Margaret Mead Film Festival

2024 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Awards

On Sunday, May 12, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie received the 2024 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award for their film, National Geographic Documentary Films’ Sugarcane, which follows a community investigation into Saint Joseph’s Mission in British Columbia, one of more than 500 so-called “residential schools” for Indigenous children in North America.

Mead 2024 also presented its first-ever Audience Award—voted on by attendees from a selection of films making their New York premiere at the festival—to Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó for Agent of Happiness. A touching exploration of the meaning of belonging and purpose in a nation constitutionally mandated to promote the happiness of its citizens, Agent of Happiness invites viewers to discover Bhutan, the “happiest country on Earth,” through the eyes of Amber, a bureaucrat who measures the nation’s “Gross National Happiness.”

Festival Information

The four-day celebration took place from Thursday, May 9–Sunday, May 12, and presented storytelling, documentary films, and live performances from diverse voices near and far.

Tickets

Welcome performance and opening-night film tickets are $15 ($13 for Members and students).

All other screenings and programs are $12 ($10 for Members and students). Purchase 5 or more films or special events at one time and receive a 20% discount (excludes welcome performance).

Weekend passes are available for $100 ($75 for Members) and include the welcome performance, and all other screenings.

Entrance

Food and Drink at the Museum

Accessibility

Thursday, May 9

All Day - ICE COLD: The Untold Story of Hip Hop Jewelry

Two clasped hands covered in bling—a large ring on each hand and multiple, shining bracelets and watches on the wrists.

Image: ICE COLD

All Day | Griffin Exploration Atrium, Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation | Film | Free with Museum Admission
Director: Karam Gill
2021 | USA

This four-part documentary series serves as an exploration of one of rap music’s most elaborate forms of personal expression—jewelry. ICE COLD delves deeply into the cultural significance and craftsmanship behind hip hop jewelry, exploring its evolution from a symbol of status to a form of self-expression. In celebration of the Museum’s opening of Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry in the Melissa and Keith Meister Gallery within the Museum’s new Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, this documentary will be on view throughout the entirety of the Mead Festival.

Please note: This film contains adult language that may not be suitable for children.

Courtesy of Polygram Entertainment

7 pm - Welcome Performance: Soundtrack ’63

17 people on a stage, playing various instruments, below a screen with an image of two raised fists and text "Black Power Olympic Protest, 1968."

Soundtrack '63

7 pm | LeFrak Theater | Welcome Performance

Soundtrack ’63 is a live music and multimedia retrospective of the Black experience in the United States. It is an artistic survey of the past that gives context to the present and asks important questions about the future. The full sensory experience is a journey from the African continent through milestone events in African-American history. Immersive video of archival footage and animation accompany a sequential soundtrack of spirituals, protest songs, hip-hop, and other popular music performed by a dynamic ensemble and vocal chamber.

Following the performance, there will be a complimentary welcome toast for ages 21+.

8:30 pm - Welcome Toast

8:30 pm | Griffin Exploration Atrium, Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation | Welcome Toast

Join us for a complimentary welcome toast after the Soundtrack ’63 performance in celebration of the start of the Margaret Mead Film Festival. Engage with fellow film enthusiasts, filmmakers, and industry professionals.

This portion of the evening’s program is for ages 21+.

Friday, May 10

All Day - ICE COLD: The Untold Story of Hip Hop Jewelry

Image: ICE COLD

All Day | Griffin Exploration Atrium, Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation | Film | Free with Museum Admission
Director: Karam Gill
2021 | USA

Please note: This film contains adult language that may not be suitable for children.

Courtesy of Polygram Entertainment

7 pm - Opening Night Film: Sugarcane

Close-up on Ed Archie NoiseCat's weathered face.

Image: Sugarcane

Saint Joseph’s Mission in British Columbia was one of over 500 so-called “residential schools” for Indigenous children in North America, designed to isolate children from their languages and cultural practices. Thirty years after its closure, authorities are finally ready to talk about what happened there. While investigators uncover craters of pain and abuse buried just under the surface, this film hints at a deeper journey—toward healing.

Saturday, May 11

All Day - ICE COLD: The Untold Story of Hip Hop Jewelry

Image: ICE COLD

All Day | Griffin Exploration Atrium, Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation | Film | Free with Museum Admission
Director: Karam Gill
2021 | USA

Please note: This film contains adult language that may not be suitable for children.

Courtesy of Polygram Entertainment

All Day - Earth in Focus

All Day | Milstein Hall of Ocean Life | Shorts Program | Free with Museum Admission

Through these five family-friendly shorts, which will play on loop throughout the day, we celebrate the intricate relationship between humanity and the natural world and remember our duty to cherish, protect, and preserve the Earth for generations to come.

A Hawaiian warrior and a handsome young man stand side-by-side, looking at one another, as they stand in front of a waterfall.

Image: AIKĀNE

AIKĀNE
Directors: Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
2023 | 14 min | Hawai‘i

Wounded in battle, a valiant island warrior discovers love in a mysterious underwater realm. Together with the shape-shifting octopus that saved his life, the warrior embarks on an epic adventure against colonial invaders. Rooted in Hawaiian legends, this love story explores “aikāne,” the Hawaiian term of respect for intimate friends of the same sex. This supernatural romance offers a vibrant vision of love's triumph over the forces of evil.

Niukku, a toddler, flies through the air alongside seven clear fish, wearing two giant mittens on each arm which spread out like wings.

Image: Munkha

Munkha
Directors: Alexander Moruo, Markel Martynov
2024 | 11 min | Sakha Republic (Russia)

Experience the charm of the “Munkha," or ice-fishing ceremony, as Niukku, a lively toddler, tags along for the first time. Despite sibling squabbles and parental pressures, the family unites for a bountiful catch. Niukku learns that everyone has a role to play in the ceremony that sustains her community in the harsh landscape of far-eastern Russia. Join a heartwarming journey of community and tradition in this short, animated delight.

A felted Andean bear holds an umbrella and stands beside a seated Afro-Ecuadorian musician, also made of felt, who is playing a guitar.

Image: Nangulvi

Nangulvi
Director: Wayra Ana Velásquez
2022 | 6 min | Ecuador

Follow the journey of an Andean bear and an Afro-Ecuadorian musician in a stop-motion animated short that blends folklore, friendship, and activism. The pair team up with a group of magical allies and embark on a quest to support the Indigenous women battling a mining corporation in the Intag-Ecuador valley. Nangulvi invites viewers into a whimsical world where storytelling and traditional music inspire a fight for environmental justice.

A young girl, Itzel, stands in front of a cage and reaches a hand out to the jaguar inside the cage.

Image: Balam

Balam
Director: Guillermo Casarin
2023 | 11 min | Mexico

Itzel, a young girl of Mayan descent, joins her astronomy-obsessed father on a camping trip that turns into a perilous coming-of-age voyage. Bored and disinterested at first, Itzel wanders off into the jungle in search of Wi-Fi signal. Instead, she finds and rescues a jaguar held captive by a Catholic poacher. Guided through an ancient Mayan city by Balam, a magical jaguar spirit, Itzel must find her way back to her father and to herself.

Six people, five of them carrying cylindrical objects on their heads, walk in a row on a sandy street, with the Nile River visible in the background.

Image: Hanina/Homesick

Hanina/Homesick
Director: Yasmin Moll
2023 | 8 min | Egypt

A young Nubian girl embarks on a journey back in time to reconnect with her drowned homeland. Guided by the Nile Egret, she travels underwater within the lake created by Egypt's Aswan High Dam to visit Nubia's mountains and palm trees, water wheels and houses, men and women. She bids farewell to her people as they board the boats that will take them to their resettlement villages. Returning to her own time, she carries the strength of knowing that Nubia will always live on inside her.

A claymation figure of Elder Colleen Hemphill, seated and holding a fish hook.

Image: Tiny

Tiny
Directors: Ritchie Hemphill, Ryan Haché
2023 | 16 min | Canada

‘Nakwaxda’xw Elder, Colleen Hemphill, tells the story of her childhood. The film portrays modern-day Colleen as she reflects on her past and re-enacts the stories she tells of her youth as a young girl growing up on a float-house in the wild and unpredictable Pacific Northwest and its waters. Colleen notices how different her way of life was when she was young and how much more harmonious her community was with nature.

12 pm - Ozogoche

12 people, two adults and ten children, pictured from behind as they sit on grass beside a lake with mountains in the background.

Image: Ozogoche

Many in the Ozogoche Lake Region of Ecuador feel pulled to migrate north in spite of the enormous risks associated with the journey. In Ozogoche, filmmaker Joe Houlberg Silva draws a parallel between human and avian voyages and shows the annual migration of the mysterious “Cuvivi” sandpiper bird to the remote Andean lakes. Don’t miss this poignant story of cultural identity, trust, and the profound beauty of the Ecuadorian highlands.

12 pm - Pure Unknown

A person's gloved hands wipe the hand of a cadaver.

Image: Pure Unknown

Every night, anonymous bodies land in Dr. Cristina Cattaneo’s Sicilian autopsy room. She calls these bodies, their identities lost, “The Pure Unknown.” As thousands of migrants wash ashore every year in Italy, denied dignity in death, Cattaneo fights to restore their identities. Her quest to help the families of forgotten people find closure brings her to the highest halls of power in Europe. Pure Unknown pulses with urgency to confront the stories of marginalized people.

1 pm - Revolutionizing Representation: The Significance of Native-Led Stories in Today's Media Landscape

From left to right: Erica Tremblay, Sterlin Harjo, Steven Paul Judd

1 pm | Wallach Orientation Center | Special Event

With the critical and commercial success of series like FX’s Reservation Dogs, AMC’s Dark Winds, and Disney+’s Echo, Native-led series with Native-centered stories are hitting a stride in popular culture. What is the significance of this moment in Native storytelling? What kinds of narrative change does the streaming era make possible? What work lies ahead? Moderated by Mead Advisor, Billy Luther, this discussion will include Erica Tremblay, Sterlin Harjo, and Steven Paul Judd.

Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee) is an award-winning filmmaker from Holdenville, Oklahoma. Now based in Tulsa, Harjo is the co-creator and showrunner of FX’s Reservation Dogs, a comedy series following four Indigenous teenage friends living on a reservation in Oklahoma. After its first season, Reservation Dogs won a 2022 Peabody award, 2022 Television Academy Honors award, 2022 Independent Spirit Award for Best Comedy Series, was an American Film Institute Awards Honoree, and won Best Breakthrough Series under 40 minutes at the 2021 Gotham Awards. The series completed its third and final season. Currently, Harjo’s series The Sensitive Kind and Poster Girls is in development with FX Productions. Paramount+ recently acquired his series Yellowbird, which he co-created with Erica Tremblay.

Erica Tremblay is a filmmaker from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Her feature film Fancy Dance, starring Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Apple Original Films. The film is set to be released in theaters and on Apple TV+ in 2024. Tremblay is currently writing for Season 3 of Dark Winds at AMC and has previously written for FX’s Reservation Dogs, where she also directed two episodes. In 2021, she was accepted into the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Lab, and was awarded the Walter Bernstein Screenwriting Fellowship, the Maja Kristin Directing Fellowship, the SFFILM Rainin Grant, and the Lynn Shelton "Of a Certain Age" Grant. Her short film Little Chief, premiered at Sundance in 2020. Tremblay lives on Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, where she studies her Indigenous language.

Steven Paul Judd is a prominent Kiowa-Choctaw visual artist, filmmaker, and writer known for his innovative and thought-provoking work that blends pop-culture and traditional Native American motifs into a unique perspective on contemporary Indigenous identity. Known for his work on Search for the World's Best Indian Taco (2010), Dark Winds (2022) and Echo (2023), Judd is also the subject of the 2016 documentary Dig It If You Can.

2 pm - Nocturnes

Many pinned butterfly and insect specimens on a gridded surface.

Image: Nocturnes

High in the Eastern Himalayas, a team of biologists observes the mysterious world of moths. Through mesmerizing visuals and soundscapes, Nocturnes unveils the ecological importance and unexpected beauty of these creatures. The enchanting moths grace the screen like strokes from an impressionist painter’s brush, igniting curiosity about the limits of human understanding. Discover the resilience of a creature whose existence spans hundreds of thousands of years in this spellbinding film.

2:30 pm - ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak)

An adult points to a spot on a colorful map on a classroom wall for a child who is wearing a cloth mask around their chin.

Image: ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak)

With fewer than 1,500 fluent speakers remaining, Cherokee activists rally against time to safeguard their endangered language. Shot over three years following the 2019 declaration of a Cherokee language state of emergency, this gripping film captures the passion of those fighting to preserve the early written language of an Indigenous culture in North America. Through interviews and community scenes, we witness the resilience of a people determined to defy extinction and reclaim their heritage.

2:30 pm - Mother Suriname - Mama Sranan

Over twenty young children sit in rows, all wearing brimmed hats and dresses.

Image: Mother Suriname - Mama Sranan

Abandoned at birth in 1905, Fancelyne Cummings lived out her life as a mixed-race washerwoman in Dutch-controlled Surinam. Her granddaughter, filmmaker Tessa Leuwsha, celebrates her and some of the other women who forged a national identity in the shadow of European colonialism. The film interweaves Fancelyne's stories and songs with colorized archival footage of a twentieth century fight for racial equity and Surinamese independence.

5 pm - The Buriti Flower

Image: The Buriti Flower

5 pm | Kaufmann Theater | Film
Director: Renée Nader Messora, João Salaviza
2023 | 124 min | Brazil/Portugal
New York Premiere

Shot across four villages in Brazil, The Buriti Flower depicts some of the pivotal moments in the history of the Krahô people of Krahôlandia. The film weaves land disputes in 1940 to the scars of dictatorship in 1960, and the contemporary movement for Indigenous rights. A dreamlike narrative which echoes the oral traditions of Indigenous storytelling introduces us to the young protagonists carrying the stories and rituals of resilience and faith to a new generation.

5 pm - This Is Going to Be Big

7 teenagers on stage, singing or playing instruments, while two more teenagers stand on the side on stage right.

Image: This Is Going To Be Big

Step into a world of friendship, courage, and creativity at a school outside Melbourne, Australia, for kids diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. Thomas Charles Hyland’s heartfelt documentary takes us behind the scenes of the rural school’s production of “The Time-Travelling Trio,” a musical retrospective on the life of Australian pop icon John Farnham. Experience the magic of art and community as the students put their humor, grief, wisdom, and hope center stage.

6 pm - Meanwhile

A person in a tree-filled yard walks on a slackline tied to a tree with their arms stretched out for balance.

Image: Meanwhile

“This is not a love letter to this country. But to us inside this country.” Author Jacqueline Woodson narrates Meanwhile, a docu-poem about white supremacy and a community of artists who share visions of resistance. Meanwhile, an immersive, nonlinear cinematic journey—where artists’ expressions blend with historical and observational footage—unveils the profound impact of white supremacy on our human connections.

The two-hour special event will feature in-process works by artists from the film, including dance by Shamel Pitts and Tushrik Fredericks, wisdom and cookies by Juli Vanderhoop, music by Mel Chin, and more.

This program will be from 6–8 pm on the fourth floor of the Museum.

This film is supported in part by Ford Foundation/JustFilms, National Endowment for the Arts, and Brown University/CSREA. Aubin Picture's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

8 pm - Porcelain War - Centerpiece Screening

A chipped porcelain figurine of an owl perched in an uneven hole in a wall partially destroyed by bombardment.

Image: Porcelain War

Meet Slava and Anya, porcelain artists whose ordinary lives are made extraordinary by the terrors of the war in Ukraine. In Porcelain War, their art serves as a poignant metaphor for the nation's resilience amid chaos. Filmed entirely by Ukrainians resisting Russian occupation, this visually stunning documentary earned the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Discover how, even in the bleakest moments, the flames of life and art burn bright.

Sunday, May 12

All Day - ICE COLD: The Untold Story of Hip Hop Jewelry

Image: ICE COLD

All Day | Griffin Exploration Atrium, Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation | Film | Free with Museum Admission
Director: Karam Gill
2021 | USA

Please note: This film contains adult language that may not be suitable for children.

Courtesy of Polygram Entertainment

All Day - Earth in Focus

All Day | Milstein Hall of Ocean Life | Shorts Program | Free with Museum Admission

Image: AIKĀNE

AIKĀNE
Directors: Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
2023 | 14 min | Hawai‘i

Image: Munkha

Munkha
Directors: Alexander Moruo, Markel Martynov
2024 | 11 min | Sakha Republic (Russia)

Image: Nangulvi

Nangulvi
Director: Wayra Ana Velásquez
2022 | 6 min | Ecuador

Image: Balam

Balam
Director: Guillermo Casarin
2023 | 11 min | Mexico

Image: Hanina/Homesick

Hanina/Homesick
Director: Yasmin Moll
2023 | 8 min | Egypt

Image: Tiny

Tiny
Directors: Ritchie Hemphill, Ryan Haché
2023 | 16 min | Canada

11 am - Emerging Visual Anthropologist Showcase

A seated crowd of people watching the screen in the LeFrak Theater.

11 am | Kaufmann Theater | Special Event

In this special showcase, we present exciting new ethnographic documentaries from emerging visual anthropology students. This screening is co-hosted by Faye Ginsburg, Director of NYU Center for Media, Culture, and History, and Kriser Professor of Anthropology, and Pegi Vail, Center for Media, Culture and History and documentary professor, Program in Culture & Media. It will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

Angel Adorno, a blind Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist, wears their belted robe and sits beside another person against a wall.

Image: Fighting Blind

Fighting Blind
Director: Margarida Duque de Castela
2023 | 24 min | USA

Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial artist and family man Angel Adorno shares the victories and challenges of being blind in a sighted world, on and off the mat. Designed for blind audiences, this film explores Angel’s resilience in overcoming a difficult past as he learns to trust himself and others.

A person from the Shinnecock Nation wearing a beanie, scarf and glasses stands on a boat with the water visible in background.

Image: Women of the Stony Shore: Shinnecock Kelp Farmers

Women of the Stony Shore: Shinnecock Kelp Farmers
Director: Nathaniel Cummings-Lambert
2023 | 28 min | USA

A group of Indigenous women from the Shinnecock Nation fight for environmental restoration in the waters of their homeland through kelp farming. Their traditional ecological knowledge intersects with their struggle for sovereignty as these farmers protect lifeways and cultural practices for their tribe along the Long Island shore.

Ralph James sits beside his daughter Bug on a brownstone stoop in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

Image: Ralph and Bug

Ralph & Bug
Director: Christine Thomas Yoon
2023 | 17 min| USA

Ralph James has traded in the street name “El Diablo” for the title of “The Urban Dad.” Leaving behind a life of drug dealing, Ralph is now the sole caretaker of his daughter Bug and leader of his local dad’s group in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Weaving together snapshots from Ralph and Bug’s lives, this film highlights a father’s sacrificial love for his child, promising to overcome anything that stands in his way.

A person wearing a light-colored puffer coat sits in a subway car, holding a smartphone.

Image: #Darien

#Darien
Director: Tatiana Rojas Ponce
2023 | 32 min| USA/Venezuela

Countless migrants make the treacherous journey from South and Central America to reach the United States—and many document it on social media. While Venezuelan filmmaker Tatiana Rojas Ponce struggles to find meaningful ways to help those arriving in New York from her home country, she meets Paola and Emily, who share stories, videos, and reflections about their harrowing passage through the Darien jungle en route to the United States.

Two people stand on two sides of a long table covered in potted plants inside a greenhouse.

Image: Homegrown

Homegrown
Director: Lee Emmerich
2023 | 17 min| USA

Leroy Emmerich bought some land in the 1960s with money he earned from filmmaking. Leroy’s son turned the land into a flower farm and now his grandson, Lee Emmerich, is making a film about the uncertain future of their family farm. Homegrown explores family cycles, parental expectations, and the connections between filmmaking and farming.

An Andean woman and two children look at the view over a short brick wall on an elevated building.

Image: Rimana Wasi: Hogar de Historias - Rimana Wasi: Home of Stories

Rimana Wasi: Hogar de Historias - Rimana Wasi: Home of Stories
Directors: Ximena Málaga Sabogal, Piotr Turlej
2022 | 20 min | Peru

Quechua stories reach the far-flung highlands from the city center of Puno, Peru as Chaska attempts to balance her career in radio with familial obligations in some of the nearest highlands. Portraying a rich heritage through quotidian scenes blended with the modernity of present day, the film paints a tender portrait of community and a woman embracing modernity to promote her cultural roots. Produced by Watay Misita, a company born from a female film collective that highlights the stories of Andean women, the project won the Peruvian Bicentennial Shorts award and has screened in numerous festivals.

Co-presented by the New York University Center for Media, Culture, and History

2:30 pm - Above and Below the Ground

A protester wearing a "No Dam | Rights of Rivers" t-shirt and baseball cap holds a sign with twenty plus additional protesters in the background.

Image: Above and Below the Ground

Indigenous women and Christian punk rockers form a surprising alliance as they join to thwart a multibillion-dollar megadam project imperiling the landscape of northern Myanmar. Despite backing by the Burmese military and the Chinese Communist party, the dam project was halted in 2011, largely by a karaoke album that catalyzed a country-wide environmental movement. Immerse yourself in the fight to save the Irrawaddy River in this tale of punk rock defiance and grassroots activism.

4 pm - 23 Mile

About ten people stand on the side of a road, some holding Trump 2020 campaign flags and one holding the "Thin Blue Line" American flag.

Image: 23 Mile

Prepare for an eye-opening journey into the heart of the American Midwest. Filmmaker Mitch McCabe returns home to Detroit to capture the essence of a nation divided during and after the 2020 presidential election. From anti-lockdown protests to post-election chaos, 23 Mile shows the unraveling of societal norms through the lives of everyday Americans. With captivating scenes and unfiltered voices, the film challenges our preconceptions and urges us to confront our biases.

5 pm - Rising Up at Night

Two children sit in the dark holding objects with light that illuminate them.

Image: Rising Up at Night

In Kinshasa, a community fights to restore electrical power following the flooding of the Congo River. Shot during the week between Christmas and New Year's, Rising Up at Night feels like an Old Testament tale in which people shrouded in darkness and soaked in floodwaters unite around their faith and community. As residents raise funds to buy back stolen electrical cables, director Nelson Makengo captures their struggle for electricity as a symbol of hope.

7 pm - Agent of Happiness

Discover Bhutan, the “happiest country on Earth,” through the eyes of Amber, a bureaucrat who measures the nation's “Gross National Happiness.” As Amber treks the lush Himalayas, he assigns a happiness score to everyone he meets, from dairy farmers to urban dancers. Does his own search for fulfillment complicate his job? Explore the meaning of belonging and purpose in this touching portrait of a nation constitutionally mandated to promote the happiness of its citizens.

Awards

The Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award

The Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award recognizes documentary filmmakers who embody the spirit, energy, and innovation demonstrated by anthropologist Margaret Mead in her research, fieldwork, films, and writings.

The award is given to a filmmaker whose feature-length documentary displays artistic excellence and originality in storytelling technique while offering a new perspective on cultures and communities. Filmmakers with works making their New York premieres at the festival are eligible.

Audience Award

Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award Contenders

Generous support for the Margaret Mead Film Festival has been provided by The Mead Trust.

A portion of the Margaret Mead Film Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Additional support for the Margaret Mead Film Festival is provided by National Geographic Documentary Films.