IFFR Pro Dialogue: Story Sovereignty – Decolonising Indigenous Filmmaking

As indigenous stories and storytellers make an ever more significant mark in the Film, TV, and Immersive landscape, talents from within post colonial indigenous and minority communities are moving to the forefront of their field and taking ownership of their own narratives. Where are we in this (r)evolution and where are we heading?

What place is there for allies and funding bodies to support these voices without risking re-colonising? How do these authentic stories reach the broadest audience when the power centres of distribution, including platform festivals, streamers, and wide theatrical release are still rooted firmly in the Global North?

What lessons can we learn from similar cultural sovereignty battles being fought by Queer filmmakers and by women in the zone of gender parity?

Panelists

• Angela Cudd, Rotterdam Lab producer, New Zealand
• Jason Jacobs, co-dir. Variations on a Theme (IFFR Tiger Competition 2026), First Nations Indigenous of the Nama-Khoi Peoples
• Eric Janvier, Rotterdam Lab producer, Canada, Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation/Scottish ancestry 
• Cait Pansegrouw, producer, Pale Faces (dir. Chantel Clark, CineMart 2026), South Africa

Moderator: Marten Rabarts (Aotearoa – New Zealand, Ngati Porou/Nga Puhi)