CELEBRATING NATIVE VOICES: SHORT FILMS BY INDIGENOUS FILMMAKERS

 

April 16, 2019

Join us for a night of short films that include films ranging from narrative fiction based on historical reality to documentary to youth produced work. The filmmakers will participate in person and via zoom at the University of St. Thomas.

 

 

Firemakers (N’We Jinan, 2018, 4 min)This short music video was recorded with Ojibwe students of Zhingwako Zaiganing School in Lac La Croix First Nation in Ontario, Canada.  There song and imagery talks to the issues close to their heart and lives.

 

GO GREEN AND STAY CLEAN (First Person Productions: Melannie Bice (White Earth Ojibwe), 2018) This youth produced video investigates different forms of renewable energy at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus and Edison High School campus. We as the youth want to influence society on new knowledge about renewable energy and the sources used on these campuses of how you could use green energy. Renewable energy is leading to the near future that will soon be accessible for all as a fundamental ongoing initiative.

 

SOLDIER (Myrton Running Wolf, 2018, 25 minutes)

In this half-our short film, two young Lakota sisters, refugees of the Wounded Knee Massacre, fight to survive against a relentless enemy.  The film is written and directed by Myrton Running Wolf and executive produced by the renowned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated director Terrence Malick.”

 

Reclaiming Sacred Tobacco (Leya Hale, Dakota & Diné, 2016, 27 minutes ) This documentary depicts Minnesota Native communities reclaiming traditional practices around sacred tobacco and discouraging commercial tobacco use in order to promote a healthier lifestyle. It received award nominations at the American Indian Film Festival (Best Public Service doc) and Red Nation Film Festival (Best Documentary Short), and was an official selection at Highway 61 Film Festival. It is still currently being screened at small Native Film Festivals around the country.

 

SÁMI BOJÁ (Elle Sofe Henrikson (Sami), 2015, 15 min) Mikkel is a reindeer herder who has the entire responsibility for the herd of his family. He has a tough shell like a Sami boy should have. But in his inside there is chaos. Screened in collaboration with the Norwegian Film Institute

 

 

 

About our Filmmakers:

 

First Person Productions Melannie Bice (White Earth Ojibwe), Director  with Adyn Pence, Isaiah Smith, Noah Kennedy. Staff mentors were John Gwinn and Binesikwe Means)

FPP is part of MIGIZI Communications Summer Media Institute, a summer employment program and filmmaking workshop for Minneapolis American Indian high-school aged youth. The program has been running for ten years. In 2018, youth media interns
had to select topics about “Green Energy and Sustainability”.

 

 

Leya Hale is from the Dakota and Diné Nations and resides in Saint Paul, MN.  She currently works as a Producer for TPT-Twin Cities PBS. In 2013, she co-produced The Past is Alive Within Us: The U.S.-Dakota Conflict,  an Upper Midwest Emmy Award-winner for Best Historical Documentary.  In 2016, Reclaiming Tobacco was her directorial debut and winner of the 2017 Upper Midwest Emmy Award for Best Tropical Documentary.  In 2018, she produced a Vision Maker Media-funded documentary, The People’s Protectors, which was an official selection at the American Indian Film Festival, Los Angeles Skins Film Festival, and the First Nations Film and Video Festival of Chicago.  She also received a 2018 Upper Midwest Emmy Award for Climate Smart: Cities Working Together  for Best Science/Environment Documentary.  In addition, she was selected as a Knight Fellow for the 2017 John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Sundance Film Institute and was selected for the 2018 Big Sky Film Institute Native Filmmaker Initiative Fellowship program. Leya continues to work on a variety of local content documentaries in an effort to create social change within Minnesota communities.  

 

Myrton Running Wolf holds a Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies from Stanford University as well as masters degrees from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Professionally, he worked behind-the-scenes in Production Management for Walt Disney Studio’s ABC Television Group on primetime series LOST, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, and Criminal Minds and as a Creative Producer for The CW and NBC network television affiliates. As a performer, Myrton held numerous supporting roles in Academy Award winning feature films The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The New World as well as Steven Spielberg’s Into the West and several other network television shows. On stage, he originated numerous lead roles in theater productions in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Myrton is also a multi-award winning writer, director, and producer with film and theater productions playing across our nation.

 

N’we Jinan-is a “music initiative that brings a mobile recording studio and a video production team into schools and youth centers across First Nation and Native American communities.  The program offers youth the chance to create an original song and music video that explores relevant issues and topics while promoting positive messaging, community engagement and collective voice” (http://nwejinan.com/)

 

 

Location and Time:  4:00-5:30

University of St. Thomas
O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium
(located on Cleveland Ave and Portland Ave)
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
St. Thomas Campus Map

Thank you to our sponsors:
Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, MIGIZI Communications, N’We Jinan, TPT Twin Cities-PBS, The Norwegian Film Institute, the University of St. Thomas’s American Culture and Difference Program