[nativestudies-l] Film Indians Now! series at NMAI & National Gallery of Art, 10/4 - 12/7

Fri Oct 3 15:32:58 EDT 2008

*FILM INDIANS NOW!**

*Warning: Films may depict actual Indians depicting Indians.

NMAI <http://www.nmai.si.edu/>'s Film and Video Center and the National 
Gallery of Art present a remarkable eight-part series offering fresh 
views of the contemporary Native American experience in media. Each 
program will include a moderated discussion following the screening.

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Saturday October 4, 2008, 2 pm

East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

*PRETTY PICTURES*

Exploring elements of Native female identity, we ask, How does art 
influence children? How do romantic images of Indians enchant Native and 
non-Native people, young and old?

*/Conversion/* (2006, 8 min.) Director: Nanobah Becker (Navajo)

In a remote corner of the Navajo Nation, circa 1950, a visit by 
Christian missionaries has catastrophic consequences for a family. /In 
Navajo with English subtitles./

*Disney's /Pocahontas/* (1995, 84 min.) Directors: Mike Gabriel and Eric 
Goldberg

Free-spirited Pocahontas lives a carefree life with her animal friends 
Meeko and Flit and the companionship of her loving Grandmother Willow. 
When English settlers arrive on the shores of their village, a chance 
encounter with Captain John Smith begins a friendship that changes both 
cultures forever.

Moderated discussion led by Pat Aufderheide with filmmaker Nanobah 
Becker* *and National Museum of the American Indian research historian 
Gabrielle Tayac (Piscataway) to follow the screening.

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Sunday October 5, 2008, 2 pm

Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American 
Indian, First Level

*STRANGE LOVE*

National issues of sovereignty and cultural acceptance often affect 
Native people on a personal level. Many individuals must search for 
life's greatest moments---marriage, children, etc.---within the confines 
of blood quantum. This government-mandated system, which defines 
citizenship by how much "Indian blood" someone has, leads many Native 
people to question their cultural worth, asking, Is my identity in my blood?

*/Club Native/* (2008, 78 min.) Director: Tracey Deer (Mohawk)

On the Mohawk Kahnawake Reserve there are two very firm but unwritten 
rules: don't marry a white man and don't have a child with a white man. 
Doing so means losing all standing as a Native person, for you and your 
children. Documentarian Tracey Deer follows four women from Kahnawake as 
they battle the pressures of life, love, and community to protect their 
status as tribal members, as well as the rights of their spouses and 
children to live on tribal lands. 

Moderated discussion led by Gabrielle Tayac with filmmaker Tracey Deer* 
*to follow the screening.

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Saturday November 1, 2008, 2 pm

East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

*/Tkaronto/** *(2007, 102 min.) Director: Shane Belcourt (Métis)

Amidst the cityscape of Tkaronto (the original Mohawk word for Toronto), 
Ray and Jolene, two Native thirty-somethings, make an unexpected, 
life-changing connection. As they wander through bittersweet experiences 
of contemporary Native life, they find solace in each other's struggle 
for a sense of cultural self.  

Moderated discussion led by producer Christine Vachon with filmmaker 
Shane Belcourt* *to follow the screening.

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Sunday November 2, 2008, 2 pm

Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American 
Indian, First Level

*IT'S NOT TV, IT'S INDIANS! *

A high energy explosion of television magic that will make you think 
about Native Americans in a new way! Three Native artists---Ben-Alex 
Dupris (Colville), Terrance Houle (Blackfoot/Saulteaux), and Skeena 
Reece (Métis/Cree/ Tsimshian/Gitksan)---perform spoken word, song, and 
dance pieces inspired by their favorite "Indian" episodes of television. 
Many American TV shows have featured a special episode with an American 
Indian guest star or Native-inspired theme. Many of these shows are 
embraced by Native communities, despite their lack of accuracy or 
sensitivity toward Native culture.

Proposed episodes for this program are:

*Challenge of the SuperFriends' "The History of Doom" and "Doomsday" 
featuring Apache Chief (voiced by Michael Rye) *(Original Air Date: 
1978) Director: Ray Patterson, presented by Ben-Alex Dupris

*Seinfeld's "Cigar Store Indian" *(Original Air Date: December 9, 1993) 
Director: Tom Cherones, presented by Terrance Houle

*Moesha's "Road Trip" *(Original Air Date: November 26, 1996) Director: 
Henry

Chan, presented by Skeena Reece

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Saturday November 22, 2008, 2 pm

East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

*A FUTURE REALIZED: FILMS BY TODAY'S INDIAN *

We are proud to present the newest films from some of the best Native 
American filmmakers working today.

*/The Colony/* (2007, 23 min.) Director: Jeff Barnaby (Mi'gMaq), 

Maytag, a Mi'gMaq man displaced from the reserve, latches onto and falls 
in love with the only aboriginal woman he has met in the city. His 
descent into madness is exacerbated by his drug dealer and friend. /In 
English and Mi'gMaq with English subtitles./

*/Nikamowin/** *(2007, 11 min.) Director: Kevin Lee Burton (Swampy Cree)

This experimental film ponders our indelible connection to language, 
transforming a Cree narrative into a landscape of sound and song. /In 
English and Cree with English subtitles./

*/Sikumi/*/ (On the Ice)/ (2007,15 min.) Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean

(Iñupiaq)

An Inuit hunter inadvertently becomes a witness to murder, forcing him 
to navigate the frayed morality between honoring the memory of one 
friend and destroying the life of another. /In Iñupiaq with English 
subtitles./

*/A Return Home/* (2008, 31 min.) Director: Ramona Emerson (Navajo)

A powerful documentary about B. Emerson Kitsman, a contemporary painter 
who has returned to her childhood home in the Navajo Nation. As she 
begins a monumental project, Kitsman must also adjust to life on her 
reservation, spurring questions about what it means to be a Native artist.

*/4-Wheel War Pony/* (2007, 5 min.) Director: Dustinn Craig (White 
Mountain Apache/Navajo)

The Apaches of the 1880s absorbed modernity, yet they managed to 
continue refining and retaining their way of life; so too do today's 
White Mountain Apache skateboarders. /4-Wheel War Pony/ is a short film 
using skateboarding footage captured by members of the White Mountain 
Apache in an effort to document a culture in motion.

Moderated discussion led by curator Gerald McMaster (Plains Cree and 
member of the Siksika Nation) with filmmakers Jeff Barnaby, Kevin Lee 
Burton, Dustinn Craig, Ramona Emerson, and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean* *to 
follow the film.

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Sunday November 23, 2008, 2 pm

Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American 
Indian, First Level

*THE DOUBLE ENTENDRE OF RE-ENACTMENT: An interactive program with Gerald 
McMaster *

Curator Gerald McMaster* *takes a subversive and often humorous look at 
historical reenactment. This presentation offers new insight into 
reenactment---from its roots in American artist George Catlin's European 
tour of Native performers and the famous Wild West shows to today's 
young Native artists currently reinterpreting reenactment as a means of 
artistic defiance.

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Saturday December 6, 2008, 2 pm

East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

*MAINSTREAM NATIVE AMERICA*

In 1972 America watched Francis Ford Coppola's /The Godfather,/ the 
first Italian American film written and directed by Italian Americans. 
Today, people from diverse and specific backgrounds still relate with 
the epic story of the Corleone family/. /Themes such as cultural 
displacement, the realization of the American dream, and family 
allegiances resonate and parallel many issues Native Americans face today.

*/The Godfather/* (1972, 175 min.) Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola's adaptation of Mario Puzo's bestseller about post-WWII rivalry 
among the New York Mafia's five families stands alone as both art and 
entertainment. Coppola's cinematic vision is in full flower, from the 
then-controversial casting of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, to the deep 
hues of Gordon Willis's photography, to the moving score by Nino Rota. 
The film earned eleven Oscar nominations, with wins for Best Picture, 
Screenplay, and Actor for the iconic Brando. Description courtesy of the 
American Film Institute

Moderated discussion led by Hanay Geiogamah (Kiowa/Delaware)* *with 
filmmaker Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho) and the Director of the 
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, Kevin 
Gover (Pawnee/Comanche), to follow the program. 

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Sunday December 7, 2008, 2 pm

Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American 
Indian, First Level

*MAINSTREAM NATIVE AMERICA, PART 2*

We present the first feature film written, directed, and (co)produced by 
Native Americans to receive distribution in mainstream theaters.

*/Smoke Signals/* (1998, 104 min.) Director: Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho)

An acclaimed independent film about a young Native man who embarks on a 
life-changing journey with his childhood friend to retrieve the body of 
his estranged father. /Smoke Signals/ marked the directorial debut of 
Chris Eyre. The screenplay by Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene) is 
based on his short story collection /The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight 
in Heaven./

Moderated discussion led by Hanay Geiogamah with filmmaker Chris Eyre* 
*to follow the screening. 

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