Akwesasne woman receives Sundance Institute’s Ford Foundation Fellowship

The Sundance Institute recently announced its four aspiring filmmakers who were selected for the two-stage 2010 Sundance Institute-Ford Foundation Fellowship program. This year, all four recipients are women film artists, including Kaherawaks Thompson of Akwesasne.

The Sundance Institutes Native American and Indigenous program created the fellowship with support from the Ford Foundation to provide support to emerging Native American and indigenous film artists in the US. Thompson said that she first discovered the fellowship in 2004 when she attended the Squaw Valley Community of Writers; Screenwriting workshop. She was encouraged to apply but said she did not until this year. Any Native screen writers or filmmakers with little to no experience are encouraged to apply by submitting a screenplay. The most promising screenplays were selected and Thompson was notified in early May that she was a finalist and then again indicating that she was accepted into the fellowship program.

“I grew up watching a lot of movies with my cousins and I watch movies on a regular basis,” said Thompson. “I am into visual arts and creative writing. I felt it would be a challenge to write screenwriting because my interest is in storytelling and I would like to make film.”

Thompson’s winning screenplay is titled “Tehokkenhen:tons” (Close to Death) and is a fascinating story of a young man who is plagued by misfortune and awakes in a hospital following a botched suicide attempt. A cryptic Mohawk woman gains an interest in the young man and a unique relationship develops.

The first stage of the intense fellowship included a five-day workshop in the ancestral lands of Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico from May 24-28. At the workshop, fellows learned how to strengthen their craft, find their voice and work together with advisors to further develop their projects. In the second stage fellows will attend the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January where they can network with established screenwriters, producers and other industry professionals interested in working with them on their projects, and serve on a panel as a fellow representative.

“Its just been amazing,” said Thompson. “Just a really really great experience. I met a lot of really great people. My advisors are great and the other fellows are very talented.”

Thompson is the daughter of Dan Thompson of Akwesasne and Priascilla Worswisk of Boston, MA. She is the first recipient of the Sundance Institute’s fellowship program from Akwesasne. Thompson would like to encourage more people from Akwesasne interested in screenwriting to get books on it and become more involved in learning the craft because that is how she got started. Then they should apply.