Announcing the 2026 Sundance Institute Native Lab Fellows

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 7, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the fellows selected for the 2026 Native Lab, the signature initiative of the Institute's Indigenous Program. The lab will take place April 6-11 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the Hotel Santa Fe. The Native Lab has been offering Indigenous filmmakers a nurturing, immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors since 2009.

The 2026 Native Lab will support four fellows and two artists-in-residence. It is designed for artists of Native and Indigenous backgrounds centering Indigeneity in their work. Over five days, fellows will refine their screenplays for feature and episodic projects in one-on-one feedback sessions, script readings, and roundtable discussions with industry advisors while forming connections on Native land in Santa Fe. The four selected fellows include three U.S.-based participants (Taylor Foreman-Niko, Samoan; Miles T. RedCorn, Osage/Caddo; and Sabrina Saleha, Navajo), as well as one Canadian participant (Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, Inuk/Inuit) who was selected in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO). There will also be two artists-in-residence attending to experience the lab while in script development: Sayun Simung (Tayal) and Taylour Chang (Kanaka Maoli). This year's Native Lab creative advisors are: Patrick Brice, Bernardo Britto, Alex Lazarowich (Cree), and Graham Foy. The Native Lab is overseen by Adam Piron (Kiowa and Mohawk), Director of the Institute's Indigenous Program, alongside Ianeta Le'i, the program's Senior Manager, and Katie Arthurs (Chickasaw), Coordinator.

The Native Lab is grounded in storytelling development and how that can progress when it's approached in community through a lens of Indigeneity, said Adam Piron, Sundance Institute Director of Indigenous Program. We're grateful for our advisors and excited for our fellows - this program is impactful because of the generosity all involved bring to the experience, and our Indigenous Program team is looking forward to the development of these projects and storytellers as they come together to share their work and insights in Santa Fe this week.

Indigenous artists were part of the very first Sundance Institute lab in 1981, with the Indigenous Program formalized in the mid-'90s to uplift Native talent in a more focused way. Native Lab alumni have brought Indigenous stories to audiences across film and television, earning recognition and awards for writers, directors, and actors alike, forming several cycles of storytellers supported through the Institute.

Previous Sundance Institute Native Lab fellows whose work has been fostered at the labs include award-winning filmmakers Sydney Freeland, Sterlin Harjo, Sky Hopinka, Shaandiin Tome, Erica Tremblay, and Taika Waititi.

The 2026 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellows are:

Taylor Foreman-Niko (Writer-director) with The Long Fang (U.S.A.): A half-Samoan man returns to his estranged Samoan family, only to confront a deadly ancient demon that feeds on shame, forcing him to face buried secrets and fight for the life of the cousin he left behind.

Taylor Foreman-Niko is a Samoan American writer based in Los Angeles. He enjoys writing character-centric genre stories. He was selected for 2022's BloodList of Best Unproduced Horror and Thriller scripts and chosen to participate in the inaugural PEAK Writers Fellowship and the 2024 Stowe Narrative Lab.

Ashley Qilavaq-Savard (Writer-director-producer) with Carrying (Canada): Failed uterus, failed in vitro fertilization treatments, failed marriage, hat trick of ouches for Miali as she endeavors to become a mother, finding her baby in the most unusual way, buried in the land of her home community.

Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is an Inuk writer, artist, and filmmaker from Iqaluit. Qilavaq-Savard explores decolonization and Indigenous narratives.

Miles T. RedCorn (Writer-director) with Once Upon a Time in Indian Country (U.S.A.): In the late 1990s, a young, obsessive Native attorney plunges into the wild west of the Indian gaming industry. As he attempts to keep construction of a casino on track, his plans are threatened by a drug-addicted tribal chairman, the Russian mob, the FBI, and his crumbling personal life.

Miles T. RedCorn (Osage and Caddo) is a self-taught writer-director from Oklahoma. RedCorn's love for and influences from classic cinema guide his storytelling in dissecting themes of sovereignty politics and influential yet underrepresented periods of Native history. RedCorn's short film Two Brothers will be premiering this year.

Sabrina Saleha (Writer-director) with Grief Camp (U.S.A.): A rebellious Navajo teenager is sent to an all-Native grief camp, only to discover it's a liminal way station between the living and the dead, where solving a magical map's riddles may be her only chance to reunite with her younger brother before time runs out.

Sabrina Saleha is a Navajo writer-director and staff writer on AMC's Dark Winds. Her debut short film, Legend of Fry-Roti: Rise of the Dough, won the Best New Mexico Short Jury Award at the Santa Fe International Film Festival and the Audience Award: Best Short at deadCenter Film Festival. She is a Tulsa Artist Fellow. Her work centers contemporary Native stories exploring family, grief, and joy.

The Sundance Institute Indigenous Program is supported by Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, The 11th Hour Project, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Crystal Echo Hawk, Merrell, Indigenous Screen Office, SAGindie, Susan Friedenberg, and Indigenous Media Initiatives.

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