Indigenous film+ online
The Reciprocity Project films are premiering at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Read summaries and view trailers of the films here.
“The observation on February 21 of International Mother Language Day focuses attention on various endeavors to support language revitalization and language diversity, including film screenings at the Mother Tongue Film Festival. Other festivals include Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and other sections look at a new webcast series, an ongoing podcast series a lecture rethinking the impact of the first Native American doctor, Suzanne La Flesche, and filmmaker honors.
The Reciprocity Project
7 short films by Indigenous directors produced by the Reciprocity Project, a co-production of Nia Tero Foundation and Upstander Project. Producers: Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector.”
Continue reading at Indian Country Today.
Cherokee filmmaker Brit Hensel secures place in Sundance Film Festival history
Congratulations to Reciprocity Project team member Brit Hensel who is the first woman who is a citizen of Cherokee Nation to direct an official selection at the Sundance festival!
“Tulsa-based filmmaker Brit Hensel enjoys telling Cherokee stories. She’ll be sharing one of those stories with a Sundance audience.
Hensel’s third and newest film “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)” has been selected for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will make its world premiere as part of the short film program. She is the first woman who is a citizen of Cherokee Nation to direct an official selection at the festival.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Hensel said of the historic accomplishment. “I guess it is sort of shocking, the idea that it has taken this long for it to happen. But I feel really honored. I try not to think about it too much because it’s an awesome accomplishment and I’m really proud to have done work that people think of in that regard.’”
Continue reading at Tulsa World.
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival unveils line-up for hybrid screenings
Thrilled that the Reciprocity Project short films by Indigenous storytellers will be showing at Big Sky Film Festival!
“The 19th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival rolled out its lineup on Thursday for Feb. 18-27, with in-person screenings at venues in Missoula, and a virtual festival available to anyone, anywhere Feb. 21-March 3.
A total of 50 nonfiction feature films and 95 shorts from around the world will play.
Executive Director Rachel Gregg listed off highlights such as a high number of movies relevant to Montana and the West, adventurous titles (including Antarctica), a series of Indigenous short films, quirky offerings like “Cat Daddies,” and more.
This far along into the pandemic, Gregg said, “we’re starting to see some passion projects” that filmmakers have saved until the timing was right.”
Continue reading at The Missoulian.
YOUR GUIDE TO ALL INDIGENOUS WORKS AT THE 2022 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Thrilled that ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (UDEYONV) (WHAT THEY’VE BEEN TAUGHT) is premiering at Sundance Festival!
“At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, we are honored to have 15 projects by Indigenous artists screening. From immersive experiences to short films, the stories that will be presented in January continue to highlight Indigeniety in unique and powerful ways.
Over the last couple of years we, as a community, have had to adapt the way that we have produced, consumed, and celebrated films. However, even as our methods have shifted, our passion and commitment to groundbreaking art endures — especially the Sundance Institute’s essential support of Indigenous artists, storytellers, and filmmakers.
At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, we are honored to have 15 projects by Indigenous artists screening.”
Continue reading at Sundance.
Sundance puts spotlight on Indigenous films
“Hensel is among nine Indigenous filmmakers featured at this year's acclaimed Sundance Film Festival, telling stories of traditions, ambitions and aspirations in short and feature-length films and multimedia productions. The festival runs Jan. 20-30 in Park City, Utah, but will not feature in-person events this year because of the pandemic.”
“For Cherokee filmmaker Brit Hensel, the Sundance Film Festival is a chance to showcase not just a groundbreaking film but also her people.
Her film, “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (Udeyonv),” or “What They’ve Been Taught,” which premieres Thursday, Jan. 20, at 9 a.m. MST, explores reciprocity among the Cherokee people as told through an elder.
The film features not just a Cherokee director but an all-Cherokee film crew.
“Filmmaking for me has always carried with it an element of responsibility — a responsibility to whose story I'm sharing, to my community, my collaborators, to myself and my vision,” Hensel, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, told Indian Country Today.”
Continue reading at Indian Country Today.
New Film ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They've Been Taught) to Make World Premiere at 2022 Sundance Film Festival
ᎤᏕᏲᏅ "Udeyonv" (pronounced oo-de-yo-NUH), a new documentary short film by Brit Hensel with Keli Gonzales, is an official selection in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. This film is one of seven films from season one of Reciprocity Project, a co-production of Nia Tero and Upstander Project.
“Today the Sundance Film Festival announced that ᎤᏕᏲᏅ , a new documentary short film by Brit Hensel with Keli Gonzales, is an official selection in the 2022 festival. According to the Sundance Institute, Hensel is the first woman who is a citizen of Cherokee Nation to direct an official selection at the festival. The film's world premiere will be held in-person in January 2022 in Park City, Utah, as well as online from January 20th – 30th. ᎤᏕᏲᏅ "Udeyonv" (pronounced oo-de-yo-NUH) is one of seven films from season one of Reciprocity Project, a co-production of Nia Tero and Upstander Project.
Hensel is the first woman who is a citizen of Cherokee Nation to direct an official selection at Sundance.”
Continue reading at Yahoo News.
Yo-Yo Ma visits the Grand Canyon to play and listen to Indigenous perspectives
This piece looks at the famous cellists second trip in “a project to explore how culture can help us strengthen relationships to nature and to each other.” His first trip, to Maine, is documented in one of Reciprocity Projects forthcoming short films.
“The world’s most famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, visited the Grand Canyon in November not to play, but to listen. He listened to the Canyon itself and the perspectives of the Indigenous people connected to the Canyon for generations.
“I really liked the purpose and the focus of his visit,” said Ed Kabotie, a Hopi-Tewa musician who met with Ma. “It’s important to recognize that there are many intimate perspectives in this discussion, the perspective of the Hualapai, the Havasupai, the Navajo, the Hopi, the Zuni. It was a good group of voices, to interact with him.
Yo-Yo Ma visited the sacred American landscape to explore how its lessons about time, nature, and how the relationship to both can help shape a better future together.”
Continue reading at The Navajo-Hopi Observer.
SEEDCAST: STORYTELLING IS GUARDIANSHIP
Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have celebrated storytelling as a way to connect the present to past lessons and future dreaming. Narrative sovereignty is a form of land guardianship, and Nia Tero supports this work through its storytelling initiatives, including the Seedcast podcast, as well as in this monthly column for media partner the South Seattle Emerald.
“Many of us have known for quite a while that climate change, accelerated by human decisions and behaviors, is not only real but a direct threat to life as we know it. While the findings of the IPCC report released in August of 2021 might not have been a surprise, that didn’t make them less alarming. The report inspired urgent conversations not only at planet-focused nonprofits like the one I work at, Nia Tero, but on a global scale and in individual homes: What can we do to heal the planet? What role can we play? Where are the solutions?
The good news is that human decisions and behaviors can also heal the planet, as evidenced by the land guardianship carried out by Indigenous peoples around the world in the form of tending to the land with fire, seed saving, or not taking more than you need.”
Continue reading at South Seattle Emerald.