Origins season three winners will document Indigenous reefnetting

The winning filmmaker for the third season of Cascade PBS’ Origins series will be Samuel Wolfe, who will create a short-form docuseries telling the story of the last reefnetters in the Salish Sea. Wolfe and his team were announced as the winners Saturday at the closing ceremony of the Seattle International Film Festival.

Wolfe was one of several dozen directors to apply to work with Cascade PBS to create a video series that reflects the makeup of our region told from an insider’s perspective. The key requirement for the Origins grant was that the filmmaker be part of the community they are documenting.

The project will receive $40,000 in grant funding to cover production costs for the five-part series, as well as technical and editing support. Their work has the potential to be broadcast and streamed by Cascade PBS.

The inaugural season of Origins, “Refuge After War,” examined the experiences of Vietnamese and Afghan refugees forced to flee and resettle in Washington after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and Kabul in 2021.

Reefnetting is considered one of the most sustainable fishing practices and is an important tradition in Indigenous culture. Wolfe’s series will focus on the Kinley family, the last Native permit holders from the Lummi Nation.  

The docuseries is intended for release on Cascade PBS platforms in March 2025.