Missy whiteman

filmmaker / photographer / storyteller

filmmaker / photographer / storyteller

BIOGRAPHY

Missy Whiteman is an acclaimed Indigenous filmmaker, media artist, and cultural consultant whose work bridges ancestral knowledge with contemporary storytelling. Grounded in her Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo heritage, Missy views her artistic practice as a conduit for ancestral voices—tools to foster deeper understanding, provoke dialogue, and catalyze healing. Her work often reflects on the complexity of Indigenous identity, exploring themes of loss, cultural survival, and the cyclical nature of rebirth and resilience.

Missy’s films are rich with Indigenous language, teachings, and traditional values. Her short films have been screened both locally and internationally, including at venues such as the Walker Art Center, the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival, and various intertribal and grassroots community events. Her storytelling is recognized for blending experimental aesthetics with Indigenous futurism, often portraying visions of transformation rooted in Indigenous worldviews.

She is the recipient of numerous prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Sundance Native Lab Fellowship and the Jerome Foundation Film and Media Arts Fellowship, most notably for her short film Coyote Way: Going Back Home—a project that interweaves Indigenous knowledge systems with immersive media formats.

Missy’s journey as an artist began in early childhood, deeply influenced by her father, Ernest Whiteman, who nurtured her creative instincts and helped her see the world through an artist’s lens. Raised in a vibrant and diverse Minneapolis arts community, Missy honed her talents in visual and media arts at the Minnesota Center for Arts Education and later at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), where she studied filmmaking and photography.

Today, Missy continues to create, teach, and lead. She is the founder and lead consultant of Independent Indigenous Film & Media (IIFM), a production initiative that empowers Indigenous communities through culturally relevant media education, training, and storytelling. IIFM focuses on media self-sufficiency and provides platforms for Native youth, organizations, and artists to share their own narratives in transformative and healing ways.

As both a visionary artist and a cultural worker, Missy Whiteman continues to center Indigenous perspectives, advocate for representation in media, and build pathways for future generations of Native storytellers.

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