Announcing the 2024 McKnight Media Artist Fellows
FilmNorth is pleased to announce the four Minnesota artists selected to receive the 2024 McKnight Fellowships for Media Artists. This year’s fellows are Erika Lantz, Sergio Rapu, Steven Rowell, and Christine Walker, all from Minneapolis, MN.
Out of a field of 70 applicants, the four fellows were chosen by an acclaimed national panel of media artists, writers, and curators: producer/writer-director/actor Liz Cardenas of Los Angeles, CA; director/producer Brit Fryer of Brooklyn, NY; Independent Exhibition Executive/Impact Curator/Creative Producer Lela Meadow-Conner of Wichita, Kansas; and Artist Development Director/Festival & Exhibitions Director Masashi Niwano of San Francisco, CA.
"It is a privilege to honor Erika, Sergio, Steve, and Christine as this year's McKnight Media Artist Fellows," said FilmNorth Executive Director Andrew Peterson. “Collectively, they represent a diverse range of media arts, reflecting the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the field. From compelling narratives to avant-garde explorations, their work exemplifies the extraordinary talent in Minnesota. We are eager to support their artistic journeys and witness the impactful work they will produce."
The McKnight Fellowships for Media Artists support artists beyond emerging practice residing in Minnesota whose work is of exceptional artistic merit. The $25,000 fellowships will enable these four artists to study, reflect, experiment, and explore over a twelve month period with support and assistance from FilmNorth and the McKnight Foundation. In addition to the cash award, the program supports its fellows with professional development and educational support.
The fellowships are funded by a generous grant from The McKnight Foundation and administered by FilmNorth.
2024 McKnight Media Artist Fellowship Recipients
Erika Lantz (she/her) is a documentary artist and musician in Minneapolis. Her audio stories merge music and metaphor with investigative journalism to express things that are hard to say—whether because emotions have been too ineffable to articulate, or because very real forces and systems have coerced people into silence. Critics have lauded her “linguistic arabesques” and work that is at times “deliberately discombobulating, spinning and whirling as it feeds us provocative spoonfuls of setting and character.” She’s received Third Coast and National Edward R. Murrow awards. Her series THE TURNING was called the No. 1 Podcast of the Year by The Atlantic and was the first podcast ever to receive the Livingston Award for International Reporting.
Sergio Rapu (he/him) is an Emmy winning documentary filmmaker from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), whose films have played across the globe and garnered support and accolades from Firelight Media, Princess Grace Foundation, Redford Center, Ford Foundation, ITVS, and Pacific Islanders in Communications. He has produced specials and series for PBS, NHK, History Channel, and the Discovery Network. As an Indigenous Latine storyteller, he seeks to elevate suppressed narratives and foster a relationship between audiences and the environment around them.
Steven Rowell (he/him) is an experimental documentary filmmaker and media artist investigating technology in the landscape, environmental justice, power structures, and the sixth extinction. He holds an MFA from the University of Oxford and a BA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin and has earned grants, fellowships, and residencies from organizations including the MacDowell Foundation, the Graham Foundation, Creative Capital, and the Guggenheim Foundation (Fellow in Film-Video, 2019). Currently, his projects focus on tipping points of planetary ecologies; the Buffalo Bayou in his hometown of Houston, the fossil fuel capital of the world; permafrost thaw in the Arctic; and forever chemicals.
Christine Kunewa Walker (she/her) is an award-winning Native Hawaiian filmmaker with over twenty-five years of experience in the media arts as a writer, director, and producer. She has received numerous distinctions, including an Independent Spirit Award Nomination and the Diversity Award from the Producers Guild of America. Committed to telling indigenous stories, her feature script Older Than America was one of the first to address the Native Indian boarding school experience and premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, earning multiple awards. Walker’s recent script "The Ali’I King" has been funded by Pacific Islanders in Communications and the 'Ohina Filmmaker’s Lab. Her work aims to explore her own family history and challenge stereotypes in popular culture.
2024 McKnight Fellowships for Media Artists Selection Panel There were four professionals who served as panelists, selecting four fellows from 70 total applications. Juror Liz Cardenas reviewed the 22 screenwriting applications, and jurors Brit Fryer, Lela Meadow-Conner, and Masashi Niwano reviewed the 48 applications from non-screenwriters.
Liz Cardenas (she/her) is an Indie Spirit Award Winner (7 DAYS) and two-time nominee (A24's NEVER GOIN' BACK and the Producer Award). Under her Ten to the Six Pictures, she has two films in post and seven in various stages of production and development, including one she’s set to direct. A former journalist, she's a Gotham Cannes Producers Network, Rotterdam Lab and Film Independent Fellow; received the 2022 Dear Producer Grant; was included in the 2019 LATINXT, a curated list of emerging Latinx creators from an initiative by Zoe Saldana, Robert Rodriguez, and Lin-Manuel Miranda; and serves on the board of Breaking Through the Lens, a non-profit organization that supports directors of underrepresented gender.
Brit Fryer (he/him) is a queer and trans nonfiction director and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. His unique approach to nonfiction filmmaking explores gender and queerness through process-forward and participatory methods. He is the director of CARO COMES OUT, which premiered on HBOMax after winning the Knight Made in MIA Award at the Miami International Film Festival. His other films include Vimeo Staff Pick ACROSS, BEYOND AND OVER, and TRANS·IENCE. His most recent film, THE SCRIPT, co-directed with Noah Schamus, was shortlisted for the 2023 IDA Awards after premiering at CPH: DOX
Lela Meadow-Conner (she/her) is a Creative Producer, Impact Curator and Founder of mama.film - where storytellers come together to champion humanity through a maternal gaze. mamafilm presents mission-aligned films, and in 2020, founded the rePROFilm project, connecting storytellers and advocates who celebrate bodily autonomy. She has 20 years of experience in independent cinema exhibition, serving in leadership roles at film festivals across the country as well as Executive Director of Film Festival Alliance, and is the current board chair for the Art House Convergence. Also an award-winning producer of both documentary and fiction films, her films have screened at festivals including Tribeca, Palm Springs, BFI London, and Outfest.
Masashi Niwano (he/him) has been the Director of Artist Development at SFFILM since 2021. He focuses his time on supporting global filmmakers through a slate of grants, artist support and fellowships. For over a decade, he was the Festival & Exhibitions Director at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the US’s largest media arts organization that amplifies Asian and Asian American storytelling. Prior to his time with CAAM, he was the Executive Director of the Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF). He is a Bay Area native who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Production from San Francisco State University.
ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT ARTIST & CULTURE BEARER FELLOWSHIPS Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists and culture bearers thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s arts and culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists and culture bearers has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982. The McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently, the foundation contributes about $2.8 million per year to its statewide fellowships (for more information, visit mcknight.org/artistfellowships).
ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts and culture in Minnesota, neuroscience, and global food systems.
ABOUT FILMNORTH FilmNorth’s mission is to empower artists to tell their stories, launch and sustain successful careers, and advance The North as a leader in the national network of independent filmmakers. We achieve our mission by nurturing a vibrant, diverse community of film and media artists; providing education and resources at every stage of their careers; and celebrating their achievements.