EVENTS >
NATIVE FORUM
The Native Forum is one activity of Sundance Institute's Native American and Indigenous Initiative. At the Film Festival, the Forum hosts panels, events, and workshops designed to foster community and the exchange of ideas among Native American and Indigenous filmmakers.
NATIVE INIATIVE
Sundance Institute's commitment to supporting Native Cinema is woven throughout the 26-year history of the Institute. Rooted in the recognition of a creative and artistic power inherent in Indigenous artists, the Native Initiative supports the development of Native artists and the exhibition of their work. The Native Initiative scouts across the US and world-wide for artists to participate in the Institute's core programs including the Feature Film Program which operates the Screenwriters and Directors Labs; The Theater Program which operates Theater Labs; The Film Music Program with operates Composers Labs; The Sundance Documentary Program which houses the Sundance Documentary Fund and Documentary Film Labs; The Sundance Film Festival which programs Indigenous films in all of its major categories; And the Sundance Independent Producers Conference which brings together filmmakers with the leaders of the independent film industry to explore the business of independent filmmaking.
Alumni of the Institute's Native Initiative include Sherman Alexie, Shirley Cheechoo, Chris Eyre, Greg Sarris, Randy Redroad, Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo. The Initiative's current work is focused on supporting emerging talent such as, Zoe Hopkins, Blackhorse Lowe, Aurora Guerrero, Nanobah Becker, Andrew MacLean and Julianna Brannum. Through support from the Ford Foundation, the Native Initiative also operates the Sundance Institute -Ford Foundation Film Fellowship which supports emerging next generation Native American filmmakers whose work is defining the next wave of Native Cinema.
FESTIVAL EVENTS
Native Forum Brunch
Location TBD
Monday, January 21st/2008
10am-noon
Native Forum Reception
Legacy Lodge - Legends Bar (third floor)
1310 Lowell Ave.
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
8:30pm - 12:00am
(Ticket required, rsvp to Owl_Johnson@sundance.org, or pick up ticket at the brunch)
Panel Discussion:
Filmmakers Lodge
550 Main St
Thursday, January 24th
2:00
Filmmaker Lodge
How things have changed! With more Native films are being produced each year, how is it happening and who’s behind it? What does it take for a Native film to get off the ground (and does it help if your producer was a fashion model)?
Join Heather Rae (producer, Frozen River), Chad Burris (producer, Four Sheets to the Wind), members of the filmmaking collective behind The Wind and Water.
Native Forum
Join the Sundance Film Festival's Native Forum as festivalgoers screen their favorite You-Tube pieces in an all out battle for prizes.
Open Air Cinema
New Frontier on Main
333 Main St.
Wednesday, January 23rd/2008
6pm-8pm
FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL
Short Films
US Dramatic Short
SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) (Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean)–An Iñuit hunter takes his dog team out on the frozen Arctic Ocean in search of seals, and inadvertently becomes a witness to a murder.
International Experimental Short
NIKAMOWIN (SONG)/ Canada (Director: Kevin Lee Burton)–Deconstructing and reconstructing Cree narrative, this film experiments with language to create a linguistic soundscape.
Feature Films
US Dramatic Competition
FROZEN RIVER (Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt) —Set in rural upstate New York on a Mohawk Reservation bordering Canada, a mother left to care for her teenage s on finds herself lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. Cast: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone, Jr. World Premiere
World Dramatic Competition
THE WIND AND THE WATER (BURWA DII EBO)/ Panama (Directors and Screenwriters: A collective collaboration)– A young indigenous teen seeking his fortune in Panama City struggles to acclimate to chaotic urban life, where he becomes enamored with a girl from a wealthy, assimilated family. Later, he encounters his crush once again--but this time the landscape and tradition define their interaction. World Premiere
2008 SUNDANCE INSTITUTE - FORD FOUNDATION FILM FELLOWS
SHORT FILMMAKERS
Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca/Red Lake Chippewa) - Migizi was born and raised in the icy climes of Minnesota. His entrée into the entertainment industry began after attending the Institute of American Indian Arts' Summer Film and Television Workshop in Santa Fe, sponsored by Disney-ABC. He was selected as a 2005 Disney-ABC Writing Fellow, after which he was staffed on ALIAS while writing specs for Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, and other primetime television shows. Previously, Pensoneau served as a production assistant on Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action. Pensoneau is a graduate of the Native American Preparatory School and studied film at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Currently, Pensoneau is serves as an Associate Producer with Wumbic Productions, in Santa Fe, NM.
Sonya Oberly (Nez Perce) is currently working toward an M.F.A. degree in production at the University of Southern California. She has written, directed and produced several short films including SHAWLDANCER and REQUIEM. She is an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe, as well as a descendant of the Osage and Comanche nations. She grew up on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington State. Oberly completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Nevada in Psychology.
EXPIRIMENTAL FILMMAKER
Sherwin Bitsui, Diné (Navajo) poet, is the author of Shapeshift, his first poetry collection, and a recipient of the 2006 Whiting Writers’ Award. Other honors include an Individual Poet Grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, a Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship, and a University of Arizona Academy of American Poets Award. His work has appeared in several literary journals including American Poets, The Iowa Review, Frank, Red Ink, and others. He also collaborated with filmmaker Gabriel Lopez-Shaw on the experimental film Chrysalis that debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Sherwin Bitsui’s work draws from his experiences of living between languages, place and culture. This middle ground allows him to navigate the ground that quakes, glistens and transforms at the same time.
EMERGING PRODUCER
Beau Bassett comes from a family of fishermen from Kahalu`u on the Windward side of O`ahu, Hawai`i. He has degrees in the fields of Hydrology, Hawaiian Studies, and Law. He is also a licensed Hawai`i attorney, and a community organizer. He serves as a translator of Hawaiian language and is committed to its revitalization especially through the use of Cinema. August 2007 will mark the completion of his first independent film project, a two-minute piece on Hawaiian humor called "Tewetewe", produced for PBS via Pacific Islanders in Communication.