August Schellenberg Award
We are excited to celebrate Indigenous achievement in film + media arts with generous support from our partners and individual donors. This award is presented to gifted Indigenous actors from across Turtle Island based on the longevity and impact of their careers, as well as their professionalism and involvement in mentorship and community work.
This award is supported by ACTRA National and individual donations.
2022 August Schellenberg Award of Excellence
The August Schellenberg Award of Excellence was launched in partnership with Joan Karasevich Schellenberg to honour her late husband, the legendary actor August (Augie) Schellenberg, and the spirit of his work. This award is presented to gifted Indigenous actors from across Turtle Island based on the longevity and impact of their careers, as well as their professionalism and involvement in mentorship and community work.
This award is supported by ACTRA Toronto and individual donations.
imagineNATIVE is honoured to present the 2022 August Schellenberg Award to Gary Farmer.
Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is an actor and musician whose career has spanned more than four decades. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the development of First Nations media in Canada and is the founding director of the urban, Indian radio network Aboriginal Voices Radio Network. He has been nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Male.
Farmer was born in Ohsweken, Ontario, into the Cayuga Nation and the Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy. He grew up in Buffalo where his father worked as a crane operator. Farmer attended Syracuse University and Toronto Metropolitan University where he studied photography and film production. Farmer’s first acting role was in On The Rim of a Curse, the 1976 play about the Beothuk. His first major television role was on CBC’s Spirit Bay (1984). He subsequently played police captain Joe Stonetree on the syndicated TV series Forever Knight (1992 – 1994) and Chief Tom in the CBC First Nations TV series The Rez (1996). Farmer is best known for his role as the spiritual, Native American guide Nobody in Dead Man (1995) directed by Jim Jarmusch. Farmer reprised the role for a cameo in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), also directed by Jarmusch.
Recent credits include Resident Alien, as a series regular, for NBC Universal/Syfy Network, Reservation Dogs for FX/Hulu and the independent films Cowboys, Border House Reach, First Cow, Blood Quantum, and The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw. Farmer is a long-time resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico.