Since its launch in 2015, the Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellowship has become one of the most notable development programmes for young filmmakers.
By Joseph Jonathan
Nigerian-British filmmaker Simisolaoluwa Akande, Guinean-born director Aicha Cherif, and Gambian-American filmmaker Yace Sula have been selected for the 2026 Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, joining seven other emerging storytellers from around the world in the prestigious year-long programme.
Announced by the Sundance Institute on June 15, the fellowship supports filmmakers between the ages of 18 and 25 through mentorship, professional development opportunities, financial support, and community-building initiatives. This year’s cohort was selected from more than 1,100 applications submitted globally.
The programme begins with the Ignite Lab, held from June 14 to 19 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, where fellows participate in workshops, creative development sessions, and networking opportunities. Each participant also receives a $5,000 artist grant and a one-year membership to Adobe Creative Cloud through support from Adobe’s Film and TV Fund.
Among the selected fellows is Simisolaoluwa Akande, a multi-award-winning artist filmmaker whose work spans fiction and speculative nonfiction. Grounded in queer African epistemologies, Akande’s practice interrogates dominant narratives surrounding African identity, memory, and representation.
Also selected is Aicha Cherif, a filmmaker based in New York whose work explores belonging, memory, and emotional connection. Her documentary Heat previously screened as part of Film Forum’s Tenement Stories retrospective, where she was the youngest director featured in the programme.
The cohort further includes Yace Sula, an experimental filmmaker whose work has screened at major festivals including the New York Film Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival, and the Ann Arbour Film Festival. In 2025, Sula was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film”.
The remaining fellows selected for the 2026 programme are Blake Knecht (United States), Franciszek Korolczuk (Poland), Haneol Lee (United States/South Korea), Josiah Mendoza (United States), Muskaan Razdan (India), Mia Lima Rocha (Brazil), and Japhet E. Velázquez (Puerto Rico).
In a statement, Sundance Institute Ignite Director Toby Brooks described the new fellows as “an exciting cross-section of perspectives”, noting that the programme aims to provide emerging filmmakers with the tools and support needed to build sustainable careers.
The fellowship continues a longstanding collaboration between Sundance Institute and Adobe, which have partnered for over 15 years to support emerging creative talent. Following the June lab, participants will take part in monthly virtual sessions focused on artistic and professional development before reconvening at the 2027 Sundance Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado.
Since its launch in 2015, the Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellowship has become one of the most notable development programmes for young filmmakers. Alumni have gone on to screen work at major festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and Cannes, with several receiving jury awards and Academy Award nominations.
Earlier this year, the initiative expanded with the introduction of a new short film fund for alumni, creating additional pathways for fellows to move projects from development to production.
For Akande, Cherif, and Sula, the selection places them within a growing network of emerging filmmakers shaping contemporary cinema across continents, while highlighting the continued presence of African and African-diaspora voices within some of the world’s most influential film development programmes.