate the ground that quakes, glistens and transforms at the same time.

Sonya Oberly is currently working toward an M.F.A. degree in production at the University of Southern California. She has written, directed and produced several short films including SHAWLDANCER and REQUIEM. She is an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe, as well as a descendant of the Osage and Comanche nations. She grew up on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington State. Oberly completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Nevada in Psychology. 

Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca/Red Lake Chippewa)
IN A VACUUM  - A downtrodden vacuum cleaner salesman, who scams casino reservations, meets an enigmatic customer that changes his outlook.  

Pensoneau was born and raised in the icy climes of Minnesota.  His entrée into the entertainment industry began after attending the Institute of American Indian Arts' Summer Film and Television Workshop in Santa Fe, sponsored by Disney·ABC. He was selected as a 2005 Disney·ABC Writing Fellow, after which he was staffed on ALIAS while writing specs for Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, and other primetime television shows. Previously, Pensoneau served as a production assistant on HOMELAND: FOUR PORTRAITS OF NATIVE ACTION. Pensoneau is a graduate of the Native American Preparatory School and studied film at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Currently, Pensoneau is serves as an Associate Producer with Wumbic Productions in Santa Fe, NM.

Beau Bassett (Native Hawaiian)
Emerging Producer Fellow

Bassett comes from a family of fishermen from Kahalu`u on the Windward side of O`ahu, Hawai`i. He has degrees in the fields of Hydrology, Hawaiian Studies, and Law. He is also a licensed Hawai`i attorney, and a community organizer. He serves as a translator of Hawaiian language and is committed to its revitalization especially through the use of cinema. August 2007 will mark the completion of his first independent film project, a two-minute piece on Hawaiian humor called "TEWETEWE", produced for PBS via Pacific Islanders in Communication. 

Past Fellows: 
An exciting new crop of Initiative-supported Fellows and their films are entering various stages of research and development, production and post-production, both in the U.S. and around the world including Blackhorse Lowe's MASANI (USA), recipient of the New Visions/New Mexico Award; Melissa Henry's BLUE HEELER (USA), recipient of the New Visions/New Mexico Award; Julianna Brannum's LADONNA HARRIS: INDIAN 101 (USA), recipient of support from ITVS, All Roads Film Project and Sundance Documentary Fund; Andrew MacLean's SWALLOWED BY THE SEA (USA), recipient of support from the Sundance Documentary Fund; Aurora Guerrero's MOSQUITA Y MARI (USA), recipient of support from ITVS; And, Armagan Ballantyne and Briar Grace-Smith's THE STRENGTH OF WATER (New Zealand).     

NATIVE FILMMAKER IN 2008 JANUARY SUNDANCE SCREENWRITING LAB 
Darrell Dennis (writer) / TALES OF AN URBAN INDIAN (Canada):  A dark, irreverent comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of a young Native American man from the reservation to the big city and ultimately to self respect.  

Darrell Dennis is a First Nations writer from the Secwepemc Nation in the interior of British Columbia. His short stories have been published in periodicals across North America, and his work has been broadcast nationally on CBC radio. Dennis wrote the short film MOCCASIN FLATS, which screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.  The short film was later adapted into a television series for which he also wrote. Dennis was nominated for the prestigious Dora Award for writing his one man show TALES OF AN URBAN INDIAN, which has toured across Canada and the U.S. and on which his screenplay is based. 

NATIVE FORUM EVENTS 
Native Forum Brunch
Monday, January 21st, 10am-noon, The Mustang – 890 Main St. Ticket required.

Native Forum Web-Junk Battle
Join the Sundance Film Festival's Native Forum as festival goers screen their favorite web-junk in an all out battle for prizes.
Wednesday, January 23rd, 6pm-8pm, New Frontier on Main (Open Air Cinema) – 333 Main St. 

Native Forum Panel: Producing Native Cinema
How things have changed! With more Native films are being produced each year, how is it happening and who's behind it? What does it take for a Native film to get off the ground, and does it help if your producer was a fashion model? Join Heather Rae (producer, FROZEN RIVER), Chad Burris (producer, FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND) members of the filmmaking collective behind THE WIND AND THE WATER.
Thursday, January 24th, 2pm,Filmmaker Lodge 

Native Forum Reception
Thursday, January 24th, 9:00pm-1:00am, Legacy Lodge – Legends Bar (third floor) –1310 Lowell Ave.
Ticket required. RSVP to Owl_Johnson@sundance.org 

2008 NATIVE FORUM FILM SCREENINGS

Dramatic Competition: 
FROZEN RIVER (Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt)—A desperate trailer mom and a Mohawk Indian girl team up to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States from Canada by driving across a frozen river. Cast: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone, Jr. World Premiere. Produced by Heather Rae.  

International Dramatic Competition: 
THE WIND AND THE WATER (BURWA DII EBO)/ Panama (Directors and Screenwriters: A collective collaboration)–A young indigenous teen seeking his fortune in Panama City struggles to acclimate to chaotic urban life, where he becomes enamored with a girl from a wealthy, assimilated family. Later, he encounters his crush once again–but this time the landscape and tradition define their interaction. World Premiere 

Short Films: 
NIKAMOWIN (SONG)/ Canada (Director: Kevin Lee Burton)–Deconstructing and reconstructing Cree narrative, this film experiments with language to create a linguistic soundscape.  

SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) (Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean)–An Iñuit hunter takes his dog team out on the frozen Arctic Ocean in search of seals, and inadvertently becomes a witness to a murder.  

Past films in the Native Forum include Sterlin Harjo's FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND (recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award), Taika Waititi's EAGLE VS. SHARK (released earlier this year by Miramax), Billy Luther's MISS NAVAJO (recently aired on PBS's Independent Lens), Nanobah Becker's short film CONVERSION winner of several Best Narrative Short awards from Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival and the Cherokee Int'l Film Festival.