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Red Nation Celebration Institute is revealing the pieces that will come together to form the 31st installment of its Red Nation International Film Festival, set to take place in Los Angeles from Nov. 8-15.
Lou Diamond Phillips is set to receive a lifetime achievement award for decades of work from the screen to the stage in such projects as La Bamba, Stand and Deliver, Young Guns, Courage Under Fire and Longmire. Phillips, who will be presented with the honor during closing festivities at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, follows in the footsteps of previous recipients Zahn McClarnon, Edward James Olmos, Wes Studi, Graham Greene, John Trudell and Russell Means.
The honoree roster also includes a lot of Luis Valdez. The playwright and director who founded El Teatro Campesino, is being singled out with the Marlon Brando Award for “his groundbreaking contributions to American theater and cinema and his lifelong commitment to bringing Chicano stories to the stage and screen.” Then filmmaker David Alvarado is set to receive a Edward R. Roybal Award for his documentary American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.
Meanwhile, legendary filmmaker John Landis will receive a Joanelle Romero Global Impact Award, a trophy doled out in honor of his work on Michael Jackson’s music video for “Black or White,” which shined a light on Indigenous dancers and cultural traditions. Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians will receive an American Indian Heritage Month Award for its “leadership, cultural stewardship and contributions to Native communities.”
The festival will kick off with a screening of Shannon Kring’s documentary Nine Little Indians, which was executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Tony Robbins and others, and close with a showing of Vincent Grashaw’s Gangland starring Phillips. The full program includes six narrative features, 28 docs, 38 documentary shorts, 14 narrative shorts, one animated feature film and 9 animated shorts.
“For more than three decades, the RNCI Red Nation Awards has honored Native and Indigenous excellence, creating a stage where our artists, storytellers and cultural leaders are recognized, celebrated and empowered to tell their stories on their own terms,” said Joanelle Romero, who serves as founder, president and CEO of Red Nation Celebration Institute and festival director duties. “This year’s honorees reflect the enduring power of storytelling, advocacy and cultural leadership across generations. Their contributions remind us that representation is not a moment — it is about creating agency, transforming the industry and ensuring that Native and Indigenous voices shape the stories that define our world. This is our legacy, our responsibility and our future.”
More information on the Red Nation International Film Festival can be found here.
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