Producer Stanley Nelson
On the night of February 27, 1973, a caravan of cars carrying 200 armed Oglala Lakota-led by American Indian Movement (AIM) activists-entered Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation and quickly occupied buildings, cut off access, and took up defensive positions. When federal agents arrived, they declared, "The Indians are in charge of the town," and a 71-day standoff ensued. Compiling an astonishing amount of archival film footage (notable for the key moments it captures) and firsthand accounts from participants, Stanley Nelson creates an immersive, comprehensive account of the occupation and its fascinating complexity.
Barking Water
Producer Sterlin Harjo
Before Oklahoma was a red state, it was known as the Land of the Red People, described by the Choctaw phrase Okla Humma. In his sophomore film, Sterlin Harjo takes viewers on a road trip through his own personal Oklahoma, which includes an eclectic mix of humanity. Irene and Frankie have a difficult past, but Frankie needs Irene to help him with one task. He needs to get out of the hospital and go home to his daughter and new grandbaby to make amends. Irene had been his one, true, on-again, off-again love until they parted ways for good. But to make up for the past, Irene agrees to help him in this trying time.
The Only Good Indian
Producer Kevin Willmott
With this outstanding revisionist western, Kevin Willmott stakes out new territory in a genre that seemed completely settled. Fancifully configuring the symbols of the genre, he creates a fascinating parable of American history. At the outset, young Nachwihiata lives a peaceful existence with his agrarian family until a band of white marauders attacks their homestead. They forcibly remove him and take him to a white Christian boarding school, where Native children are assimilated into the dominant culture. Renamed Charlie, he chafes under the lie of his new identity and, before long, runs away. He's soon captured by bounty hunter Sam Franklin, an assimilated Indian who now only aspires to round up other Indians for reward money.
Patrick Shining Elk in two world premieres at Sundance
By Standing Elk Entertainment
Native American veteran actor Patrick D. Shining Elk will make two world premiere film appearances at the Sundance Film Festival, January 15-25, 2009 in Park City Utah. Sundance 2009 appearances for Shining Elk include his character as "Gary," one of the "Mission Boyz" in Peter Bratt's film "La Mission" starring Benjamin Bratt, and as "Martin Two Spirit" in Kevin Willmott's "The Only Good Indian" starring Wes Studi.
"La Mission" is a haunting story of healing and transformation: the healing of a broken man, of a father's relationship with his son, and of a neighborhood struggling to break the chains of violence.
"On the night of February 27, 1973, a caravan of cars carrying 200 armed Oglala Lakota-led by American Indian Movement (AIM) activists-entered Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation and quickly occupied buildings, cut off access, and took up defensive positions. When federal agents arrived, they declared, "The Indians are in charge of the town," and a 71-day standoff ensued. Compiling an astonishing amount of archival film footage (notable for the key moments it captures) and firsthand accounts from participants, Stanley Nelson creates an immersive, comprehensive account of the occupation and its fascinating complexity."
ReplyDeleteOh gawd a movie glorifying an act of domestic terrorism and a collection of attention whores, thugs and lowlifes.
Was the Boston Tea Party also "an act of domestic terrorism" by "a collection of attention whores, thugs and lowlifes"? Judging by your attitude, Anonymous, your answer would have to be yes.
ReplyDeleteOccupying buildings, cutting off access, and taking defensive positions aren't terrorist acts because they don't terrorize anyone. They're closer to Gandhi's nonviolent protests than to anything Al Qaeda has done.
Even killing someone isn't a terrorist act, in general. It may be a tragedy and a crime, but it isn't terrorism unless the intent is to strike fear into the hearts of the living.
I've never heard anyone claim that that was the occupiers' goal at Wounded Knee. Prove me wrong if you can, or drop the overblown "terrorism" claim.