Indigenous film festival coming to Fargo

By Shirley Sneve, ICT

The Northern Plains Indigenous Film Festival debuts April 17 at the historic Fargo Theatre in Fargo, N.D., establishing a new home for Indigenous cinema in the Northern Plains and greater Midwest.

Founded to create a platform for Indigenous storytelling through film, the festival centers contemporary Indigenous stories while bringing filmmakers, audiences, and creative professionals into the same room. The two-day event will feature Indigenous-made narrative, documentary, and short films, filmmaker conversations, and programming designed to help Indigenous creatives build sustainable careers.

While Indigenous film festivals exist across the country, few are rooted in the Northern Plains. The festival was created to fill that gap, offering a space where Indigenous filmmakers can share work grounded in the cultures, histories, and lived experiences of this region while also welcoming national and international perspectives.

“Film is one of the most powerful tools Indigenous people have for telling our own stories,” said Joseph Williams, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, co-founder and festival co- director. “This festival is about visibility, access, and building a sustainable platform and network for Native filmmakers in the Midwest and Northern Plains.”

Anna Johnson, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and also festival co-founder and co-director, said it was a natural fit for the event to be held in Fargo. “Native art is part of Fargo’s identity,” she said. “We aren’t a subcategory. We’re part of what makes this city what it is.”

Screenings and filmmaker panel discussions will be held at the Fargo Theatre while additional programming will be held at North Dakota State University’s Barry Hall including filmmaker workshops led by Ben West and Yancey Burns of Rena Flying Coyote Collective, Jennifer Martell, and a presentation by Liza Black, author of Picturing Indians, focusing on craft, community-centered storytelling, and sustaining creative careers. 

Film submissions are being accepted through March 30. More information on the festival can be found at northernplainsfestival.com.

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