Margaret Mead Film Festival

2024 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Awards

On Sunday, May 12, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie received the 2024 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award for their film, National Geographic Documentary Films’ Sugarcane, which follows a community investigation into Saint Joseph’s Mission in British Columbia, one of more than 500 so-called “residential schools” for Indigenous children in North America.

Mead 2024 also presented its first-ever Audience Award—voted on by attendees from a selection of films making their New York premiere at the festival—to Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó for Agent of Happiness. A touching exploration of the meaning of belonging and purpose in a nation constitutionally mandated to promote the happiness of its citizens, Agent of Happiness invites viewers to discover Bhutan, the “happiest country on Earth,” through the eyes of Amber, a bureaucrat who measures the nation’s “Gross National Happiness.”

Festival Information  

The four-day celebration took place from Thursday, May 9–Sunday, May 12, and presented storytelling, documentary films, and live performances from diverse voices near and far. 

Thursday, May 9

Friday, May 10

Saturday, May 11  

Sunday, May 12  

Awards

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. 

Additional support for the Margaret Mead Film Festival is provided by National Geographic Documentary Films.