2026 ICA Fellows
JACQUELINE OLIVÉ & KATSITSIONNI FOX NAMED 2026 INDIGENOUS CINEMA ALLIANCE FELLOWS
Prestigious fellowship given annually to promising auteurs
(Honolulu, HI)—Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) and 4th World Media proudly announce the selection of Jacqueline Olivé and Katsitsionni Fox as fellows in the 9th Cohort of the Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) Global Fellowship Program.
Olivé and Fox will join several other Indigenous filmmakers to make up the ninth annual cohort of fellows selected from ICA member organizations to take part in training, networking and market programs. This is a year-long experience of developing and promoting Indigenous cinema on the global stage.
Fox and Olivé will join a distinguished group of Indigenous filmmakers from ICA member organizations for a year-long fellowship dedicated to advancing Indigenous cinema on the world stage. Fellows participate in intensive training, networking, and strategic market programs designed to strengthen their creative development, professional visibility, and long-term impact within the global industry.
For the first time, the ICA will send fellows to two major international markets: the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Short Film Market in February 2026, and the inaugural Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF): The Market in September 2026. TIFF’s newly launched market, running September 10-16, will convene global leaders across film, television, and immersive media—establishing a central platform for creators and rights-holders worldwide. Clermont-Ferrand remains the world’s largest short film market, drawing more than 4,000 accredited professionals from over 88 countries and showcasing more than 7,500 recent titles.
As ICA Fellows, Olivé and Fox will take part in customized training programs, curated meetings, networking salons, panels, and cultural events that prepare them to navigate each international market to its fullest potential. Their participation will significantly expand the reach of their work, providing opportunities for global exposure, partnership building, and career advancement.
“Pacific Islanders in Communications is all about identifying, developing, and assisting Indigenous Pacific Islander media creators,” said Cheryl Hirasa, Executive Director of PIC. “This coveted fellowship provides participants the opportunity to connect with key industry decision-makers and elevate their projects and careers at some of the world’s largest media events. The ICA Fellows program reflects our mission to cultivate capacity and ensure a sustainable, thriving Pacific Islander media-making ecosystem.”
“4th World Media is honored to support Jacqueline Olivé and Katsitsionni Fox as they bring bold, culturally rooted storytelling to the global stage,” said Tracy Rector, Co-Director of 4th World Media. “Their perspectives expand the cinematic landscape, reminding the industry that Indigenous brilliance is not emerging, it has always been here. This fellowship strengthens our shared commitment to narrative sovereignty and to ensuring that Indigenous filmmakers have access, visibility, and pathways to thrive internationally.”
About the 2026 ICA Fellows
Olivé is a Tongan American filmmaker from Las Vegas. Fluent in English and Japanese, her work empathetically interrogates themes of identity, legacy, and belonging to subvert expectations. She’s received two Student Emmys for documentary editing and producing, translated for Apple TV’s Pachinko, and has been supported by the Sundance Institute, P.E.A.K., Netflix, Pacific Islanders in Communications, 4th World Media and Brown Girls Doc Mafia. Ultimately, Olivé uses film to build bridges between cultures through storytelling.
Film Project: Like Father Like Daughter traces a deeply personal journey between a young woman, her emotionally distant Tongan father, and the ex-boyfriend who still shares their home. As they navigate tender, multilayered conversations, the film asks whether they can embrace not only who they once were, but who they are each becoming.
Katsitsionni Fox is an artist, filmmaker and educator from the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne. Her work celebrates Indigenous women stepping into their purpose and power through storytelling, art and cultural renewal. Her award-winning documentaries include Ohero:kon— Under the Husk (2016), Without a Whisper—Konnon:kwe (2020), and Kanenon:we – Original Seeds (2025). She also directed Tentsitewahkwe for Reciprocity Project: Season 2 (2022) and the Indigenous Women’s Voices series focused on healing and empowerment. Katsitsionni was a 2021 Storytelling Fellow, a PBS Ignite mentee (2023-24), and a 4th World Media Lab Fellow (2025). Most recently, her pottery was featured as a 3D augmented reality intervention in the ENCODED: Change the Story, Change the Future exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Film Project: Living Matters is a feature documentary that follows three Oneida women, artist Sayokla Kindness, writer and visionary Michelle Shenandoah, and wisdom keeper Samantha Doxtador, as they unite to seek the rematriation of a sacred Oneida wampum belt locked away at the Field Museum in Chicago.
For more information about the ICA Fellows program, please visit: www.indigenouscinema.org.
About Pacific Islanders in Communications
Established in 1991, Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) is the only national public media organization that supports media content and its makers to work together to promote a deeper understanding of Pacific Islander history, culture and contemporary issues that define our communities. PIC addresses the need for media content that reflects America’s growing ethnic and cultural diversity by funding independently produced films and by providing hundreds of hours of innovative content by and about Pacific Islanders to American public television.
For more information about Pacific Islanders in Communications, visit: www.piccom.org and follow us on social media: facebook.com/piccom | Instagram: @picpacific | YouTube: @picpacific
About 4th World Media
4th World Media is rooted in a mission that extends beyond creativity, offering holistic artist services, gathering spaces, and guidance for storytellers from the margins, those whose authentic visions hold the power to transform the world. The organization intentionally supports Indigenous filmmakers globally through multiple fellowship pathways, including the award-winning 4th World Media Lab, providing resources, mentorship, training, and platforms for artists to shape and share their own narratives. With an emphasis on uplifting underrepresented stories and cultures, 4th World Media works in solidarity with filmmakers to bring their work to global audiences, boldly and unapologetically.
For more information about 4th World Media, visit: www.4thworldmedia.org and follow us on social media: Instagram: @4thworldmediaorg @4thworldmedialab | Linkedin: @4thworldmedia | Bluesky: @4thworldmedia
About Indigenous Cinema Alliance
Founded to advance Indigenous cinema globally, the Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) creates culturally safe spaces for Indigenous professionals, facilitates connections across international markets, and champions co-production and distribution opportunities for Indigenous screen makers. The ICA also supports the international sales of Indigenous titles, working with producers to secure the right representation for their projects, and collaborating with sales agents and distributors to ensure Indigenous-led works reach audiences around the world with integrity and care. www.indigenouscinema.org
About imagineNATIVE
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world’s largest Indigenous festival showcasing film, video, audio, and digital + interactive media made by Indigenous creators. The Festival presents compelling and distinctive works from Canada and around the globe, reflecting the diversity of Indigenous Nations and illustrating the vitality and dynamism of Indigenous arts, perspectives, and cultures in contemporary media. www.imagineNATIVE.org
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