Sundance Institute Announces 2025 Indigenous Short Film Granting Intensive Fellows

each year the Indigenous Program team carefully crafts a new intensive around the needs they see for Indigenous filmmakers working on short films. Previous iterations have focused on documentary editing, supporting Two-Spirit artists, and most recently, supporting Native Hawaiian artists.

In recent years, the need for film funding and decreasing avenues to find it has been a constant struggle for many. With this in mind,and a generous grant from Apple,the indigenous Program team invited six filmmakers to this year’s Short Film Granting Intensive. Each filmmaker will receive a $5,000 grant,a year of access to the Sundance Institute Collab platform,and a year of support from the Sundance Indigenous program team as they work to make their short films. “Our annual artist intensives have always been a space to explore some of the most dynamic and uncompromising Indigenous artists creating work in the moving image. This year is no exception and we’re thrilled to be supporting each of these filmmakers as they explore and create their short films on their own terms” says program director Adam Piron.

Below you can learn more about the six fellows and their projects.

The 2025 indigenous Short Film Granting Intensive Fellows:

LeJend yazzie with Teen Spirit!: Shoudl I stay or should I go? This is the question on Dani’s mind, a Native punk teenager living on the reservation, when she learns of an unexpected pregnancy. With the help of her sisters she must decide between staying in her small town, or take a leap into the unknown for her and the baby.

LeJend Yazzie is a Diné film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born and raised in the Sonoran desert, she is now based in NYC pursuing her MFA at the Tisch School of Arts in Film/TV production. She was a 2019 Full Circle Fellow and 2021 Indigenous Film Fund Fellow of the Sundance Institute Indigenous program. Inspiration for her work stems from her glittery experiences as a Native woman.

North Gabz with Qélawet: An unlucky, disillusioned forest creature floats through city life in search of a space that feels like home.

North Gabz is a Cahuilla & Cupeño multi-disciplinary artist and audiovisual archivist from warner Springs, California. Inspired by the unconventional, gothic, and absurd image, her work focuses on the intersections of culture, identity, and memory with an emphasis on reimagining history, tradition, and experience through a Native lens.

Taylour Chang with The symptom of the silicon .: The Pana O’ahu Film project is a filmmaker’s perspective on tending to f