Nothing About Us Without Us: How Indigenous Filmmakers Are Changing the Narrative

For more than a century, films about Indigenous peoples were made without Indigenous voices, distorting cultures and reinforcing stereotypes, with examples from Nanook of the North to countless Hollywood Westerns. Today, Indigenous filmmakers are reclaiming narrative power through the principle “nothing about us without us,” insisting on creative control, community consultation and cultural protocols in the stories that shape how the world sees them. Works like Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, opens a new window, Smoke Signals, Sami Blood, and Samson & Delilah, opens a new window show what becomes possible when Indigenous artists, not outsiders, hold the camera; authenticity, sovereignty and worlds built from within rather than imposed from outside. As debates over representation and AI-generated culture intensify, Indigenous cinema offers a model for ethical storytelling, one that treats self-representation not as a courtesy but as a right and reminds us that real diversity begins with who gets to speak in the first place.

Some key Indigenous film movements

• Inuit cinema (Isuma Productions)

• First Nations/North American Native filmmaking

• Māori cinema in Aotearoa

• Aboriginal Australian screen protocols

• Sámi filmmaking revival

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Discover media production companies doing the work 

IM4 Media Lab, opens a new window

From their website: "IM4 offers workshops for Indigenous artists, storytellers, producers, media creators and community members to learn about XR and develop skills to create their own VR/AR and 360 video productions."

If Not Us Then Who?, opens a new window

From their website: "If Not Us Then Who is a US registered charity, 501(c)(3) that supports a global awareness campaign highlighting the role indigenous and local peoples play in protecting our planet. We work in partnership with communities to make films, take photographs, curate content, commission local artists and host events. Our work aims to build lasting networks, target unjust policies, and advocate for greater rights for indigenous and local peoples to bring about positive social change."

Browse related reading material

Check out these titles from Prospector.

Our Own Image: A Story of Māori Filmmaking by Barry Barclay
Reservation Reelism by Michelle H. Raheja
Something New in the Air by Lorna Roth 
The Flaherty: Decades in the Cause of Independent Cinema by Patricia R. Zimmermann & Scott MacDonald

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Check out films by Indigenous filmmakers

Titles are available for checkout, streaming or via interlibrary loan from your library.

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