Film Indians Now!, Washington DC

NMAI's Film and Video Center and the National Gallery of Art present a remarkable eight part screening series, imparting fresh views regarding the Native American experience as described in contemporary film and media. Each program will include a moderated discussion on how media affects and empowers our collective image of what a Native person is.

October 4, November 1, November 22, and December 6 at the National Gallery of Art.

October 5, November 2, November 23, and December 7 at the National Museum of the American Indian.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Saturday, October 4, 2008, 2 pm
East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

PRETTY PICTURES
Exploring elements of Native female identity, we ask, How does art influence children? How do romantic images of Indians enchant Native and non-Native people, young and old?

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Disney's Pocahontas

Moderated discussion led by Pat Aufderheide, Center for Social Media, American University, with filmmaker Nanobah Becker (Navajo) and National Museum of the American Indian research historian Gabrielle Tayac (Piscataway) to follow the screening.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Sunday, October 5, 2008, 2 pm
Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater
National Museum of the American Indian, First Level

STRANGE LOVE
National issues of sovereignty and cultural acceptance often affect Native people on a personal level. Many individuals must search for life's greatest moments—marriage, children, etc.—within the confines of blood quantum. This government-mandated system, which defines citizenship by how much "Indian blood" someone has, leads many Native people to question their cultural worth, asking, Is my identity in my blood?

Club Native

Moderated discussion led by Gabrielle Tayac with filmmaker Tracey Deer (Mohawk) to follow the screening.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Saturday, November 1, 2008, 2 pm
East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

UNITÉ URBAINE

Tkaronto

Moderated discussion led by producer Christine Vachon with filmmaker Shane Belcourt (Métis) to follow the screening.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Sunday, November 2, 2008, 2 pm
Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American Indian
First Level

IT'S NOT TV, IT'S INDIANS!
A high energy explosion of television magic that will make you think about Native Americans in a new way! Native artists—Ben-Alex Dupris (Colville), Terrance Houle (Blackfoot/Saulteaux), and Skeena Reece (Métis/Cree/ Tsimshian/Gitksan)—perform spoken word, song, and dance pieces inspired by their favorite "Indian" episodes of television. Many American TV shows have featured a special episode with an American Indian guest star or Native-inspired theme. Many of these shows are embraced by Native communities, despite their lack of accuracy or sensitivity toward Native culture. Reception with the artists to follow.

Proposed episodes for this program are:

Challenge of the SuperFriends' "The History of Doom" and "Doomsday" featuring Apache Chief - presented by Ben-Alex Dupris

Seinfeld's "Cigar Store Indian" - presented by Terrance Houle

Moesha's "Road Trip" - presented by Skeena Reece

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 2 pm
East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

A FUTURE REALIZED: FILMS BY TODAY'S INDIAN
We are proud to present the newest films from some of the best Native American filmmakers working today.

The Colony

Nikamowin

Sikumi

A Return Home

4wheelwarpony

Moderated discussion led by curator Gerald McMaster (Plains Cree/Siksika Nation) with the filmmakers Jeff Barnaby (Mi’gMaq), Kevin Lee Burton (Swampy Cree), Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo) and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Iñupiaq) to follow the films.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Sunday, November 23, 2008, 2 pm
Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American Indian
First Level

THE DOUBLE ENTENDRE OF RE-ENACTMENT:
An interactive program with Gerald McMaster
Curator Gerald McMaster (Cree) offers fresh insights in this subversive and often humorous look at Native participation in historical reenactment—from its roots in 19th-century Wild West shows and early 20th-century film to the work of today's Native media artists currently reinterpreting reenactment as a means of artistic defiance. This talk , curated by Gerald McMaster, was commissioned by the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto & Vtape, with a catalogue published by Vtape. To download a PDF of the catalog, enter here. Provided courtesy of imagineNATIVE and Vtape, the key distributor of independent media arts and First Nations production in Canada.

Works discussed include:

Nunavut (1995, 28 min., d. Zacharias Kunuk (Inuit), Canada)

The Last Great Hunt (2006, 6 min., d. Shonie De La Rosa (Navajo), U.S.)

Shooting Geronimo (2007, 11 min., d. Kent Monkman (Cree), Canada)

4wheelwarpony (2008, 8 min., d. Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo), U.S.)

And brief selections from:

In the Land of the War Canoes (1912., d. Edward S. Curtis, U.S.)

Nanook of the North (1922, d. Robert Flaherty, U.S./France)

Winnetou (1965, d. Harald Reini, West Germany/Yugoslavia/Italy)

The Shadow Catcher (1974, d.Teri C. McLuhan, U.S.)

Gerald McMaster (Plains Cree and member of the Siksika Nation) is the Curator of Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Saturday, December 6, 2008, 2 pm
East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art

MAINSTREAM NATIVE AMERICA
In 1972 America watched Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, the first Italian American film written and directed by Italian Americans. Today, people from diverse and specific backgrounds still relate with the epic story of the Corleone family. Themes such as cultural displacement, the realization of the American dream, and family allegiances resonate and parallel many issues Native Americans face today.

The Godfather

Moderated discussion led by Hanay Geiogamah (Kiowa/Delaware) with filmmaker Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho) and the Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, Kevin Gover (Pawnee/Comanche), to follow the program.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.

Sunday, December 7, 2008, 2 pm
Rasmuson Theater, National Museum of the American Indian
First Level

MAINSTREAM NATIVE AMERICA, PART 2
Presenting the first feature film written, directed and co-produced by Native Americans to receive distribution in mainstream theaters.

Smoke Signals

Moderated discussion led by Hanay Geiogamah with filmmaker Chris Eyre to follow the screening.

For more information please go to the National Museum of the American Indian Website.