2022 Sundance Institute Indigenous Short Films

Featuring six new fiction and documentary short films, the selections are a celebration of Native perseverance and inventive storytelling from Indigenous artists.

The Headhunter’s Daughter dir. Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan - Ífugão, Visayan 

Leaving her family behind, Lynn traverses the harrowing roads of the Cordilleran highlands to try her luck in the city as a country singer. 

Kicking the Clouds dir. Sky Hopinka - Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians

An experimental documentary centered on a 50 year old cassette tape of a Pechanga language lesson between the director’s grandmother and great-grandmother, and contextualized by an interview with his mother in his Pacific Northwest hometown. 

Long Line of Ladies dir. Rayka Zehtabchi, Shaandiin Tome - Diné

A girl and her community prepare for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming of age ceremony of the Karuk and Yurok tribes of Northern California.

Maidenhood dir. Xochitl Enriquez Mendoza - Zapoteca

Catalina submits to the tradition of her people to demonstrate her purity and worth as a woman to her beloved, but her body betrays her and she fails to demonstrate her chastity.

The Original Shareholder Experience dir. Petyr Xyst - Roadrunner clan in the Pueblo of Laguna

An Indigenous telepresenter nearing the top of her class must contend with her career prospects and her moral credibility as she's asked to sell a genocidal product on live television.

ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (Udeyonv) (What They’ve Been Taught) dir. Brit Hensel - Cherokee Nation

This film explores expressions of reciprocity in the Cherokee world, brought to life through a story told by an elder and first language speaker.