Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Institute announced details for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival‘s presentation of films by Native American and Indigenous filmmakers and the annual Native Forum. The Forum features a program of panel discussions, filmmaker workshops, and networking events that provide opportunities for Indigenous filmmakers to share their expertise and knowledge with each other and the larger independent film community. This year‘s Festival will provide a world stage for Native American and Indigenous filmmakers whose works include two short films and four features screening in the Competition and Spectrum Categories. The 2007 Festival includes work from Native American and Indigenous filmmakers from New Zealand, U.S.A., and the Philippines. The 2007 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan.18-28, 2007, in Park City, at the Sundance Resort, in Salt Lake City, and in Ogden, Utah.

Through its Native American and Indigenous Initiative, the Sundance Institute has a long-standing commitment to supporting Native American and Indigenous artists. The Initiative encourages Native and Indigenous Cinema by hosting the Festival‘s Native Forum and supporting filmmakers through the Institute‘s Feature Film and Documentary Film Programs, the Independent Producers Conference, and the Sundance Institute/Ford Foundation Film Fellowship.

“Each year the Native Forum continues to raise the profile of Native and Indigenous Cinema and showcases works by a range of talented filmmakers,” said N. Bird Runningwater, Associate Director, Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Initiative. “The Forum activities this year will continue to connect Native and Indigenous Cinema with the marketplace of independent film. Through the Film Festival as well as the labs, workshops and other programs, Sundance Institute brings together the writers, directors and producers of Native and Indigenous Cinema as part of a global filmmaking community.”

FILM SELECTIONS FOR THE 2007 NATIVE FORUM

EAGLE VS. SHARK / New Zealand-Director: Taika Waititi (Te Whanau a Apanui)

World Cinema Competition: Dramatic

The tale of two socially awkward misfits and the strange ways they try to find love. World Premiere

FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND / U.S.A.-Director and Screenwriter: Sterlin Harjo (Creek and Seminole Nations)

Independent Film Competition: Dramatic

Cufe Smallhill finds his father dead. Fulfilling a dying wish, he disposes of the body in the family pond and sets off to begin a new life in the big city of Tulsa. World Premiere

MISS NAVAJO / U.S.A.-Director: Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo)

Spectrum

This documentary explores the role of women and tradition in Navajo culture by following one young woman as she prepares for and competes in the Miss Navajo Nation Pageant. World Premiere

TULI / Philippines-Director: Auraeus Solito (Palaw‘an)

Spectrum

When a young girl in a remote Philippine village is forced into an arranged marriage by her abusive father, she rejects traditional mores and creates an alternative life. U.S. Premiere

CONVERSION /U.S.A.-Director: Nanobah Becker (Diné)

Short Film Competition

Christian missionaries make a catastrophic visit to a Navajo family.

MOVE ME / U.S.A.-Director: Jonathan Pulley (Laguna Pueblo)

Short Film Competition

Over the course of his last evening with his dad, Graham must find a way to say goodbye before his relationship with his father slips away completely.

NATIVE FORUM EVENTS

Panel Discussion: The Burden of Representation

Whether a film or an artist is speaking on behalf of a whole community (i.e. Native Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans) the burden of representation can weigh a lot. Most often the community‘s expectation is never met. Join Heather Rae, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, Aureas Solito and Billy Luther whose films step outside “conventional” representation and explore what it means to speak for one‘s self rather than an entire community. Thursday, Jan. 25, 10:30a.m.- noon, Filmmaker Lodge/Elks Lodge, 550 Main St.

Roundtable Discussion: Art & Technology Blended Worldwide

In today‘s world there are many advanced technology platforms emerging which allow a film to reach a global audience. Join A. G. Palelei and his cutting edge distribution model FIRST VISION, a multi-media distribution network, as he demonstrates how a film can be made available to a worldwide audience. Location TBA

Native Forum Brunch

Monday, Jan. 22, 10 a.m.-noon, Café Fiore - 900 Main St.

Native Forum Reception and Party

Thursday, Jan. 25, 8:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m., Legacy Lodge - Legends Bar (third floor),1310 Lowell Ave.

The 2007 Sundance Institute/Ford Foundation Film Fellows

Through support from the Ford Foundation, the Native American and Indigenous Initiative operates the Sundance Institute/Ford Foundation Film Fellowship which supports emerging next generation Native and Indigenous filmmakers whose work is defining the next wave of Native Cinema. Each year the Initiative selects four recipients who attend Sundance Film Festival with a project in development, to participate in one-on-one meetings with established filmmakers and industry leaders. They also attend a World Cinema screening series and Native Forum activities. After the Festival workshop, the Native American and Indigenous Initiative provides ongoing support throughout the year to bring the projects to fruition.

This year‘s Fellows are:

Ginew Benton (Ojibway/Cree)-LOOKING GLASS

A young man builds a time machine so he can prevent his father‘s assassination, when he realizes he cannot, he decides to alter history by traveling back to the first point of contact between Europeans and Native Americans.

Julianna Brannum (Comanche Nation)-LADONNA HARRIS: INDIAN 101

This is a semi-biographical story about Comanche activist Ladonna Harris who led an extensive life of Indian political and social activism and is passing the knowledge to a new generation of emerging leaders.

Melissa Henry (Diné)-MOSI ŁIZHINÍ

A cat saves the stars from a group of space thugs using Coyote tricks he learned from Navajo trickster stories.

Nathan Young (Pawnee/Kiowa/Delaware)-HEAVY METAL INDIANS

Heavy Metal Indians is based on a true-story about the events leading to the murder of a young Kiowa man in Oklahoma in 1994.

The Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Initiative

Sundance Institute‘s commitment to supporting Native and Indigenous Cinema is woven throughout the 25-year history of the Institute. Rooted in the recognition of the creative and artistic history of Native American and Indigenous artists, the Initiative supports the development of Native American and Indigenous filmmakers and the exhibition of their work. The Initiative scouts across the U.S. and worldwide 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 Native American and 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 American and Indigenous Initiative include Sherman Alexie, Shirley Cheechoo, Chris Eyre, Greg Sarris and Randy Redroad. The Initiative‘s current work is focused on supporting emerging talent such as Sterlin Harjo, Zoe Hopkins, Taika Waititi, Blackhorse Lowe, Aurora Guerrero, Nanobah Becker and Andrew MacLean. The Initiative is made possible, in part, by a major grant from the Ford Foundation.

Festival Sponsors

The 2007 Sundance Film Festival sponsors help sustain Sundance Institute’s year-round programs to support independent artists, inspire risk-taking and encourage diversity in the arts. This year’s Festival Sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors — Entertainment Weekly, Volkswagen of America, Inc., HP, Adobe Systems Incorporated, and AOL; Leadership Sponsors–American Express, Delta Air Lines, and DIRECTV; Sustaining Sponsors–ABSOLUT®, Aquafina, Blockbuster Inc., CESAR® Canine Cuisine, KRUPS, L‘Oreal Paris, The New York Times, Ray-Ban, Sony Electronics, Inc., Stella Artois®, Turning Leaf Vineyards, and the Utah Film Commission.

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film. Held each January in Park City, Sundance Resort, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah, the Festival is a core program of the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981.

Presenting 125 dramatic and documentary feature-length films in nine distinct categories and over 70 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced American audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades. The official website of the Sundance Film Festival, www.sundance.org, shares the Festival experience beyond the streets of Park City with a global audience through the streaming of short films, filmmaker interviews, and current news and box office information.

Sundance Institute:

Dedicated year-round to the development of artists of independent vision and to the exhibition of their new work, Sundance Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2006. Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, the Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for thousands of independent artists through its Film Festival and artistic development programs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, playwrights and theatre artists. The original values of independence, creative risk-taking, and discovery continue to define and guide the work of Sundance Institute, both with U.S. artists and, increasingly, with artists from other regions of the world.