Métis writer and producer Jordan Waunch and Kahnawake, Que.-born actor, writer, producer and director Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs have been selected as fellows for the 2025 editions of Sundance’s Native and Directors Labs.

The five-day Native Lab program kicks off today (April 28) through to May 3 in Santa Fe, New Mex. Participants refine their scripts for feature and episodic projects in one-on-one feedback sessions, screenplay readings and roundtable discussions with advisors.

Waunch (pictured right) was selected for the Native Lab in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office with his feature Hyperia. Waunch’s project follows a stowaway and fugitive who awakens aboard the eponymous government transport shuttle in space, only to discover they are headed toward a sinister anomaly at the galaxy’s edge.

The other participants are all based in the U.S. and include writer-directors Jared Lank, Isabella Dionne Madrigal and Alex Nystrom.

Kiva Reardon, the Toronto-born, L.A.-based VP of film at Pastel, the prodco founded by Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak, serves as one of the lab’s creative advisors.

The Sundance Institute Native Lab is overseen by Adam Piron, director of the Institute’s Indigenous Program, alongside Ianeta Le’i, the program’s senior manager.

Program alumni include Erica Tremblay, Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi.

Jacobs (pictured left) was named a participant in the Directors Lab with her debut feature High Steel, which she is currently writing. The film follows a Mohawk man who splits his time between his reservation with his family and Manhattan, where he ironworks 60 stories above the ground. He must keep his identity a secret when he falls in love with a white photographer.

The Directors Lab runs from June 1 to 16 in Estes Park, Col. Fellows focus on building a visual language, directing actors and refining their overall creative vision.

The lab is led by artistic director Gyula Gazdag, this year’s advisor cohort includes Rick Famuyiwa, Catherine Hardwicke, Ed Harris, Nicole Holofcener, Karyn Kusama and Jason Reitman, among others.

All fellows then participate in the Screenwriters Lab online from June 24 to 27.

Images courtesy of the Sundance Institute