4th World Media Lab and the cINeDIGENOUS Spotlight at the 2025 Seattle International Film Festival. Short Movie Round Up
Tiger (12 Minutes) (D. Loren Waters)
Tiger is a documentary following a Native American artist who has used her artwork to honor her people. She has battled problems and illness to achieve her work and creative factory. Her life has seen the Tiger T-shirts take over the world, but her production has closed down.
This follows how things rose and fell. It shows the stories behind the popular boom and how much history still means to the artist. This is great to see how family businesses have rollercoasters and things might not always be as smooth. (4/5)
Dead Aloha (15 Minutes) (D. Cris Romento)
Dear Aloha follows filmmaker Cris Romento exploring why so many native Hawaiian people have left the islands. She sees how much it means to her family and explores what drove her family to move away, despite maintaining their culture. The movie focuses on how the culture is maintained on mainland America and everything is the same, in different climates.
The movie shows the American movement into the islands, forcing the natives out of their homeland. It shows how mainland America became more affordable and offered them a new life with their culture. However, the pain of not being able to return haunts them and the shame of not returning haunts them to this day. (4/5)
Munkha (10 Minutes) (D. Alexander Moruo, Markel Martynov)
Munkha follows a native family of fishers living in the cold conditions. The youngest member of the family dreams of becoming a fisherwoman and following in her family’s footsteps. However, her older brother doesn’t share the same dream. A family adventure leads to her understand what it means to follow the dream and the price it will cost, in a changing world.
This is a beautiful animated short showing people want dreams that might not be around anymore. It puts it through the eyes of a young girl who is innocent to the world and is unaware of the changes coming. But deep down, she learns the importance of working together while fishing to get the best results. (4/5)
Pow! (8 Minutes) (D. Joey Clift)
Pow! Follows a father trying to encourage his son to follow the traditions of their people. However, he has become obsessed with technology and goes on his own journey to recharge his device. It shows how the younger generations of cultures have accepted the changes and not where they came from.
The movie shows how cultures are important, even if you don’t follow them the same way as before. It shows the changes over time in a fun animated formula. This has an important message around the changing culture no matter how much the world around them changes. (4/5)
Red Shaded Green (4 Minutes) (D. Johannes Vang, Sapmi)
Red Shaded Green follows the natives in the Norwegian countryside whose land was taken by wind turbines. They began dominating their landscapes, leading to a court case to make them illegal. However, the damage was done and the people must rebuild their culture through campaigns to maintain their importance.
This one has the biggest message and one that needs to be listened to more. It discusses environmental changes needed at the cost of traditions to other people. Despite being the shortest of the selection, we will end up wanting to talk about this one the most. (5/5)
