News from MIAC/Lab

AUGUST 14, 2024

Santa Fe, NM – Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC) is proud to partner with the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), and the Institute for American Indian Arts (IAIA) on the second annual Get Indigenous Film Festival (GIFF), a multimedia component of the Santa Fe Indian Market.

The second annual Native American and Indigenous film festival begins with a screening of Sugarcane at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 15, 2024, at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. A filmmaker Q & A and after-party will follow immediately after the screenings.

Sugarcane is a 2024 documentary film, directed by Julian Brave Noisecat (Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen) and Emily Kassie. In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.

Borders is a 2024 TV show Pilot directed by Kenneth Shirley and Adam Conte. When a young immigrant woman becomes separated from her group while smuggling drugs across the Sonoran Desert border, she discovers an unexpected source of kindness and hope in the form of a teenage boy from a nearby reservation. Together, they must overcome language barriers and cultural differences while they anxiously await her family’s arrival.

The GIFF event lineup is as follows:

Thursday, August 15: Film Screening of Sugarcane (invite only)

4:30-6 p.m. VIP Celebration of the Balzer Gallery and Driving the Market exhibition

6-8:15 p.m.  Screening and Q&A with filmmakers (party will continue for those not invited to screening)

8:15-10 p.m. Afterparty at MIAC (food, drinks, and music)

Friday, August 16: Borders/Sugarcane screening

11 a.m. Screening of Carin, Directed by Ethan Nopah (Navajo Nation) ’24

Best Sound, Best Editing, and Best Film at the Twelfth Annual IAIA Student Filmmaker Showcase

1 p.m. Screening of Borders (Pilot Episode) and Q&A after

2 p.m. Screening of Sugarcane with Introduction by Julian Brave Noicecat

Saturday, August 17: GIFF Brunch Panel (at SFCC) and Borders/Sugarcane screening (at MIAC)

10 a.m. GIFF Brunch Panel will take place at the Santa Fe Convention Center and will feature Julian Brave NoiseCat (Sugarcane), Zahn Mcclarnon (Dark Winds}, Kiowa Gordon (Dark Winds), and Bell Edmo (2024 IAIA Student of the Year) moderated by James Lujan (IAIA Dept. of Cinematic Arts).

GIFF Brunch Panel at the SFCCC, Tickets are now available for purchase https://holdmyticket.com/event/436930

1 p.m. Screening of Carin

2 p.m. Screening of Sugarcane at Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Sunday, August 18: Public grand opening of Driving the Market

11 a.m. The public grand opening of MIAC’s Driving the Market exhibit

1 p.m. Screening of Carin

2 p.m. Screening of Sugarcane

About the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Regents for the Museum of New Mexico. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and our donors.

 About SWAIAThe Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is a non-profit organization supporting Native North American art and culture. SWAIA creates economic and cultural opportunities for Native North American artists by producing and promoting the Santa Fe Indian Market— the largest and most prestigious Native art event in the world. Since 1922 SWAIA has cultivated excellence and innovation across traditional and non-traditional art forms— developing programs and events that support, promote and honor Native North American artists year-round. 

About Get Indigenous Film Festival:The Get Indigenous Film Festival (GIFF) seeks to honor Native American and Indigenous film and television content creators by providing a place for those individuals to exhibit, network, and to hear from the public about their works. GIFF also provides panels, workshops, and educational programs for Native American and Indigenous film and television content creators year-round in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Co-Sponsored in 2024 by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the Institute of American Indian Arts.