Navajo filmmakers gain attention

Navajo film festival comes to ShiprockA growing number of Navajo filmmakers are gaining international attention for films that portray everyday life on the nation's largest American Indian reservation.

But it can be easier to rally support for Navajo films in Australia than on the Nation, some young filmmakers say.

"My film screened at the Sundance Film Festival, in New York City, all over the world, before it screened on the reservation," said Nanobah Becker, a 32-year-old filmmaker from Ojo Encino. "A lot of the films we do show our culture, yet they only screen at large film festivals."

Becker is trying to reverse the trend by bringing a sampling of Navajo talent to Shiprock today for a film festival at the Phil L. Thomas Performing Arts Center. The New Mexico native lives in Los Angeles, where she works full time as a filmmaker. She organized the Navajo film festival earlier this year and is hosting screenings across the Nation.