Washington Filmworks extends our congratulations to two local talents in the world of filmmaking and photography who were recently honored by Indian Country Today Media Network for their forward thinking, innovation, and sense of social justice.

Tracy Rector with Clearwater Co-Director Lou Karsen. Photo courtesy of Longhouse Media.

Filmmaker Tracy Rector heads Seattle-based Longhouse Media. The organization works to give voice to the next generation of indigenous storytellers. Rector and filmmaking partner Lou Karsen were awarded funding assistance through the Filmworks Innovation Lab in 2013 for their interactive project People of the Salish Sea, and the feature length documentary at its center, Clearwater.

Matika Wilbur. Photo courtesy of Wilbur.

Photographer Matika Wilbur, who has been photographing Native America through a multi-year initiative called Project 562, was also honored. Wilbur is travelling the United States to document people from each indigenous nation in America. Her goals are to “build cultural bridges, abandon stereotypes, and renew and inspire our national legacy.” You can find more of her work on her website.

Read more about the work and current projects of both these accomplished Washington artists here. Rector and her collaborators actively share production diaries and photos on the Washington Filmworks blog, as they work to complete Clearwater and People of the Salish Sea. Watch for upcoming installments in 2014. Meanwhile, if you’d like to read previous posts you can find those here.

We look forward to seeing more great things from both Rector and Wilbur in the coming year.