Native American Film Festival


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 Native American Film Festival

 We all agree that Native Americans voices have to be heard. Therefore, they are heard but unfortunately they are not always listened to. The 43rd Annual American Indian Festival in San Francisco is one of the ways to express the issues that Indians have to face in and outside their communities and also to show the importance of cultivating their traditions, culture, and language. The Film Festival started in 1975 in Seattle and then two years later was relocated to San Francisco. It became the world's oldest and most recognized international film exposition that is dedicated to Native Americans.

 This year the movies selection focuses on the environmental problems as well as preserving the cultures that are slowly vanishing. There were also the movies that touched the topic that we recently studied, the boarding schools. I found very interesting the production by Jaiden Mitchell "Cornhusk". From its description I learned that this short, only 12 min and 20 sec picture will take the viewer to the times when children were taken away from their parents and their voices are heard now with the horror stories that the Native children had experienced. Another movie directed by Marc Yvan Hebert "Remember Chanie" is the must see movie. The true story of a boy who was sent to the boarding school 400 miles away from his home and while at school he was emotionally, physically, and sexually abused. He escaped the horror of his childhood but never reached his destination - his home. He died during his journey in the freezing weather. Finally, the last movie I would like to mention was the "Kayak To Klemtu" directed by Zoe Hopkins. I think that the presented story might touch everyone. The 14 year old Ella will travel the Inside Passage along the shores of the Great Bear Rain Forest by kayak to protest the government's plans to make a pipeline through the waters available for the oil tankers to sail through. Ella, very mature young girl, lives with her uncle and aunt by the sea. She says that her family and her people depend from the sea and fishing. What can happen if the oil tanker traffic passes through their waters? The answer is obvious and Ella knows it, this is why she states that her mission is the most important thing she could ever do. In her weak moments, as her uncle says, the right words will just come to her.

 The Film Festivals like the one in San Francisco is open for native and non-native people. The topics and issues are very important to all. As stated on the web site the festival "brings to the broader media culture of Native voices, viewpoints and stories that have been historically excluded from mainstream media", and I believe that it is a great way to express them.
American Indian Film Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.aifisf.com/about/

Comments

  1. CKaneNovember 14, 2018 at 5:48 AM

    That is interesting, I think that if ever given the chance that would be an awesome event to attend. To be able to learn from the natives, see the culture first hand would give more insight for many people.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex KackNovember 18, 2018 at 5:51 PM

    I think this is really important given how often modern native art is often left out of the larger conversation regarding the art and especially film in the United States. Finding ways to showcase native artists and art works is needed to tell the stories of native people.

    ReplyDelete

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