Greetings and thank you for such a stimulating conversation so far!  I am writing from my dissertation fieldwork in Sydney, where film festivals and their social importance have been much on my mind.

First, I'd like to add to Faye's comments above about the important work being done by NMAI and include a note about the significance of a festival called  "First Nations\First Features," jointly presented by NMAI, the Museum of Modern Art, and NYU's Center for Media, Culture and History.  Held in May 2005 across venues in New York City and Washington, DC, it was an unprecedented coming together of world Indigenous cinema.  The website is still live: http://www.firstnationsfirstfeatures.org/.  This festival raised important questions for me that are fundamental to any inquiry into Indigenous media: who is Indigenous?  How can/do Indigenous mediamakers share stories across important differences in experience and history?  What makes a film an Indigenous film, and what is the benefit of talking in terms of this category?  How can far-reaching festivals such as this one facilitate further collaborations across national and cultural boundaries, and how do they shift the ability of media to act/do in the world?

Secondly, I wanted to flag a festival that begins tonight in Sydney: "Message Sticks" (see website: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/About/Program_Message_Sticks.aspx?gclid=CP-hwMmCqZoCFZUvpAod7RNB0g) is Australia’s longest running Indigenous film festival, unique in that it features works not just about Indigenous issues/themes, but also produced by Indigenous artists.  This year’s festival includes a stunning first feature by longtime cinematographer Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah) and directorial debuts by veteran Indigenous performers Deborah Mailman (Ralph) and Leah Purcell (Aunty Maggie and the Womba Wakgun).  Samson and Delilah is a teenage love story between two adolescents from an Alice Springs town camp; it is both viscerally painful and stunningly beautiful to watch, and challenges viewers to reconsider the boundaries between documentary and fictional narrative.  "Message Sticks" also celebrates Indigenous musicians in the inter-sessions and includes an exhibition of works by Indigenous photographers Ricky Maynard and (the late) Michael Riley. All events (except the opening night gala) over the four-day festival are free of charge and open to the public; taking place at the iconic Sydney Opera House (and then traveling on to other Australian capital cities), "Message Sticks" is a powerful testament to the significance of innovative Indigenous storytelling in contemporary Australian national imaginings.

Thanks, Amalia, for bringing our attention to the vital importance of the festival circuit as the primary mode of getting indigenous films "out there" and circulating in many parts of the world, especially in Latin America. As we've discussed on another post this week (and as Nancy so eloquently illustrated in her story), the role of festivals in bringing together indigenous media producers and community members from various cultural groups into intercultural dialogue has the potential to be key to the continuing development of a supportive pan-indigenous movement for human and cultural rights.

Thanks also to Sabra for bringing news about the Message Sticks Festival and the latest films from Australia. These sound fascinating--I look forward to seeing them.