13th Native American Film + Video Festival
 Organized
by the Film and Video Center of the National Museum of the American
Indian (NMAI), the Native American Film + Video Festival celebrates
the creative energy of Native American directors, producers, writers,
actors, musicians, cultural activists, and all the others who
support their endeavors. This year the Film and Video Center (FVC)
is also observing its 25th anniversary. We are honoring two great
cultural activists, in gratitude for their long-time support of
the Festival, Francis M. Blythe, the founding director of Native
American Public Telecommunications, and Rosemary Richmond, director
of NYC's American Indian Community House.
The 2006 festival opens on Thursday, November 30, with two screenings.
At the National Museum of the American Indian's George Gustav
Heye Center in New York it presents The Journals of Knud Rasmussen,
the new feature film directed by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn
(the team that brought us Atanarjuat/The Fast Runner).
On Thursday the off-site screening at The Donnell Media Center,
an outstanding midtown showcase in New York for independent film
and video, will feature two Cherokee films, the animation Messenger
by Joseph Erb and the feature documentary Spiral of Fire
by Carol Cornsilk, produced by Native American Public Telecommunications
for its mini-series Indian Country Diaries. The festival
continues through Sunday, December 3, with more than 125 premieres,
award-winning shorts, features and documentaries from Bolivia,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru,
and the United States. All screenings are free. The screening
schedule and film synopses are available on this site. For directions,
enter here.
 The
2006 festival received more than 550 entries from which the Festival's
hard working selection team has chosen this year's program. We
are especially excited to be presenting numerous outstanding works
by a new generation of emerging filmmakers who are introducing
new perspectives on what it means to be indigenous in the 21st
century. Their work includes narratives, animations, and documentaries
on issues of personal identity, struggle for Native lands, community
strengths, and the impact of multi-nationalism. Border and cross-cultural
realities infuse many of the pieces.
Each of the filmmakers represented here has used film as a tool
for discovery, and the festival is an exciting way to come together
to share in that. From the works of directors who have screened
and won awards at major festivals ranging from Sundance to Cannes,
to productions by the "New Generations" teens and young,
emerging filmmakers with professional training in film schools
and workshops, the program is rich with their experiences.
 Among
other works being featured is Venciendo el Miedo/Conquering
Fear, a drama from Bolivia by Maria Morales (Amyara), produced
in conjunction with the Bolivian national indigenous media organization
CEFREC-CAIB. It tells the story of the powerful path that a woman
follows after her family leaves the highlands to seek a better
life elsewhere. From Brazil, My First Contact by filmmakers
Mari Correa and Kumaré Txicão (Ikpeng) focuses on
community memory and indigenous history, as the Ikpeng people
recount their first contacts with 'white men' in 1965, and the
impact of this irreversible moment. Other works include the U.S.
premiere of the first-ever Aboriginal television drama series,
Moccasin Flats; a feature film by Blackhorse Lowe (Navajo),
5th World, a contemporary Navajo love story; and Mohawk
Girls, Tracey Deer's (Mohawk) nuanced portrait of three young
women growing up on the Kahnawake Reserve near Montreal.
 Short
films include the World Premiere of Bennie Klain's (Navajo) poignant,
metaphorical Share the Wealth; Sterlin Harjo's (Seminole/Creek)
award-winning Goodnight Irene in which two young men have
a life-changing encounter with an elder (N.Y. premiere); Conversion,
Nanobah Becker's (Navajo) drama exploring the impact of Christian
missionaries on the Navajo Reservation; and Gesture Down (I
Don't Sing), by Cedar Sherbert (Kumeyaay), in which a Kumeyaay
man crosses more than a physical border when he goes from California
to Mexico to visit family.
The Film and Video Center's 25th anniversary is a good time to
reflect on how much has happened in our dynamic field. We're engaged
in the large number of talented filmmakers and the unique perspectives
they bring to their work. We're deepening our understanding of
the diversity of indigenous communities and the multiple outlooks
they express through film and media. And we're delighting in the
growing number of Native film festivals and special screening
series—there are currently about forty—that are making
it possible for diverse audiences to see the work of more and
more Native artists.
In addition to NMAI's festival, which started in 1979 as the
first hemisphere-wide indigenous film festival, the Film and Video
Center offers year round daily screenings at NMAI in New York
and Washington, DC; a monthly "At the Movies" film series;
special showcases at the museum and in Santa Fe, and elsewhere;
and national and international touring festivals. FVC provides
extensive information services on Native film, video and radio
through its bilingual "Native Networks/Redes Indigenas Website"
(which received more than 1.5 million hits in the past eleven
months). And this year we celebrate not only an anniversary, but
the FVC's future expansion; we have received a generous pledge
of support from The Council of the City of New York and The City
of New York to improve and expand the Film and Video Center's
facilities at the George Gustav Heye Center.
And now the 2006 Festival! The selectors and staff of the 2006
Native American Film + Video Festival look forward to your presence
and will welcome your comments and responses to all the wonderful
work we are about to screen.
- Elizabeth Weatherford, Founding Director, Native American Film
+ Video Festival
To see who attended opening night of the 2003 Native American
Film + Video Festival, enter
here!
All festival programs are free. For daytime programs
at NMAI and the evening program at the Donnell Media Center, seating
is on a first come, first served basis.
Reservations are recommended for evening programs at NMAI. No
more than 4 tickets can be reserved by any one person. Pickup
reserved tickets at the Will Call Desk starting 40 min. before
showtime. Tickets not picked up by 15 min. before showtime are
released to the Wait List. NMAI charter members are given priority
for reservations until November 17. To reserve call 212-514-3737
or enter here.
Please note: All visitors to the NMAI Heye Center are required
to go through a security check and magnetometer. No sharp or metal
items will be allowed into the museum.
All programs are wheelchair accessible. To request assistance
for the hearing impaired, contact the festival no later than November
17 at FVC@si.edu.
DIRECTIONS
The National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav
Heye Center, is located at One Bowling Green adjacent to the northeast
corner of Battery Park, New York, New York.
Subway: R, W to Whitehall Street; 1 to South Ferry; J, M, Z
trains to Broad Street; 4, 5* trains to Bowling Green; Bus:
M1, M6, M15 to South Ferry.
*Weekend Subway Service: Due to a temporary disruption in service,
please take the R/W to Whitehall Street or the M to Broad Street
on Saturdays and Sundays. For current status of weekend subway
service, visit www.mta.info.
Donnell Media Center, 20 W. 53rd Street between 5th and
6th Avenues. Tel: 212-621-0609.
Subway: F to Fifth Ave.; 6 to 51st St.; N, R to 49th St. (at
7th Ave.) Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, Q32 - southbound on Fifth Avenue
or northbound on Madison Avenue. M5, M6, M7 - northbound on
6th Ave. M5 - southbound on 5th Ave.
Find out more about the 2006 Native American Film
+ Video Festival Selectors!
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New Generations brings together Native youth media producers,
their mentors and project coordinators, expanding and deepening
the network between youth media makers in Canada, the United States
and Mexico. During the 2006 festival, they will engage During
the 2006 festival, they will engage related sites. Participants
from the following youth media projects will present their work
at public screenings on Sunday,
December 3:
- Akatubi Film + Music Academy, Sierra Madre, California
- Big Soul Productions, Toronto
- Centro de Video Indígena, Yucatán, Mexico
- Fort Gibson Public Schools-Professional Development Center,
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma
- Four Directions Charter School/Ogichidaakweg-In Progress,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Gaa Dibaatjimat Ngaashi-Stay in School Project, Toronto
- Indigenous Action Media, Flagstaff, Arizona
- MEDIAK, Anchorage, Alaska
- Owens Valley Career Development Center, Bishop, Calfornia
- Native Lens/Longhouse Media, Seattle, Washington
- Ojos Diversos, Ojo de Agua Comunicación, Oaxaca, Mexico
- Wapikoni Mobile, Quebec, Canada
- Yoochel Kaaj, Yucatán, Mexico
The 2006 Festival calendar is available to download as a Portable
Document File (PDF).
To view a PDF file, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed
on your computer. If you are not currently using this program,
you need to download and install it. For more information about
PDFs, enter here.
2006
Festival Calendar PDF (3,403 KB)
If you are unable to access the information from this Website,
email the Webmaster for
other options.
NMAI ADMINISTRATION
W. Richard West (Southern Cheyenne), Director, NMAI Director
Tim Johnson (Mohawk), Associate Director, NMAI Museum Programs
Group
John Haworth (Cherokee), Director, George Gustav Heye Center
Peter Brill, Deputy Assistant Director for Exhibits, Programs
and Public Spaces
FESTIVAL DIRECTORS AND MANAGERS
Elizabeth Weatherford, Head of Film and Video Center (FVC)
Emelia Seubert, Assistant Curator, FVC
Michelle Svenson, Festival Manager, FVC
Reaghan Tarbell (Mohawk), Assistant Festival Manager, FVC
FESTIVAL SELECTORS
Mariano Estrada (Tzeltal)
Amalia Córdova, Coordinator, Latin American Program,
FVC
Carol Kalafatic (Quechua/Croatian/Spanish)
Laura Milliken (Ojibwe)
Nora Naranjo-Morse (Tewa, Santa Clara Pueblo)
Michelle Svenson, FVC
FESTIVAL STAFF
Wendy Allen, Coordinator, Native Networks/Redes Indigenas Website,
FVC
Elisita Balbontín, Latin American Program Assistant,
FVC
Melissa Bisagni, Manager, FVC Mall Program
Jennifer Chen, Administrative Support, FVC
Carlos Gómez, Coordinator, Translation and Interpretation
Christine Halvorsen, Latin American consultant
Kathleen Haskin, data base consultant
Charmaine Jackson-John (Navajo), Festival assistant
Carole Lazio, Coordinator, FVC data base
Gaby Markey, Administrative Support, FVC
Sierra Ornelas (Navajo), Program Assistant, FVC
Margaret Sagan, Program Assistant, FVC
Devennie Wauneka (Navajo), Festival Assistant, FVC
Gabriela Zamorano, Festival assistant, FVC
SPECIAL CONSULTANT: JoAnn Chase (Mandan/Hidatsa)
A-V TECHNICAL STAFF
Filip Celander
Ryan Garfman
Patrick Glynn
Tom Kotik
Karl Mehrer
Damian Gessner
NATIVE NETWORKS PROGRAM TEAM
Melissa Bisagni
Amalia Córdova
Margaret Sagan
Reaghan Tarbell (Mohawk)
NEW GENERATIONS PROGRAM TEAM
Zakary Naranjo-Morse, Program Assistant, FVC
Elisita Balbontín, Latin American Program Assistant,
FVC
RADIO LISTENING PRESENTATION
Devennie Wauneka (Navajo)
FESTIVAL TRAILER
Melissa Bisagni
Demelza Champagne (Ojibwe)
Dan Davis
Sierra Ornelas
GGHC STAFF SUPPORT
Berquis Arias, Administration
Quinn Bradley, Public Affairs Assistant
Leonor Bonuso, Administration
Dennis Comerford, IT Manager
Gaetana de Gennaro (Tohona O'odam), Manager, GGHC Resource Center
Patrick Glynn
Johanna Gorelick, Manager, GGHC Education
Jorge Estévez (Taino), Cultural Arts
Rebecca Haggerty, Development Specialist
Tamara Levine, Administration
Scott Merritt, Asstant Director for Operations and Program Support
Trey Moynihan, Corporate Membership Program Manager
Lucia DeRespinis, Director of Development
Ann Marie Sekeres, Public Affairs Specialist
Susana Stieff, Graphic Designer
Regina Taylor, Facilities Manager
Annie Teamer (Cherokee), Volunteer Coordinator
Shawn Termin (Lakota), Cultural Arts Manager
OTHER NMAI STAFF SUPPORT
Amy van Allen, Community Services Manager
Liz Hill, Editor (Ojibwe), Editor-in-Chief, American Indian
Magazine
Keevin Lewis (Navajo), Community Services Coordinator
Gussie Lehman, Community Services Producer
Shannon Quist, Community Services Program Assistant
Kathy Suter, Manager of Media Development
Nancy Vickery, Community Services Program Specialist
Cheryl Wilson, Webmaster
Terence Winch, Head of Publications
Holly Stewart, Publications Editor
FESTIVAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Niloo Tehranchi
The Native American Film + Video Festival has been
made possible in part with public funds from the New York State
Council on the Arts, a state agency. This project received generous
support from the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives through
Federal Funds. Special support provided by the Academy Foundation
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Support has
also been received from Ford Foundation, LEF Foundation, the NMAI
National Council, and Mexicana airlines. Additional support has
been provided by the Canadian Consulate General, Mexican Cultural
Institute, Native American Public Telecommunications, and The
Canada Council for the Arts. Support for the screening of The
Journals of Knud Rasmussen in Washington, D.C., has been provided
by the Canadian Embassy.
WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF:
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Asian CineVision
Big River Media, Colville
Big Soul Productions
Canada Council for the Arts
CONACULTA
Deluxe Laboratories
Donnell Media Center, The New York Public Library
Downtown Community Television
The Ghetto Film School
The Hamptons International Film Festival
ImagineNATIVE Film & Media Festival
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Manitoba Arts Council
Margaret Mead Film Festival
Mexicana Airlines
Mexican Cultural Institute
Native America Calling
Native American Public Telecommunications
Native Lens
Native Voices Program, University of Washington
New Line Cinema
Newberry Public Library
New York University's Center for Media, Culture and History
New York University's Center for Religion and Media
New York Women in Film and Television
Pacifika New York Hawaiian Film Festival
Paramount Pictures
Qantas Airlines
Silvercup Studios
Title House Digital
Tribeca All Access Connects Program
Tribeca Film Festival
P.O.V. - The American Documentary
Unico Entertainment
Women Make Movies
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The FVC wishes to express its gratitude to the Board of Directors
of the George Gustav Heye Center for its interest and enthusiasm.
For their continuous and successful efforts on behalf of the
center’s program and its future development, FVC especially
thanks Board members Howard Teich, Jane Safer and Peter Johnson.
The festival also wishes to recognize the important role played
in its development over the years by Francis M. Blythe, emeritus
Executive Director of Native American Public Telecommunications,
and Douglas Evelyn, emeritus Deputy Director, National Museum
of the American Indian.
We express our gratitude to the following organizations offering
programs of study and professional workshops for Native emerging
and youth media-makers:
Aktubi Film + Music Academy, California; Big Soul Productions,
Toronto; Centro de Video Indigena, Yucatán; Creative
Capital, New York; Fort Gibson Schools, Oklahoma; Gaa dibaatijimat
Ngaashi-Stay In School Program, Toronto; Indigenous Action Media,
Flagstaff; Indigenous Media Arts Group, Vancouver; In Progress,
St. Paul; Institute of American Indian Arts Summer Workshop
in Film and Television, Santa Fe; MEDIAK/Media Education Development
Institute of Alaska, Anchorage; Mirada Biónica, Oaxaca;
Native Lens/Longhouse Media, Seattle; Ojos Diversos,
Oaxaca; National Film Board of Canada; National Screen
Institute, Canada; National Video Resources, New York;
Native Voices Program, University of Washington, Seattle;
Owens Valley Community Development Center, California;
Project Resolve, Los Angeles; Salmon River Central School,
New York; Sundance Institute Native Initiative, Los Angeles
and Park City; Tribeca All Access Connects, New York;
Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cuzco, Perú;
Wapikoni Mobile, Montreal; Yoochel Kaaj, Yucatán.
OUR THANKS TO:
Robert Archibald, Australian Consulate General
Barbara Abrash, Center for Media, Culture and History, New York
University
Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neil and Clarivel Ruiz, DCTV
Frieda and Jim Arth, Santa Fe
Patricia Aufderheide, Center for Social Media, American University
Orvel Baldridge and Lisa Turnbull-Lewis, International Cherokee
Film Festival
Lucius Barre
Sally Berger, The Museum of Modern Art
Ruth Bolan and Annie Moriyasu, Pacific Islanders in Communications
Berta Benally, Blackfire
Francine Berkowitz, Smithsonian International Center
Brian Newman, Tania Blanich and Lucila Moctezuma, National Video
Resources
Robert Borrero, American Museum of Natural History
Jeff Breithaupt, Cultural Affairs Officer, and Anna Velasco,
Cultural Affairs Officer, Canadian Consulate General, New York
Steve Buck, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe
Vincent Carelli and Mari Corrêa, Video nas Aldeias
Ray Carney, Boston University, Department of Film and Television
Janu Cassidy, Michelle Akina and Jeremy Spears, Hawaiian Cultural
Foundation
Amelia, Pedro and Ariel Ceja, Ceja Vineyards
Raquel Chapa
Elaine Charnov and Kathy Brew, Margaret Mead Film Festival
Paolo Cherchi-Usai, Australian Film Commission
Linden Chubin
Lisa Corriveau, Telefilm Canada
Jeffrey S. Crossman, Trade Commissioner, Canadian Consulate
General, New York
Jim Cyrus and Jesse Cooday, American Indian
Community House
Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca Film Institute
Anne Delaney, Counsellor of Cultural Affairs, and Anna Gibbs
Cultural Affairs Officer, Canadian Embassy, Washington
Elizabeth Duggal, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution
Ben-Alex Dupris
Ali El-Issa, Flying Eagle Woman Fund
Chris Eyre
Gary Farmer
James Gandolfini
Juan José García, Sergio Julián Caballero
and Guillermo Monteforte, Ojo de Agua Comunicación
Scott Garen
John Gianvito, Emerson College, Department of Visual & Media
Arts
Faye Ginsburg, Center for Media, Culture and History, New York
University
Barbara Gordon, Hirshhorn Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden
Danis Goulet, Kerry Swanson and Jason Ryle, ImagineNATIVE Film
& Media Festival
Sarah Green
Carlos Gutiérrez, Cinema Tropical
Suzan Shown Harjo, Morningstar Foundation
Brian Hearn, Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Joanna Hearne, University of Missouri-Columbia
Karen Helmerson and Claude Meyer, New York State Council on
the Arts
Mo Henry
Beth Janson and Jacqueline Rogers, Tribeca All Access Connects
Jim Jarmusch and Sara Driver
Jefferson John
Michael Kabotie
Axel Köhler, Proyecto de Videastas Indígenas de
la Frontera Sur
Mary Janzen, The Newberry Library
Jin Jil Kim, Sandobe Restaurant
Deborah Lamal, Gary Farmer Gallery
Irma Larios, Karina Escamilla, Carolina Ferreras and Aldo
Sánchez, Mexican Cultural Institute of New York
Terry Lawler, New York Women in Film and Television
Ruby Lerner, Creative Capital
Deborah and Larry Littlebird
Cynthia Lopez and Irene Villaseñor, P.O.V.-American Documentary
Stephen Loring and William Fitzhugh, National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution
Victor Masayesva, Jr.
Mike Mashon, Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting
and Sound Division
Molly McCracken
Tazbah McCullah, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Cara Mertes, Documentary Program, Sundance Institute
Elizabeth Meyers and Katherine Washington, ITVS
Daniela Michel and Carlos Garza, Morelia Film Festival
N. Scott Momaday
Andre Morriseau, Secretariat, National Aboriginal Achievement
Awards
Richardson Morse
Alberto Muenala, Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Cine y Comunicación
de Los Pueblos Indígenas (CLACPI)
Priscilla Neri
Sergio Novelo, Centro de Video Indígena Yucatán
Marie Nesthus and Elizabeth McMahon, Donnell Media Center
Sandra Sunrising Osawa
Michael Pahn, NMAI Media Archives
Peggy Parsons and Vicki Toye, National Gallery of Art
Richard Peña, New York Film Festival
Tom Piper
Louise Profeit-LeBlanc and Ian Reid, the Canada Council
Heather Rae
Donald Ranvaud, Buena Onda Films
B. Ruby Rich
Rosemary Richmond, Executive Director, American Indian
Community House
Deborah Rothberg, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution
Nan Rubin, Community Media Resources
Bird Runningwater, Native Initiative, Sundance Institute
Ivan Sanjínés, CEFREC, Bolivia
John Sayles and Maggie Renzi
Peter Scarlet and Nancy Schafer, Tribeca Film Festival
Sean Shodahl, IFP
Jason Silverman
Jill Simpson, Oklahoma Film and Music Commission
Beverly Singer, University of New Mexico
John Sirabella, National Film Board of Canada
Chad Smith, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Shirley Sneve and Penny Costello, Native American Public Telecommunications
Reinaldo Spech, Clemencia Acevedo and Diara N'Daw-Spech,
African Diaspora Film Festival
Robert Stam, Cinema Studies, New York University
Marina Stavenhagen, Women in Film and Television-Mexico
Flo Stone, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital
Lisa Strout and Casey Helmes, New Mexico Film Office
Mariella Stuart and Luis Figueroa, Videoteca Andina and FICAP
Scott Swearingen and Sheila Swearingen
Russ Tallchief, Jacobson House Native Art Center
Diana Taylor, Hemispheric Institute, New York University
Elizabeth Theobald-Richards and Orlando Bagwell, the Ford Foundation
Sandy Thompson, Kierstan Pickens and Filip Celander, Center
for Contemporary Arts
Kim Tomadjoglou, American Film Institute, National Center
for Film and Video Preservation
John Trudell
Guillermo Ugarte, Ramiro Moreyra and Carmen Rosa Quirita Bejar,
Universidad Nacionál de San Antonio Abud del Cusco
David Ugarte Vega Centano, Instituto Nacionál de Cultura,
Peru
Pegi Vail
Tom Vick, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution
Tom Vincent, Circle Cinema
Anthony Vozza
Tania Willard, Redwire Magazine
Pam Wintle, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution
Caroline Yeager, George Eastman House
Deborah Zimmerman, Women Make Movies
Image credit:
Lauren applying makeup inMohawk
Girls - photograph by Georges Khayat; 2006 Native American
Film + Video Festival Selectors Carol Kalafatic, Nora Naranjo-Morse,
Laura Milliken, and Mariano Estrada Aguilar - photograph by Tim
Warner; Still from 5th World; Conversion - courtesy
of Lydell Mitchell; Mariano Estrada Aguilar - photograph by Tim
Warner; Carol Kalafatic - photograph by Tim Warner; Laura Milliken
- photograph by Tim Warner; Nora Naranjo-Morse - photograph by
Tim Warner
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