Native Women in Film & Television in All Media FILM FESTIVAL (NWIFF) is the first and largest representation of Native and Indigenous women filmmakers held in Los Angeles in the week leading to the Academy Awards. This year’s Native Women in FILM Festival, held March 5-10, 2023, will include 32 films directed by women, more than the Toronto, Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes Film Festival, and the Academy Awards. NWIFTV started in 2003 out of a need to keep the Native image at the forefront of the entertainment industry. In the last six years, NWIFTV has screened 162 films directed by women.
Presented annually by the Red Nation Celebration Institute (RNCI), The Creative Enterprise by Natives delivering to all people the stories that shape our world is the longest-running Native Women-Led Indigenous Media Arts and Cultural non-profit enterprise in the history of the entertainment industry. Serving Indian Country & Entertainment Industry. Representing over 570+ Native Nations, amplifying more than 5000+ Native and Indigenous content creators through its streaming company Red Nation Television Network, supporting 2700+ Native Indigenous filmmakers through its Red Nation International Film Festival, including films directed by women through its Native Women in Film & Television in All Media, since 1995.
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Presented by Red Nation Celebration Institute, AMC Networks, Albuquerque Film Office, National Endowment for the Arts.
A Program of Red Nation Celebration Institute
HERSTORY
Native Women in FILM & Television #NWIFT founded in 1995. #NWIFT started as a Native Women Music Festival in Santa Fe NM. #NWIFT went on to having its own program of screenings at the annual Red Nation International Film Festival (RNIFF), films directed by women screen annually at #RNIFF in November . In 2003, Native Women in FILM & Television wanted to have a stand alone Film Festival during the Oscars week, out of a direct need to keep our image at the forefront of the entertainment industry, hence Native Women in FILM Festival was born.
At the height of #MeToo actor/director/founder/humanitarian Joanelle Romero (AMPAS) of Native Women in FILM coined and founded #WhyWeWearRED with a media coalition to address a Global Call to Action initiative that aims to bring awareness to Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women & Girls and the lack of inclusion of Native Women in Film & Television. Every year in February, leading up to the Academy Awards the annual Native Women in FILM Festival takes place along with Conversation Series.
Red Nation Celebration Institute is the longest standing Native and Indigenous Media, Arts & Culture nonprofit enterprise in the Entertainment Industry.
Red Nation Celebration Institute, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is dedicated to breaking the barrier of racism by successfully replacing American Indian stereotype with recognition, new vision, arts, culture and economic prosperity by placing American Indian Filmmakers at the forefront of the entertainment industry and to introduce American Indian Filmmakers to larger, global mainstream audiences while championing Native Women in Film & Television and giving voice and inspiring native youth with our dedicated program Native Youth Matter, RNCI’s #WhyWeWearRED reached national attention for Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women & the lack of inclusion of Native Women in FILM and Television with support from Taylor Sheridan (Wind River), Congresswoman Debra Haaland, USC Price School of Public Policy and USC Price Bedrosian Center for #WhyWeWearRED Media Coalition.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES for information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Linda Tenequer at partnerships@rednation.com, or by phone at 818.665.5753.
Theme: Women of Color: Decolonizing the Entertainment Industry
Location: Los Angeles, California
Timing: The week leading up to the Academy Awards®
The 2026 Native Women in Film Festival (NWIFTV) is a groundbreaking, five-day international film festival held annually in Los Angeles during the week leading up to the Academy Awards®. As the first and largest film festival in the world dedicated exclusively to Native and Indigenous women filmmakers, NWIFTV occupies a singular and essential space within the global entertainment ecosystem. The festival elevates Native women’s voices at a moment when the world’s attention is focused on cinema, awards recognition, and cultural influence, ensuring that Native and Indigenous women are not marginalized during awards season-but centered within it.
NWIFTV is produced by the Red Nation Celebration Institute (RNCI), a Native-led nonprofit organization with over three decades of leadership in advancing Indigenous representation, cultural sovereignty, and artistic excellence across film, television, and media arts. The festival reflects RNCI’s long-standing commitment to dismantling systemic barriers within the entertainment industry while creating sustainable pathways for Native women filmmakers to thrive professionally and creatively.
Founded in 2003, the Native Women in Film Festival was created out of urgent necessity. At the time, Native women were virtually invisible within the entertainment industry-both on-screen and behind the camera. Their stories were rarely told, and when they were, they were often filtered through non-Native perspectives that perpetuated stereotypes, inaccuracies, and cultural erasure. Native women filmmakers faced profound barriers to entry, including lack of access to funding, mentorship, industry networks, and platforms for exhibition and recognition.
NWIFTV emerged as a direct response to this systemic exclusion. The festival was established to challenge the entrenched power structures that have historically silenced Native women and to assert the right of Native women to tell their own stories-authentically, creatively, and without compromise. From its inception, NWIFTV has been guided by the principle that representation is not enough; true equity requires control over narrative, access to resources, and leadership within decision-making spaces.
For more than two decades, NWIFTV has served as a vital platform for visibility, access, and professional advancement, strategically positioned during one of the most influential weeks in the global film calendar. By aligning the festival with the lead-up to the Academy Awards®, NWIFTV places Native women filmmakers into direct dialogue with industry tastemakers, awards voters, distributors, press, and cultural leaders-spaces from which they have historically been excluded.
The 2026 Native Women in Film Festival will present 55 or more films directed by women, spanning narrative features, documentaries, short films, episodic projects, and experimental works. All selected films are rooted in Native and Indigenous perspectives, reflecting the diversity, complexity, and artistic innovation of Indigenous storytelling traditions from across the United States and globally.
NWIFTV programs more films by women directors than many of the world’s most prominent international film festivals, including Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and even the Academy Awards® themselves. This distinction is not merely symbolic-it underscores the festival’s leadership in advancing gender equity and Indigenous representation at a scale unmatched by comparable institutions.
Films selected for NWIFTV address urgent cultural, social, environmental, and political issues, including but not limited to:
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)
Environmental justice and climate change
Land, water, and treaty rights
Language revitalization and cultural preservation
Intergenerational trauma and healing
Gender equity and Indigenous feminism
Indigenous futurism and innovation
At the same time, the festival celebrates joy, humor, resilience, love, and creative excellence-presenting Native women not as subjects of crisis, but as artists, leaders, visionaries, and cultural architects.
The 2026 theme, “Women of Color: Decolonizing the Entertainment Industry,” reflects NWIFTV’s core mission and its relevance within contemporary cultural discourse. Decolonization, as understood by NWIFTV, is both an artistic and structural process. It involves dismantling colonial narratives, redistributing power, and reclaiming Indigenous knowledge systems that have long been marginalized within Western media frameworks.
Native and Indigenous women occupy a unique position within this movement. As culture bearers, community leaders, and storytellers, they bring ancestral knowledge, lived experience, and ethical responsibility into their creative work. NWIFTV recognizes that decolonizing the entertainment industry requires more than inclusion-it requires systemic transformation, including equitable access to funding, leadership roles, mentorship, and ownership of intellectual property.
Through its programming, panels, and community engagement, NWIFTV interrogates who controls storytelling, whose stories are validated, and how media shapes public perception, policy, and cultural memory. The festival amplifies Native women who are actively reshaping the industry from within-challenging dominant narratives while building new models rooted in sovereignty, accountability, and collective responsibility.
Beyond film screenings, NWIFTV offers a robust slate of filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, masterclasses, and community conversations. These engagements are designed to connect filmmakers directly with audiences, industry professionals, distributors, funders, and emerging Native youth.
Panels and discussions address critical topics such as:
Financing and producing independent films
Navigating distribution and sales
Awards campaigns and industry recognition
Protecting Indigenous intellectual and cultural property
Union membership and labor rights
Building sustainable careers in film and television
These opportunities are particularly critical given that Native women have historically been excluded from informal industry networks that often determine access to employment, funding, and recognition. NWIFTV serves as an intentional intervention-creating spaces where Native women can build relationships, share knowledge, and access resources that have long been denied.
Over the past eight years alone, NWIFTV has screened more than 280 films directed by women, many of which have gone on to secure major festival placements, awards recognition, distribution deals, and Academy Awards® consideration. This sustained track record demonstrates NWIFTV’s effectiveness as a launchpad for Native women filmmakers and its growing influence within the global awards ecosystem.
By positioning Native women filmmakers at the center of awards season in Los Angeles, NWIFTV actively reshapes the entertainment industry’s understanding of whose stories matter-and who belongs at the highest levels of cinematic achievement.
The festival concludes with its Pre-Oscar Gala Brunch, now in its fourth year, held during awards season in Los Angeles. The Gala brings together A-list talent, filmmakers, industry executives, community and spiritual leaders, and Native youth in a powerful celebration of cultural sovereignty, creative excellence, and collective achievement.
More than a celebratory event, the Pre-Oscar Gala Brunch functions as a strategic convening space-bridging generations, disciplines, and communities while elevating Native women’s leadership during one of the most visible moments in the entertainment industry calendar.
Proceeds from the Gala directly support and sustain the NWIFTV Native Women Write Mentorship Program, making it a vital component of the festival’s long-term sustainability and community impact.
Native Women Write is a cornerstone initiative of NWIFTV and RNCI. The mentorship program continues to scale its impact, empowering the next generation of Native and Indigenous women storytellers-including writers, producers, directors, and crew-to build sustainable careers across film, television, and digital media.
The program was created to address longstanding barriers faced by Native women, including limited access to mentorship, professional networks, education, and financial resources. Native Women Write provides a comprehensive support model that combines mentorship, professional development, financial assistance, and industry exposure.
Through Native Women Write, university scholarships are awarded to Native and Indigenous high school seniors from underserved communities, expanding access to higher education while creating clear pathways into creative and media careers. Scholarship recipients receive not only financial support, but also mentorship, career guidance, and exposure to industry networks.
Participants are drawn from underserved high schools across Los Angeles and Tribal Reservations, reflecting NWIFTV’s commitment to reaching youth who have historically been excluded from arts education and industry access. The program prioritizes students who demonstrate creative promise, leadership potential, and commitment to community.
The mentorship program pairs young Native and Indigenous women with senior female executives in film and television, offering rare access to industry leadership and long-term professional networks. Mentors provide guidance on creative development, career navigation, and maintaining cultural integrity within professional spaces.
This intergenerational exchange strengthens cultural continuity while equipping emerging talent with the tools, confidence, and support needed to succeed. It reinforces the understanding that Native women are not newcomers to storytelling-but inheritors and innovators of some of the world’s oldest narrative traditions.
The 2026 Native Women in Film Festival represents the continuation of RNCI’s long-standing commitment to cultural sovereignty, gender equity, and artistic excellence. NWIFTV affirms that Native women are not emerging voices, but essential leaders in global cinema whose stories are critical to the cultural, social, and political conversations shaping our world.
By creating a sustained ecosystem of visibility, mentorship, education, and opportunity, NWIFTV generates lasting impact that extends far beyond the festival itself-supporting filmmakers, uplifting youth, and transforming the entertainment industry from the inside out.
