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Rochester annually hosts dozens of film festivals, and it’s about to get one more. Indigenous filmmakers, actors, and producers from the region will be spotlighted April 19-25 in the inaugural Haudenosaunee Filmmakers Festival, a new collaboration between Friends of Ganondagan and Rematriation Magazine. Organizers are accepting film submissions through Sunday, Feb. 21.
The pandemic has precluded in-person events this year, so the week of screenings, workshops, and panel discussions will take place virtually. In future years the festival will be hosted at the Seneca Art & Culture Center at Ganondagan.
The festival grew from a couple of existing initiatives, said Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida), who is founder and editor-in-chief of Rematriation Magazine, a publication devoted to creating space for and uplifting Indigenous women’s voices.