Margaret Mead Film Festival

Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

2026 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Awards

On Sunday, May 3, Maya Annik Bedward received the 2026 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award for her film, Black Zombie. 

Director Pete Muller received a special jury mention for Bucks Harbor.

Mead 2026 also presented its third annual Audience Award—which is selected by festival attendees—to Pete Muller for Bucks Harbor.

Festival Information

The three-day celebration took place from Friday, May 1, through Sunday, May 3, 2026, and presented storytelling and documentary films from diverse voices near and far. 

Awards Information 

Explore past festivals

Browse the full lineups and award winners of past Margaret Mead Film Festivals.

Explore past festivals »
Billy Luther (right) speaks into a microphone to Erica Tremblay and Steven Paul Judd (seated on stage) and Sterlin Harjo (on screen behind them). Mead Advisor Billy Luther (right) moderates a panel discussion about Native-led stories with Sterlin Harjo (on screen), Erica Tremblay, and Steven Paul Judd.
Daniel Kim/© AMNH

Friday, May 1

Video Time and Water In Academy Award nominee Sara Dosa's film, Andri Snær Magnason writes a eulogy for the first Icelandic glacier lost to climate change. 

Saturday, May 2

Article We Are the Fruits of the Forest From Academy Award nominee Rithy Panh, Cambodia’s foremost filmmaker, comes a portrait of the Indigenous Bunong people.  Video Bucks Harbor Set in Downeast Maine, the film portrays a fishing community shaped by an unforgiving coast, exploring gender, labor, and the environment.  Video River Dreams An ode to sisterhood, healing, and resistance, River Dreams asks young women living in Kazakhstan to imagine themselves as a river. Video Whispers in May Follow three teenage girls as they road trip from China’s Liangshan Mountains to buy a ceremonial skirt for a coming-of-age ritual. Video Black Zombie Black Zombie excavates the hidden history of the mythical figure, tracing its path from Haitian Vodou to Hollywood horror. Article The Oldest Person in the World More than a decade in the making, this documentary portrays the world’s oldest person—a title that changes throughout the film.

Sunday, May 3

Video Daughters of the Forest This journey into the forests of Mexico blends modern science with ancestral knowledge to evoke a world beyond human perception. Video Jaripeo Jaripeo travels to the rodeos of Michoacán, Mexico, where queer desire and belonging simmer beneath the surface.  Video Nuisance Bear In northern Canada, a wandering polar bear becomes an unlikely menace to a small town. 

Generous support for the Margaret Mead Film Festival has been provided by
The Mead Trust.

A portion of the Margaret Mead Film Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.