SEASONAL
Vision Maker Media
A Native American Night Before Christmas
The Twelve Days of Native Christmas
“Reflections on Native American Cultural
Contributions in 2022″
by John W. Haworth in Americans for the Arts Blog, Dec 16, 2022. As 2022 draws to a close, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on the state of Indigenous arts and culture and to celebrate numerous successes for Native American artists and cultural organizations.
WATCHING NOW – Part I
Streaming and/or On Demand
Fiction – Series
Some of these have already aired but may be on demand, or streaming on subscription platforms. On some subscription platforms the first episode may be available for free. Some series have new episodes coming in 2023.
Alaska Daily on ABC On Demand and Hulu (6 episodes)
Dark Winds on AMC On Demand, AMC+, Amazon Prime (6 episodes)
Firebite on multiple platforms including Amazon Prime, YouTube (8 episodes)
Mohawk Girls on Peacock (5 seasons)
Reservation Dogs on FX on Hulu (2 seasons)
Resident Alien on SyFy, multiple platforms including Hulu (2 seasons)
Rutherford Falls on Peacock (2 seasons)
The English on Amazon Prime (6 episodes)
Three Pines on Amazon Prime (2 episodes, more added weekly)
Documentary – Features from PBS | Vision Maker Media
Buffy Sainte Marie on PBS.org until 12/20/22 and on PBS Passport (American Masters)
The Blessing on PBS.org until 12/24/22 (America ReFramed)
Blood Memory on PBS.org until 12/24/22 (America ReFramed)
Nonfiction Podcast
Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s Podcast on Spotify.
Documentary – Series
Craft in AmericaNew Season. Broadcast premier Dec 16. On PBS.org. 2022 season includes ceramic artist Biskakone Greg Johnson in “Home.” The series has been produced since 2007 and among the many and diverse artists included in other episodes are Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit) in “Storytellers” | | Diego Romero (Cochiti Pueblo) and Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) in “Identity” | Jesse Monongya (Navajo) in “Jewelry”
Native Voices from Northwestern Mexico on the website of Terra Nostra Films. This series of ten documentaries visits indigenous peoples, peasant and fishermen communities in northwestern Mexico, discovering the everyday life of its characters and the situations they face in order to keep their land and identity. The Indigenous communities presented include Comca’ac, Yaqui, Pápago (O’odham), Pima, Kumiai (Kumeyaay), Cucapas, and Kiliwas Yoreme.
And for kids
Spirit Rangerson Netflix
Molly of Denali on PBSKids/CBCKids and Prime Video
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Sundance Film Festival 2023
Jan 19-29. Tickets. In-person in Utah. Online in US: Jan 24-29.
Check the website for dates for purchasing passes (on-sale now), for selecting pass-holder tickets (starting Jan 9), and for individual ticket sales.
In the 2023 Sundance Film Festival six Indigenous-directed feature films have their premieres, appearing across 6 different programs. (Three of the six are made by four alumni of Sundance’s Indigenous Program.) 10,981 short films were submitted to the festival. 64 were selected and 10% of the short films selected are Indigenous works.
Gush US. Fox Maxy (Kumeyaay, Payómkawichum). An embodied rumination of both male and female power, healing and haunting, all within an apocalyptic world. A transformation that courses through unknown terror to untamed collective joy. New Frontier
Fancy Dance US. Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga). Writers: Miciana Alise (Tlingit) and Erica Tremblay. Following her sister’s disappearance, a Native American hustler kidnaps her niece from the child’s white grandparents and sets out for the state powwow in hopes of keeping what is left of their family intact. US Dramatic Competition
Twice Colonized Greenland, Canada. Producers: Emile Hertling Péronard (Greenlandic Inuit), Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuit), Stacey Aglok Macdonald (Inuit). Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has long fought for the rights of her people. When her son suddenly dies, Aaju embarks on a journey to reclaim her language and culture after a lifetime of whitewashing and forced assimilation. But can she both change the world and mend her own wounds? World Documentary Competition.
Bad Press US. Co-Director: Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Creek) When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring its free press, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian country. US Documentary Competition.
Bad Behavior Aotearoa/New Zealand. Desray Armstrong (Te-Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngati Porou). Lucy, a former child actor, seeks enlightenment at a retreat led by spiritual leader Elon while she navigates her close yet turbulent relationship with her stunt-performer daughter, Dylan. World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Murder in Big Horn US. Co-Director: Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota, Diné) The deaths of a group of Native American women in rural Montana are the focus as Native families, journalists, and local law enforcement reveal a violent crisis set in motion almost 200 years ago. Premieres.
Dramatic Feature with Indigenous subject
Sorcery Chile. Christopher Murray. A dark decolonial fantasy that is also a coming-of-age tale of a young Indigenous girl who turns to learning sorcery to exact vengeance. This is based on actual events, rooted in the historical conflict in Chile between German settlers and the Huilliche people. World Dramatic Competition.
Short Films In curated shorts programs along with diverse selections
Headdress US. Taietsarón:sere ‘Tai’ Leclaire. When a queer Native is confronted by a non-Native wearing a ceremonial headdress at a music festival, he retreats into his mind to find the perfect response from various versions of his own identity. World Premiere. Available Online.
I Am Home US. Director, screenwriter: Kymon Greyhorse, Producers: JoJo Threehairs, Ernest Hill) As time goes on and the world around us shifts, we adapt and change. Although we might look different, deep down we are still the same. We are made from Mother Earth – mud, wood, love, and patience. Available Online.
Sunflower Siege Engine / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Sky Hopinka) — Movements of resistance are collapsed and woven together, from reflections of one’s own body in the world today, to documentation of Alcatraz, the reclamation of Cahokia, and the repatriation of the ancestors. World Premiere. Available Online.
Hawaiki Aotearoa/New Zealand. Director, screenwriter: Nova Paul, Producer: Tara Riddell At the edge of the playground close to the forest, the children of Okiwi School made a refuge they call Hawaiki. Hawaiki has spiritual and metaphysical connections for Māori as the children create a space for their self-determination. World Premiere. Available Online.
By Water Animation. US. Iyabo Kwayana, Producers: Chris Hastings, Maori Karmel Holmes, Nevo Shinaar. An unlikely hero’s journey into his own memories becomes a vehicle for reconciliation and healing for himself and his sibling. Available Online.
Shirampari: Legacies of the River Documentary.Peru. Director, Screenwriter: Lucía Flórez, Producer: José Miguel Pérez. In one of the most remote places in the Peruvian Amazon, an Asháninka boy must overcome his fears and catch a giant catfish using only a hook to begin his adult journey. Available Online.
From the Sundance Blog
“Ancestry & Art: Jamie John on Indigenous Identity, Multiculturalism and How It Influences Expression”by Ianeta Le’I, Nov 21, 2022
AWARDS AND HONORS
Library of Congress
National Film Registry 2022
Victor Masayesva, Jr.‘s classic 1984 production, Itam Hakim, Hopiit has been selected for the National Film Registry. In this innovative work, Masayesva and his all-Hopi crew filmed one of the last members of the tribe’s storytelling clan, elder Hopi historian Ross Macaya. Macaya recounts his own life story and continues by telling the story of the origin of his clan and the emergence of the Hopi from sacred times into this world. The production shifts, to reflect on the dissonance of invasion and colonization. It continues to portray a world out of sync, but then concludes with a calm envisioning of the prophecy in which the world ends, and begins again.
AMIA/Association of Moving Image Archivists
2022 Alan Stark Award
This award was presented to Manuelito (Manny) Wheeler, director of the Navajo Nation Museum, for his work on a “unique, creative and vital language revitalization project utilizing popular feature films dubbed into the Navajo language.” These include Star Wars and A Fistful of Dollars.
Standing Bear Prize for Courage and
Muhammed Ali Voice of Humanity Award
In late 2022 Wes Studi was the recipient of two new awards. Known for bringing ‘fully developed’ Native American characters to the big screen, in movies ranging from Dances with Wolves to Avatar, Studi became the inaugural recipient of the Chief Standing Bear Prize for Courage, an award created to “honor those Native Americans who exemplify courage in the spirit of Standing Bear.”
Minnesota Women’s Press
2022 Changemaker
Missy Whiteman has been honored as an Indigenous Media Innovator and Changemaker by “the Magazine about Everyday Leaders.”
“This is the way we create now — we come together and use art as ceremony.” – Missy Whiteman
2023 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship
Five Native American and First Nations artists have been selected for the biennial fellowship provided by the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art. Each will receive a $50,000 unrestricted grant and works will be purchased by the museum to add to its collection of contemporary art. An exhibition of the 2023 Fellows’ work titled UNSETTLE/Converge is scheduled to open Nov 11, 2023 and will continue through the end of February 2024 at the Eiteljorg in Indianapolis.
The artists are
- Ruth Cuthand (Plains Cree)
- Natalie Ball (Klamath Tribes [Klamath/Modoc])
- Sean Chandler (Aaniith [Gros Ventre])
- Mercedes Dorame (Gabrielino Tongva)
- Raven Halfmoon (Caddo, Choctaw, Delaware)
TIFF
Canada’s Top Ten – Official Selections of 2022
This year includes Gail Maurice for ROSIE (Top Ten Features) and Alanis Obomsawin for Bill Reid Remembers (Top Ten Short Films). All twenty works will be screened at TIFF Light Box, Jan 24-29. Canada’s Top Ten program features Industry Conversations on Jan 26, including “Addressing Systemic Racism in Canada’s Media Sector: Where Are We Now?” (one panelist is Kerry Swanson, Executive Director, Indigenous Screen Office) and “Spotlight on New Canadian Talent” (TBA)
Time Magazine
Best TV Shows of 2022
Includes Reservation Dogs “Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi’s groundbreaking dramedy about teens growing up on an Oklahoma reservation in the wake of their lifelong friend’s suicide couldn’t have gotten off to a stronger start last year. Even so, the show improved by leaps and bounds in its sophomore season, using viewers’ familiarity with the Rez Dogs, their families, and other local characters to expand its funny, poignant portrait of the community”. – Judy Berman
Entertainment Weekly
Best TV Episodes of 2022
Include
- Reservation Dogs, “Stay Gold Cheesy Boy” (FX on Hulu) Written by Bobby Wilson, directed by Blackhorse Lowe.This season 2 standout puts the spotlight on Cheese (Lane Factor), who’s sent to a youth-detention home after his uncle Charlie (Nathan Apodaca) is arrested for growing weed. What follows is simultaneously sweet, sad, and deeply funny.
- Our Flag Means Death, “The Best Revenge is Dressing Well” (HBO Max) Written by John Mahoney, directed by Fernando Fría. A fashionable fete gets gatecrashed by the dreaded pirates Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) and the Gentleman Pirate, Steve Bonnet (Rhys Darby).
- Rutherford Falls, “Adirondack S3” (Peacock) Written by Matt Murray and Jana Schmieding, directed by Eric Kissack. When Terry Thomas (Michael Greyeyes) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding) are invited to be “cultural consultants on Adirondack –a prestige cable Western featuring rugged cowboys and solemn Native Americans–Terry soon realizes they are not interested in any of their suggestions and decides to give the show all the wrong guidance.
IDA/International Documentary Association
Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series – Winner
Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s Canada. On Spotify. Host: Connie Walker. Sound Engineers: Emma Munger, Catherine Anderson. Producers: Ellen Frankman, Max Green, Anya Schultz, Chantelle Bellrichard, Betty Ann Adam. A discussion with Connie Walker on MSNBC Online is available.
DocNYC
Meet the Press / MyJustice Award
Long Line of Ladies Documentary short. US. Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tomé. The story of a girl and her community as they prepare for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming of age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
2022 Earthshot Prize
Winner, Revive Our Oceans Award
Queensland Indigenous Women’s Ranger Network in Australia. The Rangers work with traditional knowledge as well as new technology to protect the oceans and coastlines of where they live. Projects include protection of sea turtles with a rescue and rehabilitation program, restoring sea grass which can clean ocean waters–basically extending Indigenous knowledge for environmental protection.
