Indigenous cinema takes over the theater.
If you think Indian Market doesn't extend beyond vendors of fine jewelry, pottery and leather goods, your experience of native culture might be as narrowly cast as the producers of
The Lone Ranger
. Fortunately, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and the Cinematheque at CCA (1050 Old Pecos
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Trail, 982-1338) are saddling up to bring you one of the brightest cultural revelations in recent memory.
For its sixth incarnation, Native Cinema Showcase calls itself "Indigenous Cinema Rising," though it isn't entirely clear if the rising refers to a kind of spiritual advancement or more of a militant assemblage. The showcase has gotten so large it has outstripped even its medium and location. In addition to the 28 films and videos, there is a smattering of alluring off-site programs to tempt the brave rogue who ventures off the Plaza.
The Gary Farmer Gallery (131 W. San Francisco St., 988-1171) will run shorts by emerging filmmakers.
Reaghan Tarbell, NMAI co-curator notes, "There were several that stuck out in our minds. Based on the titles that went back and forth, we saw a very obvious pattern emerging." Each free program runs approximately 45 minutes.
Full-length films run each day at the CCA. Note the broad and inclusive use of the word "indigenous" with respect to films like
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
, a lauded feature-length film in which 12-year-old Maxi nurtures a romance with a rookie cop in the Filipino slum he calls home.
Mohawk Girls
is an award-winning documentary about three Mohawk teens and the Mercier bridge, a literal metaphor
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for transition. Cross the bridge into the bright, seductive city of Montreal and lose your credibility and even your rights as a Mohawk; or stay, foregoing the temptation of the infinite. In
Views from Maori County
, young soldiers wait for nightfall in an abandoned farmhouse and try to distance themselves from the horror of the war they're fighting by conjuring up stories of home. Most films will have the filmmakers in attendance to present and promote discussion.
Elizabeth Weatherford, director of the NMAI film center, is so intimate with the details of the Native Cinema Showcase she could "tell you what kind of underwear it's wearing!" She thinks the Native Cinema Showcase has tremendous power to transform popular perception of native culture. "We learn what Indians are and do from movies. A major misrepresentation connected to that is the audience, which comes in expecting the 19th century: the traditional dress, all the trappings. In this case, our aim is to show what native directors produce-a first-person filmic account, not a third." Contemporary and indigenous, the Native Cinema Showcase is forging the future this weekend.
