Autry National Center

American Indian Film Institute Film Festival

GENERAL INFO

Date / Time:

Friday, Sep 10, 2010, 7:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Saturday, Sep 11, 2010, 7:30 pm - 11:00 pm

Location:

Wells Fargo Theater, Griffith Park

Appropriate For:

Adults

Admission:

Free, seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis

Join us for a celebration of the latest in Native American film. Michael Smith (Sioux), founder and president of the American Indian Film Institute, hosts an exciting two-night festival of U.S.- and world-premiere shorts and feature films from Native America.

Friday, September 10: World Premiere Night

World premiere of five short films from AIFI’s 2010 Summer Tribal Touring Program and feature film, Of Mice and Men.

Short Films—Tribal Touring Program*

Admirational from Yakima Nation

Emily from Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria

Selai Saltu from Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation

Spirit Tree from Nisqually Indian Tribe

Return of Nisqually Delta from Nisqually Indian Tribe

Feature Film - Of Mice and Men (Director: Kyle Hudlin-Whelan)

74 Minutes • Canada • Feature

In this adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel, the main action of the story takes place today, in a rooming house in Winnipeg, rather than on a farm in California. George and Lennie are not migrant farm workers; rather, they are displaced Aboriginal teenagers who have left the desolation of their remote Northern community to drift across Southern Manitoba, looking for work. As their destiny unfolds tragically, they keep dreaming, not of their own farm, but of their own place north in the bush, where they can live off the land by trapping, hunting, and fishing.

Saturday, September 11: Award Winners

AIFI presents two short films and Barking Water, the popular “Best Film” winner at the 2009 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. 

Short Films

Shi-shi-etko (Director: Kate Kroll)

12 Minutes • Canada • Live Short

Shi-shi-etko follows a six-year-old Native girl in her last four days before she is taken to residential school. She spends each day with a different family member, each of whom reminds her of the importance of remembering who she is.

Shi-shi-etko was filmed in traditional Sto:lo territory and in the Sto:lo language of Halq'emeylem (English subtitles). The producer and director, along with the primarily Sto:lo cast, had the daunting task of bringing to life the authenticity of the Sto:lo culture and language by working with language instructors and the community.

With the support of the Sto:lo Nation, the film will now be a part of language kits and used as a teaching aid in elementary schools to increase knowledge about the residential school tragedy of Canada.

Pipestone: An Unbroken Legacy (Director: Chris Wheeler)

20 Minutes • USA • Documentary Short

2009 AIFF Winner, Best Documentary Short

Pipestone was produced for Pipestone National Monument, a National Park Service site dedicated to preserving the sacred pipestone quarries in southwestern Minnesota. Narrated through the words of Native American elders, Pipestone is a powerful and poignant testimony of what the quarries mean to Native peoples, past and present. Represented in the film are many prominent Native Americans, including Wilmer Mesteth, a spiritual leader of the Oglala Lakotas; Faith Spotted Eagle of the Yankton Tribe; and Albert White Hat, a respected elder and teacher from the Rosebud Reservation. Their passion for the pipestone quarries is inspirational.

Feature Film

Barking Water (Director: Sterlin Harjo)

81 Minutes • USA • Feature

2009 AIFF Winner, Best Film

2009 AIFF Award for Best Actress—Casey Camp-Horinek

Before Oklahoma was a Red State, it was known as the “Land of the Red People,” as 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.

This feature focuses on Frankie (Richard Ray Whitman) and Irene (Casey Camp-Horinek), who have a difficult past but come together for Frankie’s final, dying wish: 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. To make up for the past, Irene agrees to help Frankie in his trying time. 

With steady and graceful performances, this story takes viewers for a ride in the backseat of Frankie and Irene’s Indian car while the pair listens to their past and a rhythmic soundtrack, which sets the beat and tone for a redemptive road journey.

Harjo wraps us in the charm and love of Oklahoma through the people and places Irene and Frankie visit along the way. In this sparingly sentimental and achingly poignant film, Harjo claims his place as one of the most truthful and honest voices working in American cinema today.

 

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