About

The LA SKINS FEST is a Native American film festival that takes place every year as part of the City of Los Angeles Celebration of Native American Heritage Month.

We are supported by corporations, art foundations and the City of Los Angeles in order to provide a free event that offers new opportunities to Native American filmmakers. We offer additional programming to further encourage Native American filmmakers, including a monthly writers group, monthly directors workshop and the youth multimedia workshops.

The Barcid Foundation if a non profit tax exempt 501c3 that oversees several Native American endeavors, including the LA SKINS FEST. Barcid was founded in 2004 to offer educational opportunities to Native American communities through multimedia programs. Barcid projects include preservation of decaying library materials that pertain to Native American history, video production of PSAs for local Native American non-profits, and the LA SKINS FEST.

Board Members

  • Karin WilliamsFestival Board

    Karin Williams

    Karin Williams is veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker with extensive U.S. television credits and wide experience working around the Pacific. She was born in Aotearoa/New Zealand of Pacific Islands heritage, began her career as a reporter on the island of Rarotonga, and then worked for broadcast and cable networks in New Zealand and the United States.

  • Festival Board

    Keith Cameron

    Keith Cameron is from the Garifuna tribe in Belize. He has been an activist for indigenous causes since 2001. He has organized for fair labor practices in Chicago’s airports and provided outlets for multiple peaceful protests within the windy city’s workforce. Cameron has also been an active member of the Garifuna community in Chicago providing artistic programs for local youth.

  • Patricia GomesFestival Board

    Patricia Gomes

    Patricia Gomes is a full blood P’urepeche Indian from Los Angeles, California. She has produced several award wining shorts and overseen the LA SKINS FEST since it’s inception in 2007. In addition, she has produced several historical projects that address the lack of educational material on Indigenous people. She has recently won a substantial humanities grant for her work and the University of Southern California is seeking to collaborate with her. She also initiated and oversees the SKINS FEST Scholarship fund and youth workshops.

  • Ian SkorodinFestival Board

    Ian Skorodin

    Ian Skorodin graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began his directing career with an award winning feature film, entitled TUSHKA, based on the murder of a Native American activist’s family. After premiering at Sundance in 1998, TUSHKA went on to win Best Feature at the Arizona International Film Festival and the Spirit Award at the First Nations Film Festival in Chicago. In 2000, TUSHKA was distributed to DirecTV for domestic television distribution and Germany’s Pro Sieben for international audiences.