Raise Your Voice: NFB & imagineNATIVE launch call for Indigenous Voice Artists

Calling all Hip Hop, Rap, Spoken Word Artists, Poets, Singers, Audio Storytellers, and Podcasters.

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival are partnering for the eighth annual Digital Project Prize.

This year we’re inviting Indigenous voice artists to apply to create something new, a digital or interactive experiment. Your project can be anything: a new kind of music video, a live performance, or even an application for your phone.

Whatever you come up with, it will be based on the words and voices of Indigenous artists. You will bring your idea into life with a team of creatives assembled with the NFB and imagineNATIVE.

The completed project will be exhibited and performed at the imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival in 2020, and distributed online.

Our call for submissions is open until August 24, 2019.

Inspiration

Childish Gambino AR Playmoji

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr.apps.ornament.content.stickers.childish

Just a Reflektor

https://www.justareflektor.com/

Animikikiikaa 10/97 Installation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GkLI9ENVYQ

Kilo by Light Light – Do Not Touch

http://donottouch.org/

Bombay Bicycle Club

http://carryme.tv/

For this Land II

http://www.mushholeproject.ca/for-this-land-ii

Prize Rules

Submissions will be jointly reviewed by imagineNATIVE and the NFB.

As the selected artist, you will work with the NFB’s Digital Studio to complete a project from creative inception to release in one year. The NFB will be the producer of the project and you can expect a relationship of creative collaboration with the NFB digital team.

The NFB provides the tools, resources, advice and support to complete the work. This project will be realized over a one year timeframe (November 2019 to October 2020) and within a maximum budget of $50,000. This includes your fee as lead artist.

If your home and preferred working location is outside of the Vancouver area, the NFB Digital Studio will pay for up to two visits to the studio (length to be determined in relation to the project).

In the interests of maintaining the integrity of our mandate and mission to support Indigenous artists, imagineNATIVE reserves the right to follow up with applicants regarding eligibility.

Who can apply

Submissions are accepted from across Canada and should be in English.

• Aspiring or established Indigenous voice and sound artists (hip hop artists, rappers, singers, poets, spoken word artists, storytellers, or lyricists….)

• You must be a Canadian citizen and Indigenous

• Participants must be able and prepared to work from November 2019 to October 2020. The project must be completed in the one-year allotted time frame, with the aim to be presented during the 21st edition of the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in October 2020.

How to apply

Submissions must be sent to interactive@imaginenative.org before August 24, 2019 and include:

1. Your Pitch

1. Format of your pitch is open: it can be a two-page document, a short video or audio recording.

   1. Tell us about you and the work you do.

   2. Share your project idea, if you have one, If you don’t, that’s okay too.

   3. What is your motivation for participating in the digital project prize?

2. Your bio and a CV
3. Samples of your work

• Two or three examples (online accessible links) of previous relevant work. Please ensure your role is clearly stated.

4. On-Screen Protocols

• • Be prepared to describe your connection to the idea or story in keeping with the On-Screen Protocols and Pathways Guide in a follow-up phone call (link available in the Resources section below).

Timeline

Submission deadline: 5 PM PST on August 24, 2019

Winner announced: October 2019 during ImagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival 20th edition

Project Start: November 2019

Project Completed: October 2020

Contact

We are available to answer any questions or to provide clarification on the project or the selection process. Please contact Dana Dansereau (Producer) at the NFB (D.Dansereau@nfb.ca) and c.c. Meagan Byrne (interactive@imaginenative.org).

Resources

This project will be developed using the following guidelines developed by imagineNATIVE and released in March 2019: ON-SCREEN PROTOCOLS & PATHWAYS: A MEDIA PRODUCTION GUIDE TO WORKING WITH FIRST NATIONS, MÉTIS AND INUIT COMMUNITIES, CULTURES, CONCEPTS AND STORIES

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