 American Indian Film InstituteTribal Touring Program Taking Native Films and Filmmakers Native communities, rural and urban alike, are often characterized by neglect, deterioration and social problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, violence and high unemployment. Teen-age peer-pressure, linguistic and cultural isolation, a reluctance to access services and resources, and environmental stressors place Native youth at high risk for delinquency and gang activity. Especially for high school drop-outs and tribal youth who have developed substance abuse problems - the idea of entering the state's workforce seems remote. American Indians making the transition to adulthood need exposure to positive role models, creative work options, vocational and educational training that will place them on an upward career trajectory, to first imagine-then pursue-meaningful work that will effect positive change in their lives and the life of their community. AIFI's Media Initiative, the Tribal Touring Program, is designed to appeal to aloof but technologically curious youth who are unlikely candidates for traditional employment development programs, and is a response to these needs. Program Description The Tribal Touring Program is a grassroots opportunity for Indian kids to learn hands-on about filmmaking. It's the most successful program I've personally seen in action. The Tribal Touring Program, co-presented by Tribal Host-Partners, brings to reservations and other rural communities a week-long digital training workshops for Indian youth (ages 14-22), a touring film festival of highlights from the American Indian Film Festival, and peer dialogue among rural and urban Indian youth at the American Indian Film Festival, where a statewide social and professional network is seeded. Part One: Digital Training Workshops The digital training workshops use technology - the universal language of teens - to attract youth to a sequential program that uses media as a tool for personal and community storytelling, and introduce them to work options in the media industry. In the 10-day training, youth learn basic technical skills and gain hands-on experience by producing a short, broadcast-quality video. Class size is 15-25 students, ages 14-22, and are drawn from the Host Tribe and nearby communities. Workshops, which are divided into small production groups, are led by media professionals experienced in digital video production and supplemented by guest artists. All of the groups produce one short video, approximately 5-10 minutes in length. Each site's workshop program has its own production "theme," identified by the Host-Partner and community. Workshop videos are developed and produced to pursue the theme, which may range from a pressing public affairs issue such as the near-epidemic incidence of diabetes among Indian youth, to creation stories, to the oral histories of elders, to personal storytelling by the next generation. Through the workshops, Native youth learn not only basic technical skills but also work attributes needed to succeed in media-related jobs: punctuality, teamwork, creativity and problem-solving. Invariably they benefit from seeing a project all the way through and sharing it with the community, and their personal contact with positive Native role models. Part Two: Community Film Festival The program's touring community film festival is a traveling version of the American Indian Film Festival. The touring festival provides a laboratory of how Indian filmmakers are using media as a storytelling device and examples of how Native Americans are beginning to penetrate the industry. But more important, the weekend event builds community by drawing intergenerational audiences to Indian-made and Indian-themed films, reinforcing the connection among all of the continent's First Peoples, regardless of where and how they live today. Each stop of the touring festival is attended by approximately 150-400 people, for an expected combined audience of nearly 1,600 people in Summer 2009. They are drawn by the opportunity to see documentary, feature, experimental and short-subject films that are virtually unavailable outside of major urban areas with independent film programs or university classrooms. Among the audience are the extended families of each site's workshop youth participants, whose videos are premiered invariably to thunderous applause closing night. Guest artists (Indian actors, directors, writers) attend the festival, introduce films and meet the community in informal receptions. Part Three: Youth-to-Media Maker Dialogue The Tribal Touring Program's season culminates in November 2009 with the youth-to-media maker dialogue. Reservation youth journey to San Francisco where they introduce their workshop videos at a special screening, attend the Film Festival and Awards Night as AIFI guests, and meet other Native youth and industry professionals at receptions and roundtables. The peer dialogue at the American Indian Film Festival closes the circle we begin when we take our program on the road in the summer. Indeed, what happens in San Francisco is a crucial component of the Tribal Touring Program. When reservation youth come to the city and meet their counterparts, show them their videos, and exchange experiences through roundtables and networking events, an important intervention into the future takes place. The Tribal Touring Program and American Indian Film Festival join together to provide a singular forum for developing a statewide relationship among the next generation of Native voices in the media. A Vision of the Future: Beyond the Tribal Touring Program The Tribal Touring Program is part of a larger AIFI-wide strategy to develop a community of Native media-makers. Through all of our activities we are continuously developing a year-round educational, informational and collegial network. Through the Tribal Touring Program we are cultivating the involvement of the next generation. The Tribal Touring Program is an essential step toward a long-term goal of establishing an Indian media commercial media work-force integration, which will specifically use media as a force for economic and employment development. The program's next two years will increase our capacity to prepare Indian youth for jobs in the media industry, provide them career counseling, and help place them in post-secondary educational and vocational programs, professional internships and apprenticeships, and entry-level industry positions. 2009 AIFI Tribal Touring Program: Proposed Dates
Info/Booking: American Indian Film Institute 415.554.0525 The Tribal Touring Program is produced by AIFI with the support of a grant from the James Irvine Foundation. |