Sundance Institute Announces Merata Mita and Graton Fellows at The 2025 Sundance Film Festival

The nonprofit Sundance Institute has announced the artists selected for the 2025 Merata Mita Fellowship and the Graton Fellowship for Artists from California-Based Tribes. These filmmakers were honored at the Sundance Film Festival's Native Forum Celebration presented by NBCUniversal LAUNCH at The Park during the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The Merata Mita Fellowship, named after the late Māori filmmaker Merata Mita, is granted annually to an Indigenous woman-identified artist endeavoring to direct a feature film. This year's Merata Mita Fellowship went to Rhayne Vermette (Métis). The Graton Fellowship, established in 2023, was designed to support Indigenous artists from California-based tribes, both federally and non-federally recognized. This year the Graton Fellowship went to two artists: Roni Jo Draper (Yurok) and Stefan Perez (Coast Miwok). 

“Our Sundance Institute team is thrilled for Rhayne, Roni Jo, and Stefan. Their roots and creative journeys are so different, and that speaks to why opportunities like the Merata Mita and Graton Fellowships are so important for uplifting Indigenous storytelling — they allow us to champion a variety of projects,” said Adam Piron, Director, Sundance Institute Indigenous Program. “We thank our partners for their support in our mission to help artists constantly redefine what Indigenous storytelling can be.”

Merata Mita fellow Rhayne Vermette was born in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba. Primarily self-taught, she creates work that emphasizes destruction through opulent layers of fiction, animation, reenactments, and divine interruption. Her works have been exhibited internationally. Highlights include presentations at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Walker Art Center, New York Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival, and Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective. Her first feature narrative, Ste. Anne, received TIFF's Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film in 2021.

"I am thrilled and honoured to receive this year's award, especially in considering the talent of previous recipients, many of whom have inspired me, incredibly,” said Rhayne Vermette. “Merata Mita's vision of moving images struck me as a beaming pillar of light. Her work has always been some place to admire, as well as both wish and work towards. It is in this spirit that I am encouraged to keep dreaming."

Merata Mita (Ngāi Te Rangi/Ngāti Pikiao) broke new ground as the first Māori woman to solely write and direct a dramatic feature film. She was an advisor and artistic director of the Sundance Institute Native Lab (2000–2009), spearheading a cycle of support for a generation of Indigenous storytellers. In her honor, the Merata Mita Fellowship was created a decade ago to provide an Indigenous woman-identified filmmaker from anywhere in the world with a cash grant, mentorship, and year-round creative development opportunities, including attendance at the Sundance Film Festival and access to strategic services offered by Sundance Institute's artist programs.

The 2025 Graton fellows will receive support for a project in development or production, receiving critical financial and creative assistance throughout 2025. The Graton fellows will each be granted $25,000, mentorship from Indigenous Program staff, access to creative and professional development opportunities, and an invitation to attend the Sundance Film Festival. The Graton Fellowship is possible through an endowment from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which will also facilitate scholarships for Indigenous Californians on Sundance Collab.

Graton fellow Roni Jo Draper, Ph.D., is an enrolled member of the Yurok tribe and a writer-director. Roni produced Scenes from the Glittering World, stories of three Diné adolescents living on the fringes of the Navajo Nation. She also produced, directed, and wrote Fire Tender, a short film highlighting the work of Margo Robbins and Yurok cultural fire practices. Roni's work has been supported by the National Geographic Society, Vision Maker Media, and Women Make Movies.

“I am honored to join the Graton Fellowship as part of Sundance Institute. I am striving to tell the story of Yurok fire practices in a good way — in a way that uplifts my community and demonstrates to Indigenous peoples the power of our relationships with the land and with each other,” said Roni Jo Draper. “Storytelling and story listening have been an important part of my life as a Yurok woman. Now I am in a position to imagine what Yurok storytelling can look like on film. This work is only possible with the generosity and trust of programs like the Graton Fellowship. Wok-hlew.”

Graton fellow Stefan Perez is a Coast Miwok Latino filmmaker in Sonoma County, California. The Indigenous history of storytelling is something Stefan takes great pride in being a part of. He believes the next evolution in this storytelling lineage is through filmmaking, and genre films are essential to giving Native stories cultural longevity.

“This is such an amazing honor to be recognized by an institution like Sundance. I hope to make my tribe, my colleagues, and Sundance proud of what project develops out of this fellowship,” said Stefan Perez. “California Indians have such a unique history and identity that I cannot wait to bring to the screen. Thank you to the Graton Rancheria Tribal Council and Sundance Institute for making this possible.”

The Native Forum Celebration is an annual event that gathers Sundance Institute Indigenous Program fellows, grantees, and alumni on Traditional Ute Nation Territory during the Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the announcement of the Merata Mita and Graton fellows, during the event all Indigenous-led projects in the Festival lineup and the 2024 Native Lab fellows are recognized alongside Program funders and contributors.

The Sundance Institute has a proud history of encouraging Indigenous self-determination in storytelling. Native American filmmakers participated in the founding meetings of Sundance Institute and its first filmmaking lab in 1981. The Institute's Feature Film Program, Documentary Film Program, and Sundance Film Festival conduct ongoing outreach to Indigenous artists and collaborate with the Indigenous Program to identify artists for support across the globe. Fellows and projects supported through the Sundance Institute programs include: Sterlin Harjo, his Independent Spirit Award–nominated Four Sheets to the Wind, and his follow-up feature Barking Water; Academy Award nominee Taika Waititi, his feature debut, Eagle vs. Shark, and his follow-up feature Boy; Billy Luther's award-winning Miss Navajo and his second feature documentary, Grab; Andrew Okpeaha MacLean's Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize–winning Sikumi and his feature debut, On the Ice, which was awarded the Crystal Bear and the Best First Feature Prize at the 61st Berlinale; Aurora Guerrero's Independent Spirit Award–nominated Mosquita y Mari; Sydney Freeland's Outfest Award–winning Drunktown's Finest and her second feature, Deidra & Laney Rob a Train, which debuted in 190 countries on Netflix; Blake Pickens' The Land (IFC Films); Ciara Lacy's nationally broadcast documentary Out of State; Shaandiin Tome's Mud (Hashtł'ishnii); and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers' The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.

Sundance Institute

As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists across storytelling media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute's signature labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from Sundance advisors and connect with each other in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Through the Sundance Institute artist programs, we have supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Big Sick, Bottle Rocket, Boys Don't Cry, Boys State, Call Me by Your Name, Clemency, CODA, Drunktown's Finest, The Farewell, Fire of Love, Flee, The Forty-Year-Old Version, Fruitvale Station, Half Nelson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hereditary, Honeyland, The Infiltrators, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Little Woods, Love & Basketball, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Mudbound, Nanny, ONE CHILD Nation, Pariah, Raising Victor Vargas, Requiem for a Dream, Reservoir Dogs, RBG, Sin Nombre, Sorry to Bother You, Strong Island, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the REVOLUTION Could Not Be Televised), Swiss Army Man, A Thousand and One, Top of the Lake, Walking and Talking, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, and Zola. Through year-round artist programs, the Institute also nurtured the early careers of such artists as Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Ryan Coogler, Nia DaCosta, The Daniels, David Gordon Green, Miranda July, James Mangold, John Cameron Mitchell, Kimberly Peirce, Boots Riley, Ira Sachs, Quentin Tarantino, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao. Support Sundance Institute in our commitment to uplifting bold artists and powerful storytelling globally by making a donation at sundance.org/donate. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the nonprofit, Sundance Institute, is the pre-eminent gathering of original storytellers and audiences seeking new voices and fresh perspectives. Since 1985, hundreds of films launched at the Festival have gone on to gain critical acclaim and reach new audiences worldwide. The Festival has introduced some of the most groundbreaking films and episodic works of the past three decades, including Daughters, Dìdi (弟弟), A Real Pain, Sujo, Thelma, Will & Harper, Past Lives, 20 Days in Mariupol, The Eternal Memory, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, A Thousand and One, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Rye Lane, Navalny, Fire of Love, Flee, CODA, Passing, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the REVOLUTION Could Not Be Televised), Minari, Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, O.J.: Made in America, On the Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, ONE CHILD Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Top of the Lake, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs, and sex, lies, and videotape. The program consists of fiction and nonfiction features and short films, series and episodic content, innovative storytelling, and performances, as well as conversations, and other events. The Festival takes place in person in Utah, as well as online, connecting audiences to bold new artists and films. The 2025 Festival will be held January 23–February 2, 2025. Be a part of the Festival at festival.sundance.org and follow the Festival on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.

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