ARTS
BendFilm Festival
Since 2018, NewSun has donated $36,000 to the BendFilm Festival. We sponsor the BIPOC Women Filmmaker Grant, supporting both emerging and established artists. This program elevates underrepresented voices and helps bring stories from marginalized communities to the screen.
NewSun’s annual sponsorship also includes the Environmental/Outdoor Film Program, which showcases films exploring the complex relationship between humans and nature. In 2023, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s powerful documentary The Grab received both the Environmental/Outdoor Program Award and the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film.
Turning Inspiration into Impact
NewSun Energy CEO, Jake Stephens, shares the story about how a conversation with filmmaker Rush Sturges at BendFilm led to seed funding to help launch the Paddle Tribal Waters initiative. Years later, the program is still going strong, and tribal students are preparing for a first decent down the Klamath river following the largest dam removal in US history.
The film "Youth Unstoppable” about a filmmaker's journey through rural agriculture communities around the world to observe the impacts of climate change helped inspire NewSun’s Climate & Ag Scholarship program.
All Arts Donations
2018-2024
BendFilm Festival
Alger Community Theatre
World Muse