Native American & Indigenous Cinema
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- DirectorChris EyreStarsAdam BeachEvan AdamsIrene BedardArnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
- DirectorZacharias KunukStarsNatar UngalaaqSylvia IvaluPeter-Henry ArnatsiaqThe telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
- DirectorJonathan WacksStarsGary FarmerA MartinezJoanelle RomeroTwo Northern Cheyenne men take a road trip from Montana to New Mexico to bail out the sister of one of them who has been framed and arrested in Santa Fe. On the way, they begin to reconnect to their spiritual heritage.
- DirectorRicky SchroderStarsEddie SpearsRussell MeansJulia JonesBlack Cloud, is an inspirational story about a young Navajo, Native American boxer, who overcomes personal challenges as he comes to terms with his heritage, while fighting his way for a spot on the US Olympic boxing team.
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsRyan Rajendra BlackAdam BeachJennifer PodemskiA story of life on a First Nations reserve in Ontario: Silas and Frank are trying to get into college to train to be mechanics but they find themselves having to deal with girls, family - and murder.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsKeisha Castle-HughesRawiri ParateneVicky HaughtonA contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsEric SchweigGraham GreeneGary FarmerAn inspirational tale about the relationship between two Sioux brothers living on the Pine Ridge reservation.
- DirectorAlanis ObomsawinStarsJack BurningHerbie BarnesAlanis ObomsawinA film account about the military 1990 siege of a Native American reserve near Oka, Quebec, Canada and its causes.
- DirectorNettie WildStarsSamuel Ruiz GarcíaRafael Sebastián Guillén VicenteWhen the Zapatista National Liberation Army took over five towns and 500 ranches in southern Mexico, the government deployed its troops and at least 145 people died in the ensuing battle. Filmmaker Nettie Wild traveled to the jungle canyons of southern Mexico to film the elusive and fragile life of the rebellion.
- DirectorNewton Thomas SigelPamela YatesStarsRigoberta MenchúSusan SarandonA documentary on the war between the Guatemalan military and the Mayan population, with firsthand accounts by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu.
- DirectorPamela YatesFrom a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a President, 500 YEARS tells a sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala's recent history through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.
- DirectorHeather RaeStarsRobert RedfordKris KristoffersonSam ShepardA chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances and politics.
- DirectorNeil DiamondCatherine BainbridgeJeremiah HayesStarsAdam BeachChris EyreRussell MeansThe history of the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.
- DirectorAlex SmithAndrew J. SmithStarsChaske SpencerDavid MorseGary FarmerVirgil First Raise wakes with a shiner and a hangover in a roadside ditch on the stark but beautiful plains of Montana. As he rises to face the day he sees a vision of his father lying dead at his feet. Impossible-- his father froze to death in a snowdrift years earlier. Virgil returns home to find that his wife, Agnes, has left him. Worse, she's taken his electric razor and his beloved rifle. Virgil sets out to find her-- beginning a hi-line odyssey of inebriated encounters, sexual skirmishes, and improbable cloak-and-dagger intrigues with the mysterious 'Airplane Man'. Virgil's quest also brings him face-to-face with childhood memories and visions of his beloved, lost brother Mose-- some glorious, some tragic. Only when Virgil seeks the counsel of an old, blind man named Yellow Calf, does he grasp the truth of his origins and begin to thaw the ice in his veins.
- DirectorTaylor SheridanStarsElizabeth OlsenJeremy RennerGraham GreeneA wildlife officer, who is haunted by a tragedy that happened because of him, teams up with an FBI agent in solving a murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation and hopes to get redemption from his past regrets.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsBebe HarjoGabriel PelayoFrederick SchroederFrankie is dying. Irene hasn't forgiven him. And they are racing against time to find their way home. Frankie needs help and Irene is the one he turns to. He must go home one last time. And, like so many times before, Irene is extending herself beyond her common sense. The two set out on a journey that becomes more than getting home; confronting the past, love, understanding, and self discovery. Barking Water is a tale of great love that looks at what brings us all together. It's a tale of home...and what it takes to get there.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsRobert RedfordNorman ZigrossiRobert SikmaThis film describes the events surrounding a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge reservation in S. Dakota where two FBI agents were killed.
- DirectorRyszard BugajskiStarsRon LeaGraham GreeneMichael HoganA white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction.
- DirectorGeorgina LightningStarsAdam BeachTantoo CardinalBradley CooperA Native American woman is haunted by visions that compel her to seek the truth about a residential school.
- DirectorKevin WillmottStarsWes StudiJ. Kenneth CampbellWinter Fox FrankSet in Kansas during the early 1900s, a teen-aged Native American boy (newcomer Winter Fox Frank) is taken from his family and forced to attend a distant Indian "training" school to assimilate into White society. When he escapes to return to his family, Sam Franklin (Wes Studi), a bounty hunter of Cherokee descent, is hired to find and return him to the institution. Franklin, a former Indian scout for the U.S. Army, has renounced his Native heritage and has adopted the White Man's way of life, believing it's the only way for Indians to survive. Along the way, a tragic incident spurs Franklin's longtime nemesis, the famous "Indian Fighter" Sheriff Henry McCoy (J. Kenneth Campbell), to pursue both Franklin and the boy.
- DirectorSherman AlexieStarsEvan AdamsMichelle St. JohnGene TagabanSeymour Polatkin is a successful, gay Native American poet from Spokane who confronts his past when he returns to his childhood home on the reservation to attend the funeral of a dear friend.
- DirectorLydia NibleyFilmmaker Lydia Nibley explores the cultural context behind a tragic and senseless murder. Fred Martinez was a Navajo youth slain at the age of 16 by a man who bragged to his friends that he 'bug-smashed a fag'. But Fred was part of an honored Navajo tradition - the 'nadleeh', or 'two-spirit', who possesses a balance of masculine and feminine traits. Through telling Fred's story, Nibley reminds us of the values that America's indigenous peoples have long embraced.
- DirectorJennifer Wynne FarmerValerie Red-HorseStarsValerie Red-HorseYvonne RussoIrene BedardThree Native American sisters (Red-Horse, Bedard, Guerrero) decide to try to sell a line of cosmetics they call Naturally Native, based on old tribal remedies, only to have to fight an uphill battle with racist business people. The film is actually Red-Horse's comment on her fight with the movie industry to get her films made and this film is the first to be totally financed by an Indian tribe, Connecticut's Mashantucket tribe.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsJames McDanielIrene BedardDelanna StudiBased on a true story, a black educator takes a job teaching high-school English at the Three Nations Reservation, and is coaxed into coaching the girls basketball team.
- DirectorNorman CohnZacharias KunukStarsPakak InnuksukLeah AngutimarikNeeve IrngautA portrayal of the lives of the last great Inuit shaman, Avva, and his beautiful and headstrong daughter, Apak. Based on the journals of 1920s Danish ethnographer Knud Rasmussen.
- DirectorJan EglesonStarsAdam BeachCandice CostelloJimmy HermanTwo tribal cops uncover a plot involving a lost fortune, an historical artifact and a mythical Coyote on a Navajo reservation.
- DirectorSteve BarronStarsAugust SchellenbergEddie SpearsGary FarmerThe legends of the Native American nations come to life in this epic new miniseries, as two generations--a century-old storyteller and his grandson, a troubled 17-year-old boy--embark on a cross-country journey toward self-discovery.
- DirectorLou Diamond PhillipsStarsLou Diamond PhillipsSalli Richardson-WhitfieldMelinda DillonA young Lakota Sioux, adopted by a wealthy Jewish couple in Beverly Hills, gets in touch with his cultural roots and solves a mystery in this thriller. Because of his upbringing, Jesse Rainfeather Goldman knows almost nothing of Native American traditions. He is doing his internship when he suddenly receives an amulet from the Lakota reservation in Sioux City. It is from his real mother. Jesse's curiosity is piqued, and he immediately travels to his birthplace to learn why she sent it. Unfortunately, by the time he arrives, his mother's body is discovered in the smoldering wreckage of her home. She was shot before she was burned. Jesse's investigation into her death is not welcomed by the local captain of police and his assistant. He is almost beaten to death but is saved by his grandfather, a shaman, and a Lakota woman. The newly healed Jesse begins to explore his tribe's customs. He then contacts his mother's spirit and she leads him to the film's conclusion.
- DirectorMichael J.F. ScottStarsHerbie BarnesGordon TootoosisMichelle St. JohnAfter a life of being shuttled from one foster home to another, 16-year-old Jesse Three Bears is reacquainted with his grandfather where unresolved historical tensions resurface forcing the two of them to reconcile with their past.
- DirectorYves SimoneauStarsAidan QuinnAdam BeachAugust SchellenbergA historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsLance BakerBetty C. BarlowGary BasarabaA Navajo police officer is mixed up in drug smuggling and murder on the reservation.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsVal KilmerSam ShepardGraham GreeneA young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
- StarsRyan Rajendra BlackJennifer PodemskiDarrell DennisSpin off television series based on the characters from "Dance Me Outside"
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsMichael GreyeyesVictor AaronNathaniel ArcandThe legendary Native American chieftain refuses to go with his people peacefully to the reservation and starts a rebellion.
- CreatorRon E. ScottStarsCarmen MooreEric SchweigMichelle ThrushBlackstone is an authentic drama that explores the dynamics of family, power and politics on a First Nation reserve.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsJason PatricGene HackmanRobert DuvallThe story of the Apache chief and his armed resistance to the U.S. Government's subjugation of his people.
- DirectorJeff BarnabyStarsDevery JacobsGlen GouldBrandon OakesRed Crow Mi'kmaq reservation, 1976: By government decree, every Indian child under the age of 16 must attend residential school. In the kingdom of the Crow, that means imprisonment at St. Dymphna's. That means being at the mercy of "Popper", the sadistic Indian agent who runs the school.
- DirectorJeff BarnabyStarsMichael GreyeyesElle-Máijá TailfeathersForrest GoodluckThe dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi'kmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.
- DirectorStephen S. CampanelliStarsAjuawak KapashesitWayne BakerSladen PeltierFollows the life of Native Canadian Saul Indian Horse as he survives residential school and life amongst the racism of the 1970s. A talented hockey player, Saul must find his own path as he battles stereotypes and alcoholism.
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsRobert De NiroJeremy IronsRay McAnallyEighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
- DirectorStanley NelsonOn the night of February 27, 1973, a caravan of cars carrying 200 armed Oglala Lakota-led by American Indian Movement (AIM) activists-entered Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation and quickly occupied buildings, cut off access, and took up defensive positions. When federal agents arrived, they declared, "The Indians are in charge of the town," and a 71-day standoff ensued. Compiling an astonishing amount of archival film footage (notable for the key moments it captures) and firsthand accounts from participants, Stanley Nelson creates an immersive, comprehensive account of the occupation and its fascinating complexity. The Oglala Lakota sought redress of old grievances and broken treaties (just miles from the massacre of 1890) but also demanded the ouster of Pine Ridge tribal leader Dick Wilson, who governed through corruption and intimidation as he pursued deeply divisive policies of assimilation. Nelson also explores the climate of racism in border towns; the broad political context that shaped the AIM-its tactics, organization and ability to exploit the national media; and ultimately the role armed protest played in Native American self-conception. With its iconic images of Indians holding the government at bay, Wounded Knee not only brought national attention to an invisible community and its desperate conditions but contributed to the tribe's awakened sense of dignity and connection with their proud heritage.
- DirectorBruce PittmanStarsMichelle St. JohnKim Bruisedhead FoxMarianne JonesA young Native Canadian (First Nations person) fights to keep her culture and identity when she is abducted to a residential school.
- DirectorJorge ManzanoStarsGail MauriceColumpa BobbJonathan FisherAs her younger brother schemes to commit robbery, a jailed American Indian finds love with another woman.
- DirectorPeter StebbingsStarsCara GeeShay EyreBarbara GordonThree generations of First Nations women struggle to deal with the demons of their past.
- DirectorTravis Holt HamiltonStarsDeshava ApacheeDonavon G. BarneyEthel BegayRaised in the suburbs of Phoenix, a Navajo college student must choose between a vacation in Rome or moving to the reservation to care for her ailing grandmother.
- DirectorDavid MuellerLynn SaltStarsLarry AndersonDennis BanksTashina BanksAIM leader Dennis Banks looks back at his early life and the rise of the American Indian Movement.
- DirectorCyril MorinStarsChadwick BrownTonantzin CarmeloMichael SpearsA political thriller during the Wounded Knee insurrection in 1973. Two activist are arrested and maintain in custody in a sheriff's office. They will meet a Nixon advisor, a lawyer, a senator and a movie star who is also an activist. Feb 2013 will be the 40Th anniversary of the insurrection...
- DirectorAlanis ObomsawinStarsAlanis ObomsawinSimilar to her 2012 documentary, The People of the Kattawapiskak River, which detailed the housing crisis of the Awattapiskak First Nations people, Alanis Obomsawin's Hi-Ho Mistahey. examines this community with a shrewd political eye, aiming to raise awareness about the lack of resources allotted by the government for education. Her voice, one of sensitivity and political necessity, is a vital part of the Canadian narrative, bringing attention to marginalized people with an eye for detail and community introspection, humanizing a subject that, for those in mainstream culture, is more of a peripheral social grievance than something for active consideration. In 2000, the elementary school in Awattapiskak was shut down after the land was determined to be toxic. Since then, the students have been schooled in outdoor portables with heating and vermin issues, making it difficult to maintain a dedicated staff and offer the children the same comforts and amenities that children in more centralized regions are afforded. The government had initially allotted funds for a new school but, as noted in Hi-Ho Mistahey!, the budget for education within the Department of Indian Affairs isn't specifically protected and can be utilized for other issues if they're deemed more critical. Frustrated with endless financial delays, the community, spearheaded by teen activist Shannen Koostachin, reached out to children across Canada, creating a grassroots awareness campaign throughout the schools, forcing parliament to listen through sheer volume. This story, in itself, is quite inspirational and captivating as a cultural assessment of the ever-changing Canadian landscape. Unfortunately, it's not a particularly complex or involving story, which is why Hi-Ho Mistahey. tends to feel directionless and unfocused. Amidst the core narrative about this movement, which, tragically, was started by someone who couldn't see it through after losing her life in a car accident, Obomsawin inserts several interviews with community members about topics like meat smoking and suicide statistics without specifically relating it back to the central topic. Obviously, the aim is to paint a picture of the community and determine why it's important to keep children there rather than have them go off to the city to study, but it plays more as a series of disjointed sob stories to make saccharine what is already an essential dialogue with enough emotional weight to sustain itself. And since there's little stylization or sense of pacing, it leaves everything feeling bloated and amateurish. Still, Obomsawin's determination to keep the world aware of the social and political issues affecting smaller communities in rural areas is commendable. She's clever enough to acknowledge that these plights stem from a Canadian cultural tendency to deny our less than flattering pass without dwelling on it or tossing out glib or dismissive comments about the urban lifestyle. It's this integrity and determination that helps make a difference.
- DirectorPeter BrattStarsAlfre WoodardJesse BorregoSalma HayekThree muralists (one Chicano, one Black, one American Indian) and the socially-maladjusted cousin of the Chicano muralist set off on a road trip with the intent of painting their images on the White House. Along the way they meet a mysterious Black woman. Together, these four men and one woman encounter racism, sexism, internal conflicts, and finally redemption as they discover their common humanity and their internal ability to conquer the societal ills that effect them all.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsRena OwenTemuera MorrisonMamaengaroa Kerr-BellA family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.
- DirectorIan MuneStarsTemuera MorrisonRena OwenClint ErueraJake Muss' oldest son is killed in a gang fight and the younger son wants revenge, but Jake doesn't want to lose his other son to violence as well.
- DirectorSam PillsburyStarsTemuera MorrisonLawrence MakoareJaime Passier-ArmstrongForces of tradition and tribal pride collide with government authority.
- DirectorOlga ValanosStarsRussell MeansGeneration Red Nation gives a brutally honest view of life on Indian reservations, leaving the Reservation, and city life.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsJeff S. AndersonJimmy AndersonHugh W. Foley Jr.An investigation into Native American filmmaker Harjo's family history, namely the mysterious 1962 disappearance of his grandfather and the songs of encouragement sung by those who searched for him.
- 1987– 1h 17mTV-PG8.0 (163)TV EpisodeDirectorChris EyreStarsMarcos AkiatenCassidy AllaWilliam BelleauIn March of 1621, in what is now southeastern Massachusetts, Massasoit (actor Marcos Akiaten, Chiricauha Apache), the leading sachem of the Wampanoag, sat down to negotiate with a ragged group of English colonists. Hungry, dirty, and sick, the pale-skinned foreigners were struggling to stay alive; they were in desperate need of native help. Massasoit faced problems of his own. His people had lately been decimated by unexplained sickness, leaving them vulnerable to the rival Narragansett to the west. The Wampanoag sachem calculated that a tactical alliance with the foreigners would provide a way to protect his people and hold his native enemies at bay. He agreed to give the English the help they needed. A half-century later, as a brutal war flared between the English colonists and a confederation of New England Indians, the wisdom of Massasoit's diplomatic gamble seemed less clear. Five decades of English immigration, mistreatment, lethal epidemics, and widespread environmental degradation had brought the Indians and their way of life to the brink of disaster. Led by Metacom, Massasoit's son (actor Annowon Weeden, Mashpee Wampanoag), the Wampanoag and their native allies fought back against the English, nearly pushing them into the sea.
- 1987– 1h 26mTV-PG7.9 (152)TV EpisodeDirectorRic BurnsChris EyreStarsBenjamin BrattMichael GreyeyesDwier BrownEach of the episodes focuses on important historical events and concludes with a short contemporary story that links the past to the present.
- 1987– 1h 16mTV-PG8.0 (129)TV EpisodeDirectorChris EyreStarsJackson WalkerElijah AbdullahThomas N. BeltThe Cherokee would call it Nu-No-Du-Na Tlo-Hi-Lu, "The Trail Where They Cried." On May 26, 1838, federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the Southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way. For years the Cherokee had resisted removal from their land in every way they knew. Convinced that white America rejected Native Americans because they were "savages," Cherokee leaders established a republic with a European-style legislature and legal system. Many Cherokee became Christian and adopted westernized education for their children. Their visionary principal chief, John Ross, would even take the Cherokee case to the Supreme Court, where he won a crucial recognition of tribal sovereignty that still resonates. The Supreme Court ruling proved no deterrent to President Andrew Jackson's demands that the Cherokee leave their ancestral lands. A complex debate divided the Cherokee Nation, with Chief Ross urging the Cherokee to stay, and Major Ridge, a respected tribal leader, urging the tribe to move West and rebuild, going so far as to sign a removal treaty himself without the authority to do so. Though in the end the Cherokee embrace of "civilization" and their landmark legal victory proved no match for white land hunger and military power, the Cherokee people were able, with characteristic ingenuity, to build a new life in Oklahoma, far from the land that had sustained them for generations.
- StarsNoah WattsCharlie HillBrian WescottMost popular histories of American Indians end in 1890 with the massacre at Wounded Knee. But the stories of more than 500 Native American nations didn't stop 115 years ago. Far from it. From the birth of the reservations to the birth of Foxwoods, the original Americans have survived and even thrived over the last century.
- StarsWes StudiAdam BeachAlex RiceA veteran cop returns to his childhood Navajo reservation, where his urban investigation methods sometimes clash with his partner's traditional ones.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsJeremiah BitsuiCandice CostelloGeraldine KeamsThe lives of four Native Americans take a significant turn as they confront the crises that arise in a single day.
- DirectorJeffrey ShoreStarsGraham GreeneLitefootIrene BedardThe legendary Ojibwa Chief is sent by the great spirit to lead his people.
- DirectorShirley CheechooStarsBrigitte YangMicheline BlaisDoug BedardMoose River Crossing is a feature film based on the play that examines the premise and asks the question "Does time heal all wounds?". Six childhood friends and former residential school students meet at the train station to travel to their school reunion. It's been eighteen years. Excited yet apprehensive they greet each other with the warmth of friends past and do the preverbal "catch up." As the minutes move to hours and a derailed train delays their travel, these six adults flash to the past; the love, the lies, the pain of childhood lost and finally resolution. Their reunion insulated in the stark lobby of the train station, proves to be the door that opens a path to healing.
- DirectorShirley CheechooA feature-length documentary tracing the Cree philosophy of Mother Earth and the responsibilities of the Cree people to honor her and those who continue to give life to the Cree people.
- DirectorShirley CheechooStarsRenae MorriseauMax MartiniSheila TouseyThe tale of an unfortunate woman in a remote Canadian reservation. In a single day, Ella Lee gets raped by her thuggish ex-boss, accidentally kills her abusive husband, and gets brutally interrogated and sexually molested by an evil cop.
- DirectorRoberta GrossmanStarsMitchell CapitanRita CapitanBarry Dana"Homeland" tells the stories of five remarkable Native American activists in four communities who are fighting these "new Indian Wars" - each in his own way passionately dedicated to protecting Indian lands against disastrous environmental hazards, preserving their sovereignty and ensuring the cultural survival of their peoples. With the support of their communities, these leaders are actively rejecting the devastating affronts of multi-national energy companies and the current dismantling of 30 years of environmental laws.
- DirectorBilly LutherRED LAKE is an intimate portrait of three survivors of a 2005 high school shooting on the Red Lake Indian reservation in northern Minnesota as they continue to heal ten years later.
- DirectorBilly LutherStarsRadmilla CodyMarilyn Help HoodIda Gail OrganickThe role of women and tradition in Dine (Navajo) culture is explored through a young woman's quest for the Miss Navajo Nation crown.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsWotko LongBronnson Tre HarjoJamie LoyMekko is an native American man who is released from prison. He served time for killing a cousin. Homeless, he learns that he must become a warrior to fight the "witch" preying on his people because they have lost their spirit.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsWes AllenJeri ArredondoLaura BaileyAfter his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoMatt LeachMichael Loman is a Choctaw Elvis impersonator, Fancy Dancer, and flute player living in Midtown Tulsa. We follow him through a day in his life as he explains why he chooses to live life the way he does.
- CreatorJeremy CharlesAmanda ClintonSterlin HarjoStarsBetty FroggJennifer LorenCheyanne Wheat"Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People" is an Emmy-winning documentary-style television show that showcases the authentic stories of the people, places, history, culture and language of the Cherokee Nation.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsLaVonne Rae AndrewsIrene BedardTokala Black ElkAmerican Indian people today are vibrant, modern and hilariously funny! And yet, we are rarely portrayed as such in film and TV. In this short video, a spectrum of working American Indian actors of diverse ages and backgrounds, share their personal experiences in the entertainment industry. Their captivating stories reveal modern American Indian people to be complex and surprising human beings. This video was conceived and created by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) President's Task Force for American Indians, a volunteer group of SAG actors who are committed to improving the lives of American Indian people by promoting greater understanding and cultural sensitivity through media.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoMatt LeachIn this documentary, filmmakers Matt Leach and Sterlin Harjo explore the rare language of the Yuchi and the attempts being made to revive the ancient tongue.
- DirectorIan SkorodinStarsJeff S. AndersonOrvel BaldridgeRobert EadesThe first narrative feature film directed by a Native American and based on a true story, Tushka tells the story of a Native American activist who leads a rally to the steps of the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
- DirectorRodrick PocowatchitStarsGuy Ray PocowatchitMark WellsRodrick PocowatchitThree Native American friends get stranded on the road to a pow-wow.
- DirectorRodrick PocowatchitStarsRodrick PocowatchitGuy Ray PocowatchitT.J. WilliamsThree Native Americans discover they are somehow immune to a virus that's turning everyone else into zombies.
- DirectorRodrick PocowatchitStarsBryon BurkheadRodrick PocowatchitDelno EbieA man with the power to heal time travels from the future to save the Native American race.
- DirectorRodrick PocowatchitStarsMark WellsGuy Ray PocowatchitRodrick PocowatchitA half-Native American coroner's investigator unfolds the mystery of a mute Native American man who only finds solace from past tragedy when he dances in his sleep.
- DirectorRodrick PocowatchitStarsNoah WattsRoss CrainJason Paul EvansIn the year 2061, where only one utilitarian race -- known as 'The Nation' -- is recognized, a Native American man is imprisoned for speaking his ancient tribal language.
- DirectorShelley NiroStarsKateri WalkerEric SchweigRachelle White Wind ArbezMavis Dogblood is a Mohawk painter who keeps the memory of her dead husband Jessie Lightning alive through the recreation of stories he would tell her. Jessie was a musician whose compositions continues to haunt Mavis. Mavis has a potential lover waiting for her to absolve her grief and continue in the world of the living. Mavis is delivering a series of paintings to New York. On the trip to New York she decides to visit Jessie's grandmother Josephine. Here Mavis is given permission to love her friend and lover Bug.
- DirectorShelley NiroStarsFlorence BelmoreTantoo CardinalRon CookInvestigates the authenticity, cultural identity, and the articulation of modern Native American experience in cinematic language and pop culture.
- DirectorShelley NiroStarsLena RecolletA day in the life of Mother Earth. She appears out of water and engages in witnessing the earth and how it is used. She suffers.
- DirectorShelley NiroStarsMorningstar AngelineAndrew MartinAjuawak KapashesitMitzi Bearclaw is an indigenous woman who reluctantly returns to her isolated reserve to help her father care for her bitter mother.
- DirectorBabak JalaliStarsRod RondeauxFlorence C.M. KleinWilma PellyA Native American family struggles with violence and alcohol, when news reaches the Reservation that one of them has died during military service in Afghanistan.
- DirectorGabriel Mozart Steven AbeytaForrest GoodluckStarsNatasha BrokeshoulderJuanita ChristineStephen HouserA young man finds true love in a courageous woman and must find ways to cope when she is kidnapped. She joins the astonishing staggering statistic of missing and murdered indigenous women.
- DirectorAndreas KidessStarsAdam BeachRodney EastmanRussell FriedenbergA frightning thriller with Native American undertones.
- DirectorSteven EdellStarsSaginaw GrantCody LightningZahn McClarnonA teenage Native American boy is caught between his father's embrace of the white man's western culture and grandfather's committment to his heritage and tradition. The boy finds both pain and revelation through his hanbleceya (Vision Quest), a Lakota right of passage.
- StarsJoseph M. MarshallIrene BedardGil BirminghamTales from the American West in the 19th century, told from the perspective of two families, one of white settlers and one of Native Americans.
- StarsAdam BeachW. Kamau BellBen-Alex DuprisKamau heads to the Dakotas to shed light on a population over which the United States has too long cast a shadow: the indigenous people we mistakenly call Native Americans.
- DirectorKate MontgomeryStarsTimothy VahleSam VlahosMariana ToscaDuring the holidays at a ski resort in Utah run by a Native American tribe, the overworked manager and a widowed woman from the big city overcome mistaken identities and intrusive guests in their pursuit of romance.
- 20101h 19mPG-138.5 (44)TV SpecialDirectorScott L. MontoyaStarsVaughn EaglebearLarry OmahaCharlie HillIn the spirit of the Kings of Comedy and The Latin Kings of Comedy, no reservations needed for this historical stand-up comedy event. Hosted by legendary Native American comedian Charlie Hill, this special showcases the best of the Native American Indian comedians performing today. This historical special features legendary Native American comedians for the first time all on one stage Charlie Hill, Larry Omaha, Howie Miller, as well as the Pow Wow Comedy Jam members now making their mark on the Native American comedy scene, Marc Yaffee, Jim Rule, Vaughn Eagle Bear and JR Redwater.
- DirectorKent MackenzieStarsYvonne WilliamsHomer NishTom ReynoldsFollows a family of Native Americans living in the City of Angels.
- DirectorAmanda KernellStarsMaj-Doris RimpiOlle SarriÁnne Biret SombyA reindeer-breeding Sámi girl who is exposed to the racism of the 1930's at her boarding school, starts dreaming of another life. But to achieve it, she has to become someone else and break all ties with her family and culture.
- DirectorChloé ZhaoStarsJohn ReddyJashaun St. JohnIrene BedardWith an older brother in jail and living with their single mother on Pine Ridge Reservation, Johnny and his sister Jashuan's lives develop new challenges when their absentee cowboy father suddenly dies. The loss prompts Johnny to strike out for Los Angeles, but would mean leaving behind his beloved sister.
- DirectorSilas HagertyStarsJim MillerIn the spring of 2005 Jim Miller a native spiritual leader and VietNam veteran found himself in a dream riding on horseback across the great plains of south Dakota just before he awoke he arrived at a riverbank in Minnesota and saw 38 of his Dakota ancestry.
- DirectorCatherine BainbridgeAlfonso MaioranaStarsGeorge ClintonRobbie RobertsonGary GiddinsA documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history.
- DirectorSydney FreelandStarsJeremiah BitsuiCarmen MooreMorningstar AngelineThree young Native Americans - an adopted Christian girl, a rebellious father-to-be, and a promiscuous transsexual - strive to escape the hardships of life on an Indian reservation.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsEverlyn SampiTianna SansburyKenneth BranaghIn 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.