On Jan. 24, 2026, the Sundance Institute gathered the Indigenous film community to honor this year’s Merata Mita and Graton Fellowship recipients during the Native Forum Celebration, presented by Merrell, at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Merata Mita Fellowship, given annually to an Indigenous woman-identified filmmaker developing a feature, was awarded to Masami Kawai (Ryukyuan). The Graton Fellowship, now in its third year and focused on supporting Indigenous storytellers from California-based tribes, named two fellows for 2026: Isabella Madrigal (Cahuilla, Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) and Tsanavi Spoonhunter (Northern Arapaho and Northern Paiute).
“The Indigenous Program is excited to be supporting Masami, Isabella, and Tsanavi and their respective films,” said Adam Piron, director of the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program. He noted that the fellowships have expanded Sundance’s approach to meeting artists where they are and supporting them through the next phases of production, calling the programs “catalytic to this new era of Indigenous cinema.”
Kawai, a Los Angeles-born, Oregon-based filmmaker of Ryukyuan descent from Amami Island, has screened work internationally and was a 2023 Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Lab fellow. Her films engage questions of race, class, and Indigeneity in the United States.
“It’s a tremendous honor to receive the Merata Mita Fellowship,” Kawai said. “Mita’s life and work give me the courage to be the kind of filmmaker I am.” She pointed to Mita’s example as a filmmaker, educator, and mother, and to her mentorship of Indigenous filmmakers at Sundance as a model for building a global Indigenous community.
The fellowship is named for Merata Mita (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pikiao), the first Māori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature film solely. Mita served as an advisor and artistic director of the Sundance Institute Native Lab from 2000 to 2009 and was deeply committed to supporting Indigenous storytellers. Now in its 11th year, the Merata Mita Fellowship provides a cash grant, mentorship, year-round creative development, festival attendance, and access to Sundance Institute artist services.
Both Graton fellows will receive $25,000, mentorship from Indigenous Program staff, creative and professional development support, and attendance at the Sundance Film Festival throughout 2026. The fellowship is funded through an endowment from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, who also support the Graton Artist Opportunity, expanding access to Sundance Collab for California Native artists.
Tsanavi Spoonhunter is a Northern Nevada–based nonfiction storyteller, director, producer, and writer. Tsanavi holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on documentary film, and founded the multimedia company Mahebe Media in 2023.
“It’s a true honor and privilege to be selected for the Graton Fellowship,” Spoonhunter said, noting the influence of being raised among her Paiute community in California. She thanked the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and its tribal chairman, Greg Sarris, for their continued investment in Indigenous storytellers.
Isabella Madrigal is an enrolled Cahuilla and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe writer, director, and actor. She is a Harvard alum, a 2025 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow, a Yale Young Native Playwrights Contest winner, and a Native Theater Project MMIR Awareness awardee, whose work centers on ancestral knowledge, healing, and Indigenous futurisms.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Graton Fellowship, supporting the development of my first feature film,” Madrigal said. The project began as a community theater production performed with Native communities across California and is rooted in Cahuilla cosmology. She described the film as dedicated to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives and focused on how cultural wisdom can confront gender-based violence.
The Native Forum Celebration takes place annually on the Traditional Ute Nation Territory and brings together Sundance Institute Indigenous Program fellows, grantees, alums, and supporters. Alongside the fellowship announcements, the event recognizes Indigenous-led projects screening at the festival and recent Native Lab fellows.
Since its founding, Sundance Institute has supported Indigenous storytellers across generations. Native artists participated in the first Sundance filmmaking lab in 1981, and the Institute continues to identify and support Indigenous artists through its Feature Film Program, Documentary Film Program, and Indigenous Program. Alums include Erica Tremblay, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, Billy Luther, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Aurora Guerrero, Sydney Freeland, Ciara Lacy, Shaandiin Tome, and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, among many others.
The Sundance Institute Indigenous Program is supported by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, The 11th Hour Project, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Crystal Echo Hawk, Merrell, Indigenous Screen Office, SAGindie, Susan Friedenberg, and Indigenous Media Initiatives.
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, the Sundance Institute provides artists with labs, grants, mentorship, and community year-round, both domestically and globally. Through Sundance Collab and the Sundance Film Festival, the Institute continues its mission to connect artists and audiences while championing independent storytelling worldwide.
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