Kiowa Indian Girl

Kiowa filmmaker premieres film at OKC Film Festival

By Bridget O’LearyA Kiowa filmmaker returned home to premiere his latest project, a movie that highlights Native American cultures and history in Oklahoma.

“Indian Girl” debuted June 11 at the 10th Annual deadCENTER Film Festival in Oklahoma City.

The film’s director, Christopher McKenzie, is a Kiowa Tribal citizen from Mustang, Okla., and says that the film’s subject is deeply personal to him.

“At the center of the movie is the intersection of Native American and white cultures in the history of Oklahoma,” he said. “I’m a quarter-blooded Kiowa with strong family ties to the tribe, and I wanted to bring the blending represented in my own life to the screen.”

The film is historical fiction set during both the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 and during a present-day elementary school re-enactment of the event. The first segment centers around an encounter between a white settler and a Native American girl, while the second segment features another Native girl caught in the middle of a dispute between her parents and her school.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.