4th World Media Lab Marks 10 Years at the 51st Annual Seattle International Film Festival May 15-25, 2025

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of 4th World Media Lab as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, running in person May 15th to 25th and online May 26th to June 1st.

The 4th World Media Lab is a year-long fellowship for emerging and mid-career Indigenous filmmakers, providing opportunities to develop filmmaking skills and networks through festival participation, hands-on training, masterclasses, workshopping projects in development, pitch activities, and meeting with funders and other industry decision-makers.

4th World Media Lab is a collaborative partnership between festivals, funders, and film industry leaders to mentor, train, and sustain Indigenous filmmakers and their careers. Fellowship activities take place at three international festivals: Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Camden International Film Festival.

The lab will present and fund six Indigenous artists who will receive mentorship and creative support from industry leaders including Pacific Islanders in Communications, ITVS and guest artists such as Miki Magasiva (Director of Tinā).

"In these times, Indigenous stories offer fresh perspectives and important lessons, to carry us through change and transformation, especially through the medium of film and creative storytelling.” says Tracy Rector, founder of the 4th World Media Lab.

The 2025 fellows chosen are:

2025 Fellows

Kekama Amona
Indigenous affiliation: Kanaka ʻŌiwi

Katsitsionni Fox
Indigenous affiliation: Mohawk, Haudenosaunee/First Nations

James Johnson III
Indigenous affiliation: Koyukon Athabaskan

Jules Arita Koostachin
Indigenous affiliation: Attawapiskat

Tiare Ribeaux
Indigenous affiliation: Kanaka ʻŌiwi

Steph Viera
Indigenous affiliation: Diné, Salvadoran

In addition, the Seattle International Film Festival will highlight a curated annual spotlight, the cINeDIGENOUS program, featuring the very best in Indigenous cinema with highlights including SXSW Documentary Jury Prize Winner Remaining Native, and the US Premiere of New Zealand's top grossing film of 2024, Ka Whawai Tonu (Struggle Without End), marking 20 years of continued amplification of Indigenous-made content. The full cINeDIGENOUS program includes:

Features:

Drowned Land - by Colleen Thurston (Choctaw)- US/Choctaw Nation

Free Leonard Peltier - by Jesse Short Bull (Oglala Sioux) and David France - US

Ka Whawhai Tonu (Struggle Without End) - Mike Jonathan (Māori) - Aotearoa

Remaining Native - by Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee) - US

Tinā - Miki Magasiva (Māori) - Aotearoa

Medicine Circle: Indigenous Stories of Return (shorts)

• Civilized by Marc Fussing Rosbach (Inuk) - 5 min - Experimental - Greenland - 2025
• Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong (Red River Michif/Métis) - 19 min - Animation - Canada - 2024
• In My Hand by Marja Helander (Sámi), Liselotte Wajstedt (Sámi) - 24 min - Experimental/Documentary - Sápmi (Sweden, Norway, Finland) - 2025
• Munkha by Alexander Moruo (Yakut), Markel Martynov - 11 min - Animation - Russia - 2024
• Red-Shaded Green by Johannes Vang (Sámi) - 4 min - Documentary - Sápmi (Norway) - 2025
• This is a Story About Salmon by Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Neets’aii Gwich’in) - 5 min - Documentary - Alaska - 2025

Additional Shorts

Dear Aloha - by Cris Romento  (Kanaka Maoli) - US

Field Recording - by Quinne Larsen (Chinook) - US

The Great Cherokee Grandmother - by Anthony Sneed (Cherokee) - US

Pow! - by Joey Clift (Cowlitz) - US

Saturn Risin9 - by Tiare Ribeaux (Kanaka Ōiwi) and Jody Stillwater - US

Tiger - by Loren Waters (Cherokee Nation/Kiowa) - US

Waska: The Forest Is My Family - by Nina Gualinga (Kichwa) - Ecuador

A full schedule of panels, workshops, and career development opportunities can be found by visiting siff.net.

About 4th World Media

4th World Media is a matriarch run organization dedicated to media justice, while being grounded in the principles of narrative sovereignty and holistic care.

Born out of ten years of cultivating and weaving a community of Indigenous filmmakers through the 4th World Media Lab - 4th World Media is poised to expand this care to other intersectional filmmakers of all genres. We prioritize a comprehensive approach to each filmmaker, focusing on post-production, distribution, and impact campaigns with an emphasis on uplifting Indigenous filmmakers and their projects.

“4th World” is a concept that was shared by a Coast Salish Elder. It’s the story about a time when the Earth is suffering, and Indigenous storytelling will be a medicine to create healing across our planet. The 4th World Media experience has been designed to uplift Indigenous, Black, Brown, and Queer voices and perspectives through artist mentorship, fellowship immersion in industry events, and project development—creating safe space for stories that contribute to a collective vision of a better future.

“Our work is rooted in the belief that when historically marginalized storytellers receive necessary care, community, funding, and mentorship, they are empowered to contribute to a larger narrative shift in our present media landscape that benefits the Earth and every being on our shared planet,” shared Tracy Rector, co-founder of 4th World Media.

With staff members spread out across the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, Oklahoma, and New York, our focus is on serving traditional storytellers and artists located throughout Turtle Island (i.e. The United States of America, Canada, and Mexico) who are contributing to the healing of a shared world, hungry for stories that NOURISH new perspectives, CREATE deeper awareness, and foster RECIPROCAL SOLIDARITY across artists of the Global Majority and LGBTQIA+ community to make a lasting impact on the global media landscape.

For all press inquiries and interview requests, contact: Ry Levey, RBL Films and PR, at 647-781-0818 or rylevey@gmail.com.