The Indigenous-focused imagineNATIVE organization and Netflix have launched a $125,000 grant named in honour of Quebec-born Mi’gmaq writer-director Jeff Barnaby, who died last October.

Netflix is contributing $125,000 from its Fund for Creative Equity toward the creation of the Jeff Barnaby Grant in his memory, while imagineNATIVE will co-ordinate the application, jury and selection process, according to a news release.

The grant will be disbursed among five Indigenous film and television creatives across Canada, who will each receive $25,000 to support their productions, which can be at any stage in the horror, thriller or futurism genres.

It’s open to First Nations, Inuit, or Métis film and television creatives located in Canada. The application process opened Friday (Jan. 27) on the imagineNATIVE website.

Filmmaker Sarah Del Seronde, Barnaby’s wife, will be on the jury to select the grant recipients alongside actor-writer Devery Jacobs and director-screenwriter Danis Goulet.

Barnaby was an inaugural participant in the Advancing Voices: Netflix Canada Creator Program and made waves in the horror/futurism space with his 2019 Indigenous zombie horror feature Blood Quantum, which won seven Canadian Screen Awards and was acquired by Shudder for their streaming service.

His other films including the 2013 debut feature, Rhymes for Young Ghouls, which won Best Canadian Feature Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

In a statement, Del Seronde said the grant honours Barnaby’s “unique creative legacy and recognizes his visionary contributions towards Indigenous narrative sovereignty, genre film, and Canadian cinema.”

“Working with Netflix excited and rejuvenated Jeff when he most needed support. He looked forward to putting Native cinema, Native narrative into a completely new space, amalgamating sci-fi horror as an evolution of Mi’gmaq storytelling. Our deepest gratitude to the team at Netflix for honouring Jeff in a valuable, transformative way that opens opportunities for new creative voices and carries his legacy forward to future artists,” said Del Seronde.

Tara Woodbury, manager, Canada series, Netflix, said the grant comes after the streamer had been developing a television series with Barnaby.

“He possessed a strong love of film and television and an unrelenting vision. He was funny, generous and committed to his community. We hope these grants carry his legacy forward with the next generation of bold Indigenous storytellers,” she said.

Image courtesy of Netflix