Lightning nominated as emerging artist

'Older than America,' Georgina Lightning receive nom for emerging artist award

By Michelle R. Shining ElkNative writer/director/producer Georgina Lightning has been nominated for a 2010 EPIC Award in the “Emerging Artists” category by The White House Project. The White House Project’s EPIC Awards honors extraordinary culture changers who have brought positive images of women’s leadership to the American public through their work in politics and media. Lightning is the co-founder of Tribal Alliance Productions, and the writer and director of the highly acclaimed independent film “Older than America,” which made its IFC Film Channel–On Demand debut, March 17, 2010. Lightning along with her Tribal Alliance business partner and executive director, Audrey Martinez, teamed up Christine Kunewa Walker to make “Older than America,” which has won over 19 awards, to date. 2010 EPIC award winners are determined via on-line voting at: http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/epic/emerging_artist.php. Voting is open to the public and closes on March 22, 2010, at 11:59 pm.

“Older than America” is the story of a woman’s haunting visions that reveal a Catholic priest’s sinister plot to silence her mother from speaking the truth about the atrocities that occurred at a Native American Indian boarding school. It is a contemporary drama about suspense, as “Older than America” delves into the lasting impact of the cultural genocide that occurred at Indian boarding schools across the United States and Canada. Lightning states, the film “covers the root of the problem that caused our Native nation to be in the state that it is in today--the film exposes the reality of the murders and violence that happened in the Indian boarding school system.”Comment:  I'd say Lightning's nomination is more significant that her victory will be. Since a public vote determines the winner, it's merely a popularity contest. The nomination presumably reflects her talent and vision.

For more on the subject, see Lightning = New Face and First Female and Georgina Lightning Interview.