The American Indian Film Insitute

I was drawn towards the link of the American Indian Film Insitute because I'm interested in film production and I was intrigued to see what it was all about. Before I looked, I assumed it was films written by Indians. I was somewhat correct. AIFI is an organization that produces Indian films that are not only written by Indians, but produced, directed, and even star Indians. Founded in 1975 in Seattle, later moved to San Francisco, it's the largest Native American media in California and the world's oldest.

AIFI's main goals are:
"1) To bring the broader media culture the Native voices, viewpoints and stories historically excluded from mainstream media;
2) To develop Indian and non-Indian audiences for this work;
and 3) to advocate for authentic media representations of Indians" (AIFI).

Every year they also have a festival where they screen films and hold awards.

In 2001, they introduced the AIFI Tribal Touring Program. It's a program designed for at-risk youth (13-20). It teaches them the skills to make films and to become in touch with their culture. The program travels to isolated reservations and is offered 3-5 times every summer.

I feel this is an extremely important organization because it allows Natives to tell their own stories instead of popular media outlets sanitizing their history. I also really like that they have programs for youth. With reservation unemployment and dropout rates so high, it allows youth to gain skills and learn they are capable of doing amazing things without losing their culture.

This is an image of the past festival posters.

And this is last year.

AIFI