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September 2008
 Actress
and producer Georgina Lightning (Cree)
has recently directed her first feature film, Older than America,
a story with supernatural elements that is concerned with the
impact of the boarding school experience on generations in a Native
community. In 2007 she was named by Filmmaker Magazine
in its annual survey as one of the year's "New Faces of Independent
Film." She was selected to participate by the Independent
Feature Project in its 2007 Rough Cut Lab in New York City, a
national IFP program that connects new directors with mentors.
In 2008 Older than America had its world premiere at South
by Southwest and was in the competition in numerous other festivals,
three times winning the award for Best Feature. Lightning is founder
and producer of Tribal Alliance Productions, an independent film
company dedicated to the production of projects that highlight
the talents of indigenous communities. Her acting credits include
Sawtooth, Dreamkeeper, and guest appearances on
The West Wing and Walker, Texas Ranger. Talent runs
in the family: her children Cody, Crystle, and William all have
careers in film and television.
"What boarding schools did was take away our culture, our
ceremonies, our religion. How do we find our way home after something
like that? It is important for my characters to confront these
issues and for them to see our traditional ways."
Screened by NMAI
Image credit:
Georgina Lightning
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