First Nations/First Features: A Showcase of World Indigenous Film and Media

First Nations/First Features celebrates the groundbreaking feature films of indigenous directors from around the world. Three institutions—The Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), and New York University—have collaborated on this showcase. Indigenous directors have broken barriers to native film production over the past two decades, receiving accolades from both native and general audiences and winning prestigious recognition on the world stage. Their work represents media production among a host of First Nation communities, including indigenous Australian, Inuit, Maori, Native North and South American, Nenet, Rotuman, and Sami. For program details, consult the First Nations/First Features website, which includes information on the symposium “Cultural Rights and Cultural Creativity: On and Off Screen,” Thursday, May 12, at the NMAI in lower Manhattan, and screenings in Washington, D.C., May 18––22.

Organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film and Media, The Museum of Modern Art; Elizabeth Weatherford, Director, Film and Video Center, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; Faye Ginsburg, Director, Center for Media, Culture, and History, and Center for Religion and Media, Department of Anthropology, New York University; and Pegi Vail, filmmaker and independent curator.

First Nations/First Features is made possible by the Ford Foundation, John and Margot Ernst, Penelope Seidler, Canadian Embassy, Finnish Film Foundation, New Zealand Film Commission, Australian Film Commission, Australian Consulate, Norwegian Film Institute, Pacific Islanders in Communications, Mexican Consulate (New York and Washington, D.C.), Mexican Cultural Institute (New York and Washington, D.C.), Norwegian Consulate, Secretaría de Cultura del Estado de Michoacán, and Foreign Affairs Canada.

Identity and Web site design is provided by OgilvyOne Worldwide.

Additional assistance is provided by Ulrika’s, Smörgås Chef, and The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers.

Thanks to the American Indian Community House, American-Scandinavian Foundation, Canadian Consulate, Center for Social Media at American University, Australian Embassy, Finnish Embassy, New Zealand Consulate, New Zealand Embassy, Swedish Embassy and Swedish Consulate, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.