Film & Video
The National Museum of the American Indian's (NMAI) Film and Video Center (FVC), located at the George Gustav Heye Center (GGHC) in New York City, presents screenings of Native productions and information services concerning Native films, video, radio, television, and electronic media throughout the Americas and Hawai’i. The center’s Native Networks initiative has developed professional meetings for Native Americans in media and produced a unique website on Native American media: www.nativenetworks.si.edu.
The NMAI’s biennial Native American Film + Video Festival is internationally recognized as one of the major showcases of outstanding new Native works. Founded in 1979, it is one of the country’s longest-running Native film festivals, and the first to showcase productions from throughout the Americas and present new radio and multimedia.
Two annual screening series—At the Movies in New York and Native Cinema Showcase in Santa Fe—focus on feature films, honoring Native directors, actors, writers, musicians, and cultural activists. The showcase is produced as part of Indian Market in partnership with SWAIA (Southwestern Association for Indian Arts), and is a shared project of the Film and Video Center and the Media Initiatives department of NMAI.
Since 1985, film and video tours organized by the center have traveled to tribal communities, universities, museums, and cinemateques in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
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Screenings
A daily screening series at the GGHC highlights topics related to current exhibitions and themes of importance in contemporary Native American life. A second daily series, Especially for Kids, offers film and video for family viewing. Throughout the year Media Talks and Native Forum screenings provide occasions to meet filmmakers and discuss their works.
Submitting Your Film
The NMAI is constantly seeking new films by and about the Native and indigenous communities of the Western Hemisphere, from the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We are looking for challenging, thoughtful, passionate presentations of the contemporary Native perspective, and we welcome new works on the most current and relevant topics. We are always interested in films by young and emerging media makers and in community-based production training programs. To submit your film for consideration for an upcoming NMAI program, download and complete a preview form and mail it with a DVD copy of your film to the address at the top right of this page. For more information, or if you wish to submit your film to us digitally, please contact us via email.
Native Networks
The center’s Native Networks initiatives distribute information resources to both Native Americans in media and the general public. In 2000 the center launched an English-Spanish bilingual website, the only site on the Internet dedicated to Native American film, video, television, radio, and electronic media. The Native Networks initiative also organizes workshops for Native American media makers and Native youth in media.
The Native Networks website provides information and guides to resources in Native media throughout the Americas. Feature articles cover Native video and radio, youth media, and interviews with filmmakers. Other offerings include Native media news, resources, links to outstanding websites, and information about the center’s programs and festivals. Native Networks on the web provides descriptions of the 100–200 works screened each year at the NMAI.
The center’s two-volume catalog, Native Americans on Film and Video, published 1980/1988, describes more than 600 films and videotapes.
Film and Video Center staff provide information to the public on recent productions, archival films and footage, media makers and actors, Native media organizations, and current research in the field of Native American media production. Information queries can be sent to fvc@si.edu.
Media Study
Film, video, and radio productions are available for research and study on-site at the Film and Video Center at the GGHC in New York. A partial list of study collection titles is available on the Native Networks website, but this list does not cover all of our holdings. If you are interested in a particular title or subject, please contact us to find out what is available. Advanced notice is required for film viewing. For an appointment, email fvc@si.edu or call 212-514-3733.