Announcing the 2026 McKnight Media Artist Fellows
FilmNorth is pleased to announce the four Minnesota artists selected to receive the 2026 McKnight Fellowships for Media Artists. This year’s fellows are Elizabeth Chatelain of Hibbing, Mohammed Sheikh of Minneapolis, Travis Wood of Saint Michael, and Anna Kerrigan of Minneapolis.
Out of a field of 66 applicants, the four fellows were chosen by an acclaimed national panel of leaders working across independent film, documentary, production, distribution, and arts advocacy: arts and cultural strategist Jax Deluca of Denver, Colorado; documentary filmmaker and NPR Senior Editor of Visual Features Razi Jafri of Detroit, MI; Suncatcher Productions founder and CEO Annalisa Shoemaker of Los Angeles, CA; and producer and development executive Ariel Adler of Brooklyn, NY.
“Elizabeth, Mohammed, Travis, and Anna represent the extraordinary range of voices and creative practices shaping media arts in Minnesota today,” said FilmNorth Executive Director Andrew Peterson. “Each brings a distinct perspective to their work, while sharing a commitment to ambitious storytelling and a deeply considered artistic practice. We are proud to recognize their achievements and look forward to supporting them as they continue to take creative risks, deepen their work, and contribute to the evolving landscape of independent media.”
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.
2026 McKnight Media Artist Fellowship Recipients
Elizabeth Chatelain (She/Her/Hers) is an award-winning documentary and narrative filmmaker born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, whose work focuses on working-class women’s perspectives in rural Minnesota and North Dakota. Her short documentary MY SISTER SARAH won the International Documentary Association’s Award for Best Student Documentary and was a Student Academy Award finalist, and her films have screened at more than 40 festivals worldwide, including SXSW and Interfilm Berlin. Her second narrative feature, LOVED ONE, participated in the Women in Film/Sundance Institute Financing Intensive, won second place in the Slamdance Screenplay Competition, and has received support from SFFILM.
Her projects have participated in the Berlinale Script Station, Stowe Story Labs, Hedgebrook, and the Almanack Screenwriters Residency. She is a Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition winner, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and an NRDC/Black List Climate Storytelling Fellow. She holds an MFA in Film and Video Production from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Mohammed Sheikh (He/Him/His) is a Somali filmmaker whose work is rooted in oral tradition and the lived experiences of Somali communities. His debut feature film, BARNI (2025), marks his transition into long-form narrative cinema and has been recognized through programs and screenings at the Locarno Film Festival Open Doors, the Red Sea International Film Festival, and the New York African Film Festival, among others.
His earlier works, including THE FORGOTTEN ONES and BALWO, have sparked conversations around identity, belonging, and representation and have screened across the United States. His work has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, CBS, Screen Daily, Sahan Journal, and MPR News. Mohammed first picked up a camera as a way to find solace and make sense of the world around him. He is drawn to stories of people searching for one another and for themselves—themes that continue to reflect both his community’s experiences and his own journey as an artist.
Travis Wood (He/Him/His) is a filmmaker and first-generation Afro-Caribbean American. His films have been selected for multiple Vimeo Staff Picks and have screened at the Tribeca Festival, SXSW, True/False, and Rooftop Films. His work has also received a New York Emmy Award and been featured by NoBudge, Booooooom, and Directors Notes. Most recently, he co-wrote and co-directed the feature film THE TRAVEL COMPANION, which premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2025 Tribeca Festival and was acquired for distribution by Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Wood was one of ten filmmakers selected for the second season of Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices program, where he directed the short film BLACK SANTA. The film premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival and went on to screen at the American Black Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, and New Orleans Film Festival, among others. His upcoming film, LIKENESS, marks his solo directorial debut.
Anna Kerrigan (She/Her/Hers) is an award-winning Minneapolis-based filmmaker whose character-driven work plays with genre. COWBOYS, a Montana-set feature she wrote and directed starring Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell, and Ann Dowd, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where Kerrigan won Best Screenplay and Zahn won Best Actor. Her short film HOT SEAT premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and became a Vimeo Premiere, while her Gotham-nominated digital series THE IMPOSSIBILITIES was licensed by Studio Plus (Canal+) for international distribution.
Kerrigan has developed film and television projects with YouTube and Amazon Studios, is a Film Independent and Sundance Fellow, and was named one of IndieWire’s twenty female filmmakers to watch. A graduate of Stanford University, where she studied theater, she began her career as a playwright in New York before transitioning to film.
2026 McKnight Fellowships for Media Artists Selection Panel
Four professionals served as panelists, selecting four fellows from 66 total applications. Juror Ariel Adler reviewed the 18 screenwriting applications, and jurors Jax Deluca, Razi Jafri, and Annalisa Shoemaker reviewed the 48 applications from media artists.
Jax Deluca is an arts and cultural strategist with more than two decades of leadership across public service and nonprofit arts organizations. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Future Film Coalition, a national alliance advocating on behalf of those working within the independent film and media ecosystem in the United States.
From 2016 to 2025, Deluca served at the National Endowment for the Arts as Director of Film & Media Arts, where she oversaw a federal funding portfolio and led national initiatives addressing the structural challenges facing independent film. Her work included launching the Independent Media Arts Group (IMAG) in partnership with Sundance Institute and BAVC Media, as well as producing field-leading research on infrastructure, creative technology, and the sustainability of the independent film sector. She is a 2025–26 Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.
Razi Jafri is a Detroit-based documentary filmmaker and Senior Editor of Visual Features at NPR. His work explores immigration, race, democracy, and belonging in America. His projects include HAMTRAMCK, USA; THREE CHAPLAINS; ROUGE; the recently completed UNCOMMITTED; and the unscripted PBS food and travel series SPICE ROAD. His films have screened at major festivals including SXSW, Hot Docs, Visions du Réel, DOC NYC, and the Cleveland International Film Festival and have been broadcast nationally through PBS.
Jafri’s work has been supported by the Ford Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, ITVS, Kresge Foundation, Knight Foundation, and others. At NPR, he collaborates with reporters, producers, freelancers, and member stations to develop, produce, commission, and distribute visual narratives across NPR’s social, digital, and broadcast platforms. He holds a BS in engineering and an MFA from the University of Michigan.
Annalisa Shoemaker is the founder and CEO of Suncatcher Productions. Since Suncatcher’s inception, she has led the theatrical execution of ten feature films, including TO KILL A TIGER, an Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary Feature. Shoemaker also released the disability-themed romantic comedy GOOD BAD THINGS in more than 50 theaters before licensing home entertainment rights to Music Box Films and streaming rights to Hulu.
She is an adjunct professor at the American Film Institute, where she teaches movie marketing and distribution. Prior to founding Suncatcher, Shoemaker spent more than a decade working on theatrical distribution campaigns at Amazon Studios and Focus Features.
Ariel Adler is a Brooklyn-based producer and Development Coordinator at the bicoastal independent production company Likely Story. Her upcoming producing credits include PRESENT AT HAND, directed by Spencer Strickland, and DOWN THE CHURCH HALL, directed by Aleeza DeAlto. Upcoming credits on Likely Story projects include POWER BALLAD, directed by John Carney; GAIL DAUGHTRY AND THE CELEBRITY SEX PASS, directed by David Wain; BRIDES, directed by Chloe Okuno; YOU DESERVE EACH OTHER, directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein; GOLD MOUNTAIN, directed by Ang Lee; and the FOX series THE INTERROGATORS. Previous credits include FLORA AND SON, directed by John Carney; DOIN’ IT, directed by Sara Zandieh; and the MGM+ series AMERICAN CLASSIC.
Adler also serves as Program Associate for the film nonprofit Art House New York, which recently held its inaugural citywide exhibition event, Cinema Week. Prior to Likely Story, she began her career at NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, followed by CAA TV Scripted. She holds a BA from Wesleyan 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.