Call for Applications – NATIVe Fellows Programme

The NATIVe Fellows Programme is an international professional development opportunity for Indigenous producers to attend the European Film Market with 1-2 market-ready feature film projects.

The NATIVe Fellows programme is a rare fellowship/lab opportunity exclusive to Indigenous feature film producers to have their project(s) promoted through the NATIVe Indigenous Cinema Stand and to participate in a curated programme for the producer to make the most of their time at the EFM.

The NATIVe Fellows programme will bring together a small group of Indigenous producers from the Stand Partners’ regional areas whose EFM activities will be enhanced through specific training, meetings, networking events, panels, and social activities to orient and help them take full advantage of the EFM and the Berlinale.

The Fellows will be overseen by a dedicated, Berlin-based coordinator with expertise in the EFM who will work collaboratively to develop strategic plans and goals with each producer. NATIVe Fellows will be international, with one selected from each Stand Partner region.

Stand Partner regions that will be accepting applications are: Canada, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Sápmi Territory (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia), USA, Chile, Greenland/Denmark, and Australia. Travel, accommodation, cost of one (1) market badge, and per diem costs will be covered by the regional Stand Partner supporting the Fellow. Per diems to be decided according to regional rates.

Applicants must be able to commit to pre-market email and/or Skype communication with the Fellows Coordinator, their associated Stand Partner, imagineNATIVE, the Berlinale, etc. starting from the week of Dec. 3rd, 2018 and must be available to attend the EFM in Berlin from Feb.7th-17th, 2019.

Who Can Apply:

  • You must reside in the region you are applying to
  • You must be an Indigenous producer
  • You must have 1-2 (no more than 2) market-ready feature film projects
  • You do not need to be the primary producer of the project, however, you must have the rights or be able to secure permission from the rights-holders to promote this project at the EFM Market-ready means: a completed work or work in the final stages of packaging for sales and/or distribution rights OR an in-development work – a feature with domestic funding (development or production) looking for co-production or pre-sales distribution support

How To Apply:

Email the following to the correct Stand Partner/regional email (see below) with the subject line

‘NATIVe Fellows Application’:

  • First Name, Last Name, email address, telephone number, country of residence
  • Short statement of interest in the NATVe Fellows Programme (1-2 paragraphs)
  • Project Title, synopsis, length, genre, director, writer, producer, and any production partners
  • List of cast and crew (if applicable)
  • Indicate who the rights holder for the project is and if you are able to retain their permission to promote the project at the EFM
  • Amount and source of domestic funding received for project (if applicable)
  • 3-4 high resolution stills for promotional purposes (.jpeg format only) -these can be production stills or promotional stills, depending on the stage of the project
  • Optional 30 sec – 2 min. trailer or sizzle reel to be played on a monitor at the NATIVe Stand throughout the EFM (downloadable Vimeo link only) (indicate if you will not be submitting a trailer or sizzle reel)

Stand Partner/regional emails:

Aotearoa (New Zealand): [email protected]

Report from Kerry Warkia, Producer and NATIVe Fellows alumni 2018

In Feb 2018 I had the wonderful pleasure of being selected to be the Aotearoa NATIVe producer fellow at the EFM. This incredible opportunity came at an important turning point in my career as a producer. My first feature film Waru had just had it’s theatrical release in NZ and Australia after enjoying an International Premiere at TIFF and opening the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto, my second feature Vai was in consideration for funding with the NZFC and I had another film active on my slate also in advanced development.

The NATIVe team were superb, incredibly helpful, supportive and caring!
All the talks and events that were organised or recommended in the schedule were very considered and I certainly enjoyed attending them all and others that I could choose. Communication was excellent and I really loved having the NATIVe base in the EFM to work from or come and go from.

With regards to the NATIVe workshops, I particularly enjoyed and got the most out of the sessions with Themba Bhebe (on sales agents) and Paula Devonshire (producer of Indian Horse and an active Producer of Mohawk ancestry). Themba really knows the world of sales agents well, and he has such a great view on diverse content and how to position it. Paula is a very active Canadian producer (we had just watched Indian Horse) and it was so valuable to hear how she navigated an adaption from a true story, and how they worked to take care of people culturally and spiritually on set from an indigenous perspective. Because of the space I was in with a project that had just released, another securing finance and a third active on my slate – all three projects springing from indigenous foundations – these were the most informative and helpful workshops for me with regards how I actively shaped my own processes going forward with the work, and how I visualised and realised the projects from seed to sales.

The flexibility afforded to the fellows with regards our schedules was really great.

I am happy to say I am connected with all the fellows, I am following their work and in communication with them all. It’s wonderful to feel like part of an army of creatives out in the world, working to raise the voices of indigenous people around the globe. That’s empowerment!

p.s.

I loved Berlin! I loved being in a city that was bursting with, history, culture, art, and of course business. I stayed at the perfect hotel (recommended by the Native team) and everything was walking distance. A dinner was organised for the fellows the night before the market and this was such an important time for us to meet each other in a casual relaxed environment. And it cured my homesickness :).

Kerry Warkia