FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AIFI ANNOUNCES FILM COMPETITION NOMINATIONS FOR THE 46TH ANNUAL AMERICAN INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL®
The Granddaddy of All Native Film Festivals Virtual Presentation Includes 126 Films with 30 Competing in Six (Film) Categories – November 5-13, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO (November 1, 2021) — This morning, the American Indian Film Institute (AIFI) announced thirty independent films in competition for coveted award at the virtual 46th Annual American Indian Film Festival (AIFF46), the world’s oldest premier festival dedicated to American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations (AI/ AN/FN) storytelling. AIFF46 opens on the digital platform Eventive, Friday, Nov. 5 at 4:00 p.m. (PST) and runs to Saturday, Nov. 13 at 10:45 p.m. (PST). AIFF46 award winners will be announced via the virtual American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show, Friday, Nov. 5 at 4:00 p.m. (PST). Tickets are on sale now, prices range from $7.00 to $12.00 and be purchased at https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46. Award show tickets are free (donations welcome) and can be pre-ordered now at https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2ce05. The complete festival catalog is online at https://aiff46.eventive.org/welcome, the AIFF46 trailer is at http://vimeo.com/624890666. For more information about AIFI, please visit www.aifisf.com.
Founded in 1975 by friends Michael Smith (1951-2018) and Will Sampson ((1933-1987) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), the festival which makes its home in San Francisco has screened over 3500 films since its inception. This year it adds 126 additional films to that number with thirty competing in the categories of feature, documentary feature, documentary short, live short animated short, and music video.
Past feature film award winners for Best Film include Wind River (2017), Barking Water (2009), Smoke Signals (1998), and Powwow Highway (1989).
AIFI remains committed to elevating the cinematic voices of AI/AN/FN filmmakers and the perseverance of cinema while maintaining the safety of its patrons. AIFI has — for a second year — adapted to the challenging circumstances of these extraordinary times with the virtual presentation of this year’s festival. While we miss the excitement of presenting our festival in the historic theaters of San Francisco, the fact of the matter is that we are still amid a pandemic. The virtual presentation of the 46th season of our festival is the responsible thing to do — for our elders and for our unvaccinated children, said Mytia Zavala, AIFI Executive Director.
Historically AIFF has always enjoyed a diverse audience filled with members of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and age groups, but last year’s virtual festival saw a participation and engagement from people in states, nations, and demographics it’s never had opportunity to enjoy. Barriers to festival participation are not as prevalent in the virtual world as they are “in real life,” and that breeds bigger participation from people around the globe. Last year, our virtual festival saw a worldwide audience that gave our filmmakers a boost of encouragement like no other and festival attendees thoroughly embraced the freedom to chose the time of day/evening to see a particular film or program block. They were not tied to a set schedule, or theater and were able to “attend” the in the warmth and comfort of their own homes, , Zavala further stated.
Nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor will be announced under a separate press release, which will include a list of festival programs and titles, i.e., Dramatic Docs Part I: Indigenous Dads, Saving Our Sisters Alaska: Silent No More; Family Friendly: Waynaboozhoo and Bugwudjiini from The Mishomis Book, and more.
COMPETITION FILM NOMINATIONS FOR AIFF46
Category: Full-length Feature
Brother, I Cry Directed by Jessie Anthony (Edge of the Knife) Winner of best supporting actress (violet cameron)
Cast: Justin Rain (Fear the Walking Dead, Twilight), Violet Cameron (Batwoman, Arrow), ), Lauren Hill (He’ge’ah: Little Brother), Eric Schweig (Blackstone, The Missing Jay Cardinal Villeneuve (Altered Carbon, The Revenant), Lauren Anthony (Red Dead Redemption II, We’re the Millers), Jessie Anthony (Blackstone)
Brother, I Cry is a dramatic look into the life of Jon –- a young First Nations man (Justin Rain) trapped in a world of addiction and cultural displacement. While living a high-risk lifestyle as a wanted car thief and drug addict, Jon finds himself in trouble with his “friend” Martin, a well-known drug dealer, after his sister Ava turns both Jon and Martin into the police.
Awards & Nominations: Brother, I Cry has five wins and nine nominations: Leos (2): Best Direction in Motion Picture and Best Screenwriting in a Motion Picture; Vancouver Film Critics Circle: Best Actor in a Canadian Film; Vancouver International Women in Film Festival: Best Screenplay; and Vancouver International Film Festival: BC Emerging Filmmaker Award.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VtuNlPdzgI&feature=youtu.be
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdee
The Corruption of Divine Providence Directed by Jeremy Torrie (Juliana & the Medicine Fish, Path of Souls)
Cast: Tantoo Cardinal (Wind River, Dances with Wolves), Eugene Brave Rock (Wonder Woman, The Revenant), John B. Lowe (The Butterfly Effect), Paul Amos (Assassin’s Creed), Elyse Levesque (Ready or Not), Ali Skovbye (Breakthrough), David La Haye (Battle of the Brave, Timeline)
When a 16-year-old Stigmatic Metis girl is kidnapped from a small French Catholic town of different religious factions vie for control of her upon her eventual return. Set in the harvest months of the western Canadian prairies The Corruption of Divine Providence explores what happens when a messenger from God tests the character of humanity. A dual-language feature film.
Awards: Garden State Film Festival: Best International Narrative Feature, Nice International Best Edit for a Feature Film; Whistler Film Festival: Whistler Film Festival Stars to Watch presented by UBCP/ACTRA.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/471462823
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdf8
Portraits from a Fire Directed by Trevor Mack (Clouds of Autumn) Winner of Best director
Cast: Nathanial Arcand (Cold Pursuit, Bull), Asivak Koostachin (Montana Story, Red Snow), and introducing William Lulua
Portraits from a Fire is a coming-of-age film following an eccentric misfit named Tyler (William Lulua) who spends his days recording and vlogging his community, until he meets Aaron (Asivak Koostachin); an older, influential teenager who pushes him to show his latest work about his family to the community, leading to a reckoning between the past and the future, life and death, and father, mother, and son. Portraits from a Fire is about gaining the strength to face the fear of the unknown and weaving together the sacred bond of family in the face of Truth.
Awards: Edmonton International Film Festival: Jury Award for Best Canadian Feature (Dramatic) Edmonton Intl. Film Fest; Vancouver International Film Festival: Best Emerging BC Director, Trevor Mack; Nominations: Best Supporting Actor, Nathaniel Arcand, Asivak Koostashin, Sammy Stump, Isaiah Fogarty; Best Leading Actor, William Lulu.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzGza4A2Nt4&feature=youtu.be
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/615a8cd52f2c2000ae40963d
Run Woman Run Directed by Zoe Hopkins(Kayak to Klemtu) - WINNER OF BEST FILM, winner of best actress (dakota ray hebert), winner for best supporting actor (asivak koostachin)
Cast: Dakota Ray Hebert (Inner City, Local Girls), Asivak Koostachin (Portraits from a Fire, Molly of Denali), Jayli Wolf (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Last Man), Lorne Cardinal (Corner Gas, FBI: Most Wanted), Braeden Clarke (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Impulse), Gary Farmer (Powwow Highway, Dead Man), Cody Lightning (Four Sheets to the Wind), Derek Miller (Guilt Free Zone, Hard Rock Medical), Alex Rice (Twilight Saga, The New World)
Run Woman Run is a rite of passage dramedy with an element of magic. Beck (Dakota Ray Hebert) is a single mom who lives in Six Nations, Canada where her dream of becoming a Mohawk language teacher have long been forgotten since the death of her mother. Beck has been languishing in unresolved grief for years at her dad’s (Lorne Cardinal) tire shop; she hates her job and is only going through the motions. She is uninspired, eats terribly, lacks the energy to walk to the end of her driveway to check the mail so she drives. Life is defeating her, even more after she collapses, and it is revealed she has Type 2 diabetes. Beckknows something must change, but she doesn’t know where to start.
Then, Tom Longboat (Asivak Koostachin) —a real life sports legend of the early 1900’s — appears in Beck’s conscience as her inner voice, and ultimately her trainer. Longboat teaches Beck to become an honor runner, where she dedicates each of her runs to an aspect of creation or a special person in her life. It is through the honor runs that Beck turns her life around, becoming who she was before grief took over every aspect of her life. In her journey to escape her grief and pain, Beck meets Jon (Braeden Clark), a guy who grew up outside of Six Nations and has recently returned home to reconnect with their community. Longboat helps Beck embrace the possibility of a new love, a renewed relationship with her son and family, and a new shot at her dream of speaking her language.
Awards: WorldFest Houston Remi Award: Best Actor, Asivak Koostachin
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B--QVdnKzEQ&feature=youtu.be
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdeb
In 2019, Asivak Koostachin received, a Best Actor nomination from the 43rd American Indian Film Festival for his role in “Red Snow.”
1 In 2018, Zoe Hopkin won Best Director for Kayak to Klemtu at the 42nd American Indian Film Festival. 2
Sooyii (Creatures) Directed by Krisztian Kery (The Magnificent Seven, Batman v. Superman, American Sniper) Winner of best actor (stormee kipp)
Cast/Crew: Stormee Kipp, Daniel Edmo (Cowboys & Aliens, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Pat “Judge” Hall (John Carter), Cheyenne Gordon, Jesse Desrosier, Emmette Dusty Bull, Doug Fitzgerald (What’s the 48), Michael Momberg, Camden Croff
Sooyii is the Blackfoot word for “creature” or “mysterious being,” and is the story of the one of the first pandemics that swept North America and decimated American Indian tribes in the 18th century. Sooyii follows the story of a young Pikuni Man (Stormee Kipp) as he struggles to survive in the face of disease, the loss of his family, old 3 enemies, new discoveries and a rapidly changing world.
Sooyii features an entirely Blackfeet cast and filmed in original Blackfeet language (with subtitles) making it one of the few movies to authentically present American Indian history.
Sooyii was developed in cooperation with the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and supported by several Blackfeet producers and crew members. The story is narrated through the eyes of a young Blackfeet warrior who struggles with the disease, brought by Europeans, as it ravages the villages where he grew up, forever changing his world. Like the current pandemic, the outbreak served as both a unifying and polarizing force. The protagonist struggles with tribal identity and embraces those he perceives as enemies, in a battle with a bigger, invisible antagonist.
Awards: Lonely Wolf: London Int’l Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement in Production Design (Sierra Momberg). Nominations: Sooyii has 17 nomination
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjuP8C-HwnM&feature=youtu.be
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdec
The Pikuni, also known as Piikani, Piikuni, Peigan, are one of the three nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy; the other two are the Siksika and 3 Kainai.
Indian Road Trip Directed by A.W. Hopkins (Coyote’s Crazy Smart Science Show, Shin-chi’s Canoe)
Cast: Ajuawak Kapashesit (Indian Horse, Tall Boyz), Paul C. Grenier (The Killing, Blackstone), Evan Adams (1491: The Untold Story of America Before Columbus, Smoke Signals), Nathaniel Arcand (FBI: Most Wanted, Heartland), Rob McEachern (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supernatural), Miika Bryce Whiskeyjack (Blackstone, Monkey Beach), Jordyn White (Blackstone), Ross Munro (It’s About Love, A Legacy of Whining), Dale Hunter (Motherland: Fort Salem, Coffee at a Laundromat)
When unruly best friends and cousins, Hank Crow-Eyes (Ajuawak Kapshesit) and Cody Kidd (Paul C. Grenier), get caught scamming white tourists who just want to go to the local powwow, they’re forced to put their long-planned road trip to the famous nude Wreck Beach. The scam artists’ find their punishment is to drive the crankiest elder on the reserve — Hetta Yellow-Fry (Dale Hunter) — to see and make peace with her estranged and dying sister two realize a mysterious supernatural force is trying to stop them from delivering Hetta to her final destination.
Awards: Leo Awards (4): Best Director, Best Script, Best Composer, Best Sound Design; Whistler Film Festival: Best British Columbia Director and Honorable Mention: Best Screenplay in a Borsos Competition; Reel to Reel Film Festival:
Official Selection Trailer: https://vimeo.com/466766022
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdf7
Category: Documentary Feature
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy Directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy is an intimate portrait of survival, love and the collective work of healing in her homeland — the Kainai First Nation in Southern Alberta — a Blackfoot community facing the impacts of substance use and the drug-poisoning epidemic. “Kímmapiiyipitssini” is this Blackfoot teaching that we give empathy and kindness as a means for survival explains Elle-Máijá. In keeping with this teaching, Elle-Máijá’’s film advocates for the controversial practice of “harm reduction” as a more humane and effective way to treat those who live with substance use disorder. In Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empath, Elle-Máijá’s work is contextualized within the historical and contemporary impacts of settler colonialism and she draws a connecting line between the effects of colonial violence on Blackfoot land, her people, and the ongoing substance-use crisis. Elle–Máijá shares her personal process of narrative sovereignty as a First Nation’s filmmaker — a process rooted in conversation, deep listening, accountability and is also respectful of community protocols.
Awards: Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy has received 15 nominations and 20 wins that include, but are not limited to, the DOXA Documentary Film Festival: The Colin Low Award for Canadian Documentary, Best Document Feature; Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival: Canadian Spectrum Audience Award, Emerging Canadian Filmmaker and Rogers Audience Choice Award; Canadian Screen Awards: Original Screenplay, Achievement in Direction; Gimli Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmbaZdnpZkU&feature=youtu.be
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdfa
Savage Land Directed by Campbell Dalglish & Dr. Henrietta Mann Executive Producer, Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals) WINNER OF BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
When Custer County Police kill 18-year-old Cheyenne Arapaho Mah-hi-vist Red Bird Goodblanket in his family's kitchen, descendants of the Sand Creek and Washita Massacres take us back 150 years to reveal how historical trauma and the horrors of the past are still present in America today.
Film Listing + Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdea
Spirit to Soar Directed by Tanya Talaga, Michelle DeRosier
Spirit to Soar —Mashkawi-Manidoo Bimaadiziwin —
is a one-hour documentary inspired by Tanya Talaga’s book, Seven Fallen Feathers. Spirit to Soar looks at how the book came to Talaga, when she travelled to Thunder Bay as a newspaper journalist on a federal election assignment. While there, Talaga discovered the story of seven First Nations high school students who had either died or gone missing from 2000 to 2011. Spirit to Soar examines the hard truths around the deaths of the seven students and the truths of the northern city of Thunder Bay and the country of Canada. Racism kills, especially when it presents itself as indifference. At its heart, this film is a story of the strength and bravery the First Nations youth must muster up every single day they walk out the door to go to high school in a country that has tried to erase them. We are still here and thriving.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdfb
Michelle DeRosier won Best Film for “Angelique’s Isle” at the 43rd Annual American Indian Film Festival.
Warrior Spirit Directed by Landon Dyksterhouse
Nicco Montaño is a Navajo mixed martial artist who made history when she became the first female American Indian UFC champion. Warrior Spirit follows Montano on her quest to defend her UFC title while also documenting the injustices of the UFC and how the multibillion-dollar company exploits their fighters for millions of dollars. Dyksterhouse lifts the veil and exposes the disturbing dangers of extreme weight cutting.
Awards: Best Documentary Feature, ImagineNATIVE, Social Impact Award and Audience Choice Award, Albuquerque Film and Music Experience Festival, Best Documentary Feature, Las Vegas Premiere
Film Festival Nominations: Best Documentary Feature, American Indian film festival.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jHi7QbiJu8&feature=youtu.be
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdfd
Category: Documentary Short
Dear Friend Directed by Trevor Solway
Dear Friend, is a visual letter penned by Indigenous youth and made out to a “cruel friend.” The young authors of this letter pour their heart into expressing the torment, confusion and empathy they feel towards their mental health.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdff
Guardians of the River Directed by Shane Anderson, Swiftwater Film
In this film by American Rivers and Swiftwater Films, Indigenous leaders share why removing four dams to restore a healthy Klamath River is critical for clean water, food sovereignty and justice. Guardians of the River features Frankie Joe Myers, Vice Chair of the Yurok Tribe, Sammy Gensaw, director of Ancestral Guard, Barry McCovey, fisheries biologist with the Yurok Tribe, and members of the Ancestral Guard and Klamath Justice Coalition. Four dams – Copco 1, Copco 2, Iron Gate and JC Boyle — block habitat and have devastated salmon populations. The reservoirs behind the dams encourage growth of algae that is toxic to people, pets and wildlife. Removing the dams will restore salmon access to more than 400 miles of habitat, improve water quality and strengthen local communities that rely on salmon for their food, economy and culture. Following an agreement signed in November by the Yurok and Karuk tribes, the states of Oregon and California, Berkshire Hathaway and the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, dam removal on the Klamath River is scheduled to begin in 2023. “Without these salmon, our way of life is impossible,” Sammy Gensaw, Yurok tribal member and director, Ancestral Guard, says in the film. “We’ve dedicated years of our lives — our young lives — to give opportunity for the next generation to live on a healthy, dam-free river. Over hundreds of generations our families have developed a resiliency that can’t be beat, that can’t be destroyed. And no matter what happens, no matter what you take away, we’re always going to provide for our people, we’re always going to take care of our children, we’re always going to find a way to move forward.” “This river is our umbilical cord. What feeds us, what nurtures us. This reciprocal relationship that we have with it. I would do anything for this river, just like I would my own children. I would die for it; I would do anything before I would give up on it.” — Annelia Hillman, Yurok tribal member, Klamath Justice Coalition
Film Listing: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdf9
Indigenous Dads Directed by Peter Brass
Four Indigenous dads candidly discuss their fears and hopes in raising their kids in today's world.
Film Listing: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2ce00
Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again Directed by Courtney Montour Winner for best documentary short
Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again shares the powerful story of Mary Two-Axe Earley, who fought for more than two decades to challenge the discrimination against Indigenous women embedded in Canada’s Indian Act and became a key figure in Canada’s women’s rights movement. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/536334105
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2ce07/615224a2d3334600574aadf7
Nalujuk Night Directed by Jennie Williams
Run as fast as you can, the Nalujuit are here! Nalujuk Night is an up-close look at an exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, Labrador Inuit tradition. Every January 6th from the dark of the Nunatsiavut night, the Nalujuit appear on the sea ice. They walk on two legs, yet their faces are animalistic, skeletal, and otherworldly. Snow crunches underfoot as they approach their destination: the Inuit community of Nain. Despite the frights, Nalujuk Night is a beloved annual event, showing that sometimes it can be fun to be scared. Rarely witnessed outside of Nunatsiavut, this annual event is an exciting chance for Inuit, young and old, to prove their courage and come together as a community to celebrate culture and tradition. Inuk filmmaker, Jennie Williams brings audiences directly into the action in this bone-chilling black and white short documentary about a winter night like no other.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2ce07/615224a2d3334600574aadf9
Category: Live Short
In Our Own Hands Directed by Jennifer Varenchik
A group of women plan rescue efforts when one of their own goes missing from their reservation.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/BhsBE_WPKZc
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdf0
kwêskosîw (she whistles) Directed by Thirza Cuthand Winner for best live short
En route to her girlfriend's place on a night when the Northern Lights are out, a 2-Spirit nêhiyaw woman is assaulted by her cab driver. Amidst the struggle, she discovers a deadly supernatural power that may help her solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/547322865
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cdf2
Meet the Sky Directed by K.J. Edwards
Two sisters travel to a reservation to learn about Kanien'kehá:ka culture. Due to the progression of her illness, Andie intends to live out her days there. Mel, on the other hand, rejects both the truth about Andie’s diagnosis and the importance of bringing ceremony into their lives.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/507140191
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2cdf2/615224a2d3334600574aadf0
Shoot Your Shot Directed by Madison Thomas, Meegwun Fairbrother
Shoot Your Shot is a sci-fi/action comedy that follows Tover, a teenager on the frontlines battling a future alien invasion. However, it’s not the aliens that terrify Tover. It’s the idea of asking out his crush, fellow soldier Savoy!
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2ce02/615224a2d3334600574aae18
Spirits Directed by Kyle Bell
As time gets closer for Bon to depart for school and go play college basketball, the thought of leaving everything behind troubles him. As a young Muscogee Creek Indian, Bon has been raised by his grandmother, who has instilled in him a deep appreciation for his culture. When he has one last conversation with his grandmother before he leaves, Bon looks to the past for strength in the uncertainty of what lies ahead.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/589673131
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2cdf2/615224a2d3334600574aae35
Category: Animated Short
Ajjigiingiluktaaqtaugut (We Are All Different) Directed by Lindsay McIntyre
What does it mean to be Inuk? Historically depicted as welcoming and friendly people in remote snowy landscapes Inuit live across the globe. Using antique wind-up bears, layered animation, and analogue techniques, McIntyre constructs an animated documentary in an exploration of identity and belonging by Inuit, both in and outside of community. Herself of mixed Inuk and settler heritage, McIntyre depicts the value of community and asks what it means to belong in a changing world when our ideas of Inuk-ness are so tied to representations.
Awards: Vancouver International Film Festival 2021: Honorable Mention: Best BC Short Film
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cde7
Behind the Mask Directed by Christian Ryan
A young, Indigenous man, struggling to understand the mandate to wear a mask during Covid, begins to see the face of compassion behind it.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2cde7/615224a2d3334600574aad80
How to Lose Everything: A Field Guide Directed by Christa Couture, Bekky O'Neil winner for best animated short
Through the loss of her leg, her children, her marriage, and her voice, Christa Couture presses into the pages of this field guide stories and notes on how to lose everything. How to Lose Everything is based on an excerpt from Couture’s book of the same title: How to Lose Everything a collection of naked stories of enduring love, profound presence and a deep witnessing of the most precious moments of life. Couture writes through layers of grief and loss to show us what it means to love, to build a continuous life after losing everything and to be alive, anyway.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cde7/615224a2d3334600574aadc7
Powwow Highway: The Lego Movie Directed by Jonathan Thunder
Powwow Highway: The Lego Movie was created at Nay Ah Shing School in Mille Lacs, MN in 2019, on the30th anniversary of the original film. This stop motion animation was part of Project Mezinichigejig, a 2019 Mille Lacs Band Summer Youth/Adult Art program designed with the goal to build artistic skill sets, foster community creativity, cross-cultural sharing, and exposure to fine arts and artists.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2cde7/615224a2d3334600574aadd8
The Train Station Directed by Lyana Patrick
In this beautifully animated documentary short, filmmaker Lyana Patrick narrates her family's powerful story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential School. Awards: Vancouver International Film Festival, Official Telefilm Selection: Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market Not Short on Talent Program, Hot Docs 2021, Lundenburg Doc Festival, American Film Institute Docs 2021, Los Angeles Animation Film Festival 2020, Wairoa Maori Film Festival, POW Film Festival 2020, Santa Fe Independent Film Festival 2021, ImagineNATIVE 2021, AFI Fest 2021, NYC Doc 2021, 37th International Short Film Festival – Berlin 2021, Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival 2021
Film Listing + Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/ 61521484f8b0760071c2cde7/615224a2d3334600574aae19
Category: Music Video
Dream Directed by Adam Conte winner for best music video
Doc Native and Spencer Battiest of the Seminole Tribe of Florida collaborate on a single for the first time in over a decade. Dream is a fight song, an anthem, and call to action on overcoming struggles in life. The Dream video showcases Native people striving for their dreams in the world of athletics, media, politics, and entertainment.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cde6
Fry Bread Directed by Michael S Etcitty, Jr.
Fry Bread is a music video released from Connor Chee's album of original piano music titled "Scenes from Dinétah." The video features a Diné woman (Doris Etcitty) demonstrating the process of making traditional Navajo Fry Bread, while Connor Chee performs his piece on the piano.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cde6/615224a2d3334600574aae3f
Politician Man Directed by Justin Stephenson
Politician Man, the debut single from Adrian Sutherland, is a protest song for Canada. The seeds were planted in July 2019 when his Cree community of Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency over contaminated water. At the same moment, insensitive comments from a politician in Ottawa sparked massive public outcry, a spontaneous response from Sutherland himself, and national media coverage.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cde6/615224a2d3334600574aadac
Solidarity Directed by Janet Rogers and Shane Powless
Solidarity was written by Six Nations Bluesman Joshua Arden Miller during land reclaimation events on his territory and while witnessing other land and water protection events across the nation known as Canada.
Film Listing & Tickets: https://watch.eventive.org/aiff46/play/61521484f8b0760071c2cde6/615224a2d3334600574aadc9
ABOUT THE AMERICAN INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL The American Indian Film Festival is the first and longest-running festival if its kind showcasing independent films dedicated to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and First Nations culture and stories. For the past forty-six years, the film institute has supported and celebrated generations of Native filmmakers, performing artists, and audiences while simultaneously drawing into its circle of support: celebrities, industry professionals, student filmmakers, seasoned festival goers, and newcomers. The institute and festival have become a trusted guide for those seeking to gain a multi-dimensional and realistic understanding of the heterogeneity that exists in Indian Country.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN INDIAN FILM INSTITUTE The mission of the American Indian Film Institute is to foster understanding and appreciation of the culture, traditions, and issues facing contemporary American Indians. AIFI supports filmmakers whose work expresses the native voices, viewpoints, and stories historically excluded from mainstream media; develops stories traditionally excluded from mainstream media; creates audiences for their work; and advocates for authentic representation of American Indians in the media.
AIFF46 SPONSORS Sponsors for AIFF46 include Native Arts & Culture Foundation • KQED San Francisco TV-9 • San Francisco Arts Commission (Program Partnerships) Lucasfilm • ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) • Skywalker Sound • Motorama At the Downs Santa Fe • (Community Support) American Indian Child Resource Center • Santa Fe Indigenous Center • KTVU Channel 2 San Francisco • Bay Area Native Circle
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46th Annual American Indian Film Festival • November 5-13, 2021 www.aifisf.com
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