Smithsonian’s Online Native Cinema Showcase Presents Free Short Films by Indigenous Filmmakers

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian presents the online Native Cinema Showcase, celebrating short films by Indigenous filmmakers. The museum’s annual celebration of the best in Native film will be available to view on demand from Friday, November 21, 5pm (ET) through Friday, November 28, 5pm (ET) on the Native Cinema Showcase website.  

This year’s showcase shares stories of resilience, inspiration, and hope as well as tales that entertain and educate through a variety of film genres. Countries represented are the United States, Peru, New Zealand, and Greenland. There are four Indigenous languages spoken in the films: Quechua, Māori, Kalaallisut, and Mohawk.

To stream the showcased films on demand, worldwide, visit AmericanIndian.si.edu.

Film List

Aletha  (US, 2024, 18 minutes) Director: Alexander Bocchieri (Native Hawaiian) 

América (Peru, 2025, 15 minutes) Director: Javier Arias-Stella  Quechua and Spanish with English subtitles 

En Memoria  (US, 2024, 11 minutes) Director: Roberto Fatal (Mestize/Rarámuri/Genízaro) 

First Horse  (New Zealand, 2024, 11 minutes)  Director: Awanui Simich-Pene (Māori) Māori with English subtitles MATURE CONTENT ADVISORY: Implied suicide 

Hifi Ulu (New Zealand, 2024, 11 minutes) Director: Chantelle Burgoyne (European/Samoan) 

Ivikkisartoq Kingulleq (The Last Grass Seamstress) (Greenland, 2024, 18 minutes) Director: Arina Kleist (Inuk) Kalaallisut with English subtitles 

Kenji   (US, 2024, 12 minutes)  Director: Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo)  

Place Where I Belong  (US, 2024, 7 minutes) Director: Christopher Nataanii Cegielski (Navajo) 

Tentsítewahkwe (US, 2024, 17 minutes) Director: Katsitsionni Fox (Mohawk) English, Mohawk with English subtitles 

The Great Cherokee Grandmother  (US, 2024, 9 minutes) Director: Anthony Sneed (Eastern Band Cherokee Nation) 

Through The Storm  (US, 2024, 23 minutes) Directors: Charles Frank and Fritz Bitsoie (Diné) 

Tiger  (US, 2025, 13 minutes) Director: Loren Waters (Cherokee Nation/Kiowa) 

Up and Down the River  (US, 2025, 22 minutes) Director: Madeline Sayet (Mohegan) 

This program is funded in part by the Walt Disney Company. 

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