Founded by Joanelle Romero

Red Nation Celebration Institute® (RNCI) The Creative Enterprise by Natives Delivering to All People the Stories that Shape our World. Red Nation Celebration Institute, the longest-running and most successful Native women-led Indigenous impact media arts and cultural nonprofit organization, stands as a cornerstone of Native leadership in the entertainment industry. It is the first Indigenous nonprofit to receive funding from the City of Los Angeles, serving over 575 Native Nations in the U.S. and a total of 1,200 globally. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with an additional office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, RNCI continues to drive meaningful representation and visibility for Native and Indigenous voices in media and the arts.

 Based in Los Angeles with office in Santa Fe New Mexico.

November 2025      Film Festival

The California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center (CICSC) at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is proud to present the California's American Indian and Indigenous Film Festival.

California's American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival (CAIIFF) offers audiences in Southern California the finest work in American Indian film and media on an annual basis. The CAIIFF highlights the best of current films from American Indian filmmakers, producers, directors, and actors working through Indian Country.

The CAIIFF, located in Southern California, is in an area that is home to the largest number of Indian reservations in the region and we are able to reach unprecedented numbers of tribal people and the surrounding community. The festival offers an event that promises not only exclusive viewings, but includes three days of interactive dialogues with film industry professionals, selected panel discussions and opportunity for Q&A sessions after each screening.

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival — the organization’s primary activity — launched in 2000. The Festival was founded to support the diverse contemporary work of Indigenous directors, producers, and screenwriters working in film, video, audio, and digital media. Our presence is unique within the arts landscape, and with no direct parallel in Canada or abroad, we are one of a handful of media arts presenters regarded as an “anchor” in the crowded Toronto-based film festival calendar.

imagineNATIVE presents the largest annual Indigenous media arts event in the world and our programming is presented year-round in our national Tour Program and through our Institute department’s industry-facing professional development initiatives. Our role in the local arts ecology is as an established presenter endeavouring to make a lasting impact on the screen industry.

Established in 1993, the African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) is a Harlem based minority-led not-for profit international film festival that presents, interprets and educates about films that explore the human experience of people of color all over the world in order to inspire imaginations, disrupt stereotypes and help transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice.

In our reality, people from diverse races, nationalities and backgrounds come together to enjoy important cinematic works of creativity, intellectual expansion, identity, and equality. 

In this world there are no boundaries around people because they are embraced in a universal understanding of humanity. This is the element of commonality that weaves through this annual event of images from Africa, the African Diaspora and beyond.

Now celebrating its 29th year, the American Black Film Festival remains the preeminent event of its kind, empowering Black artists and spotlighting a diverse array of entertainment content created by and for individuals of African descent. An event like no other, the festival brings together enthusiasts of Black culture alongside industry executives and content creators from across the globe for five days filled with screenings, engaging talk events, exclusive parties, and invaluable networking opportunities.

Established in 1992 by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon), the late Ja’Net DuBois (“Good Times”), and Ayuko Babu, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has remained dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression.

For over 30 years, PAFF has been the international beacon for the African diaspora film and arts communities.

As the critically acclaimed largest Black film and arts festival and Black History Month activation in the United States, PAFF brings together filmmakers, artists, and unique craftspeople from over 40 countries and six continents to Los Angeles annually, to showcase their pivotal work and talent. 

PAFF has become the quintessential global celebration of Pan-African cultures.

Every year PAFF’s film festival continues to showcase over 200 new high-quality Black films from the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, the South Pacific, Canada, and increasingly, Asia.

The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival) is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. The annual event features a range of marquee premieres, international competitions, compelling documentaries, short and mid-length films, live music performances, and dazzling red carpet events. The SFFILM Festival is deeply rooted in the culture and process of film appreciation—film as an art form and as a meaningful agent for social change—and is an important showcase for the most searching and innovative films from around the globe.

April  2025 Film Festival

LA Film Festivals is a creative hub for Los Angeles’s top independent film festivals. 

We proudly host the LA Comedy Film Festival, LA Indie Film Festival, LA Queer Film Festival, LA Women in Film Festival, LA Black Film Festival, LA Asian Film Festival, LA Latinx Film Festival, LA Sci-Fi Film Festival, LA Action Film Festival, LA Horror Film Festival, LA Animated Film Festival, and LA Student Film Festival.

Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) is a nonprofit organization that celebrates cinema as an essential art form and fosters a vibrant home for film culture to thrive. FLC presents premier film festivals, retrospectives, new releases, and restorations year-round in state-of-the-art theaters at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. FLC offers audiences the opportunity to discover works from established and emerging directors from around the world.

The Virginia Film Festival is known as one of the premier cultural events in the Mid-Atlantic, the annual five-day festival annually delivers more than 100 films from around the world, combining special previews of some of the hottest titles of the festival season with an array of fascinating documentaries, exciting new voices on the independent film scene, the best of the international film scene and more. 

“Storytellers broaden our minds: engage, provoke, inspire, and ultimately, connect us.” — Robert Redford, president and founder

As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists in film and episodic storytelling to create and thrive. 

The Sundance Institute hosts many public programs in the U.S. and around the world to connect artists with audiences to present original voices, inspire new ideas, and create community around independent storytelling.

At the Midwest Film Festival, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, our mission is to showcase and celebrate the exceptional talent of regionally produced cinema while providing unwavering support and empowerment to these filmmakers.  

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The Midwest Film Festival is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, which receives funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF)—       is presented by The Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS), a membership-based 501(c)(3) arts non-profit with a mission to lead the community, both locally and worldwide, in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image.  ATLFS presents a diverse slate of year-round offerings for film lovers, filmmakers, and industry professionals.  Year-round programs —screenings, parties, panels, workshops, and other educational events –provide a forum for building the community of film lovers and film supporters.  By bringing audiences and filmmakers together, the Society has the opportunity to broaden the perspective of both artists and moviegoers. 

The New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF), organized by the New Orleans Film Society, is a renowned celebration of independent filmmaking that has been championing diverse voices and groundbreaking stories for over 36 years. As an Academy Award®-qualifying festival in the categories of Documentary Short, Narrative Short, and Animated Short, NOFF serves as a vital platform for emerging and established filmmakers to showcase their work to global audiences.

New Orleans’ unique sense of place informs the festival experience– filmmakers, industry players, and cinephiles experience films and events at pop-up and passionately preserved historic venues, and rub elbows in Hollywood South amidst the strong undercurrent of revelry native to the Crescent City. From the Second Line parade following the opening night film to late-night cocktails, live music in historic mansions, and cinematic Mississippi River views, we hope all leave inspired, with an enduring story to tell and deeper connections to each other and to the art of film.

The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) is a globally-recognized non-profit organization and cultural event presenting the best in world cinema, American independent films and documentaries by veteran masters, up-and-coming directors, and first-time filmmakers. 

Proud to call Music City home, the Nashville Film Festival is a celebration of the art of film and music that challenges and inspires. The Nashville Film Festival has a long history of showcasing the best of music in film through dedicated music programming and unique film competition categories, like Music Documentary Features and Music Videos. 

Additionally, the Nashville Film Festival provides unique opportunities to connect the film and music communities by presenting showcases, workshops, and other networking events where songwriters and musicians come together with film professionals from around the world to advance successful collaboration.

With a strong commitment to independent and innovative filmmaking, NashFilm offers robust film and screenwriting competitions, with categories dedicated to showcasing Tennessee creators, student work, and even episodic projects.