FILMMAKER, FILM CURATOR
COLLEEN THURSTON
Colleen Thurston is a filmmaker and film curator from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Colleen has produced for the Smithsonian Channel, Vox, PBS, and federal, tribal and nonprofit organizations. Her work has screened at international film festivals and broadcast nationwide and has received support from Firelight Media, the Sundance Institute, Patagonia, the Redford Center and Creative Capital. Colleen is the founder of the Indigenous Moving Image Archive project, and has curated film programs for institutions such as the Momentary (Bentonville, AR), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), UCLA Film and Television Archives and Vidiots (Los Angeles, CA) and numerous film festivals. Colleen is the project producer for the Indigenous video series Native Lens (Rocky Mountain PBS / KSUT Tribal Radio), and a senior programmer for Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. Colleen is a 2024-25 International Documentary Association Fellow and a 2025-2027 Tulsa Artist Fellow. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
“I’m a Native Tulsan and Indigenous Oklahoman whose work and stories I tell come from and are inspired by this land, so to be supported in a place-based residency here is incredibly meaningful. I look forward to furthering my film practice and forging new collaborations through the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.”