Sundance Institute has announced Fox Maxy as the recipient of the 2022 Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous women-identified feature film directors.
Maxy (Payómkawichum and Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians) was honoured at the festival’s Native Forum Celebration on The Spaceship on the festival’s online platform on Monday (24).
The San Diego-based filmmaker and artist has screened work at BAM CinemaFest, International Film Festival Rotterdam, imagineNATIVE Festival, MoMAs Doc Fortnight and AFI Docs, among others.
Her first feature, Watertight, is an experimental work that travels between communities and follows people who create their own realities. It is described as “a collection of interviews about mental health and suicide, interrupted by fake commercials, reality TV parodies, animations and archival footage”.
“When I heard that I received this fellowship, I cried,” said Maxy. “This means that my voice in my work is actually reaching people and I’m being heard. I’m grateful to the entire Sundance team. Our talks keep me calm. It’s like having a group of friends and mentors who are rooting for me to do what I want — they encourage me to carve my own rules and set out on my own path.”
The seventh year of the Fellowship continues to honour artistic contributions of the late Māori filmmaker Mita, who served as an advisor and artistic director of Sundance Institute Native Lab from 2000 to 2009. Sundance Indigenous Program interim director Adam Piron (Kiowa and Mohawk) said the industry was in a moment where more Indigenous artists are telling stories to wider audiences than ever before.
The Native Forum Celebration featured an opening blessing by Bart Powakee and the Red Spirit Singers from the Ute Tribal Nation and remarks from Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute board member Amy Redford, Nia Tero (represented by Tracy Rector), Jennifer Loren from the Cherokee Nation Film Office, and mPiron.
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