- Details
- By Kaili Berg
Vision Maker Media (VMM) has announced $940,310 in funding for 22 Indigenous film productions, marking the largest number of awardees in the organization’s history.
The awards represent the final round of funding from VMM’s Public Media Fund, which has been supported by the now-defunct Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) since 1976.
Each filmmaker received up to $205,000 to complete their project or for licensing to broadcast on public television.
The awards cover a wide range of works exploring Indigenous culture, history, and resilience, from documentaries on boarding schools and environmental struggles to stories celebrating Indigenous food, art, and sports.
The announcement comes just weeks after Congress voted to rescind all appropriations for CPB for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, effectively closing the decades-long federal agency.
VMM previously received $1.8 million annually through CPB to fund Native-directed films for PBS broadcast.
“Since our founding in 1976, Vision Maker Media has been the nation’s leading developer and provider of Native American programming airing on public radio and television stations,” Francene Blythe-Lewis, VMM president and CEO said in a statement. “While we are committed to continuing our important work, the decision to rescind funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has created big challenges for Vision Maker Media, and for the many Native American filmmakers and storytellers who rely on VMM’s funding. We are reassessing how we can continue to serve Native country.”
Despite the loss of CPB funding, Vision Maker Media says it is determined to continue supporting Indigenous filmmakers and to find new pathways to sustain its mission.
The 2025 awardees include:
- Buffalo Spirit by Ivy MacDonald (Blackfeet)
- Coming Round by Daniel Golding (Quechan Indian Nation) and J. Mitchell Johnson
- Crossing the Line by Ramona Emerson (Diné) and Kelly Byars (Choctaw/Chickasaw)
- Four Nights and a Fire by Alex Nystrom (Ojibwe)
- Glen Riege 20 WP by Tanis Parenteau (Métis Nation of Alberta Cree)
- Iiná by Lonnie Begaye (Diné)
- Indigenous Genders – The Raven and the Bull by Raven Two Feathers (Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche) and Nils Cowan
- Indigenous Science Project (PBS NOVA)
- Medicine Ball by Leya Hale (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné), Twin Cities Public Television
- More than Water by Cindi Finneran and Leslie Halfmoon (Caddo/Delaware/Choctaw)
- Nampeyo American Modernist by Steve LaRance (Hopi-Assiniboine)
- Nihunavea: My Heart, My Center by Colin Rosemont and Sandra Hernandez (Tejon Indian Tribe)
- Reservation Redemption by Brenda Fisher (Yakama) and Blake Pickens (Chickasaw)
- Respected by Her People by Sonya Oberly (Nez Perce)
- Spirit Plate with Pyet DeSpain by Charles Perry (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation), Steven Hoggard, and Pyet DeSpain (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation)
- Story Pole by Darrell Hillaire (Lummi Nation), Jordan Riber, and Noelani Auguston (Nooksak and Kanaka Maoli)
- Stroke: The Circle of Healing by Jaime Tafoya (Arapaho, Mexican, European) and Jack Kohler (Hoopa Valley Tribe)
- The Love for the Game by Josiah W. Jones (Chickasaw and Choctaw)
- The Revolution of Virgil Ortiz by Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) and New Mexico PBS
- Uncovering Boarding Schools by Arya Surowidjojo and Kami Horton, Oregon Public Broadcasting
- Under the Battle Tipi by Charles “Boots” Kennedye (Kiowa)
- Whose Land? O’odham Land by Victoria Westover and Mike Wilson (Tohono O’odham)
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