4th annual Native Film Series begins Sunday at Buskirk

She laughed. She cried. She learned about the issues.

Graduate student Del Criscenzo-Boyer said she spent all of January watching movies.
After collaborating with fellow members of the Native American Graduate Student Association, five of them made the list for the fourth annual Native Film Series, which begins Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

The series features five films and a question-and-answer segment with Native American filmmaker Sterlin Harjo following his film “Four Sheets to the Wind.”

The first film of the series begins at 2 p.m., and the last film is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. The series is free and open to the public.

“My hope is people come away with an idea of contemporary Native American life,” association secretary Rebecca Riall said.

She said the film series was a way to showcase contemporary and urban Native American life.

Criscenzo-Boyer said past film series were five weeks long with one movie shown each week, but the association decided to change the series to a one-day event.

Riall added that in the past, the first night would draw a large audience – maybe 100 or 150 people – but a decrease in attendance for the subsequent films didn’t do them justice.

In addition to becoming a one-day event, the series was moved off campus.

Crisenzo-Boyer said moving the series off campus was a way to build a bridge with the community and reach out to people who never set foot on campus.

The theme of this year’s series is “new directions.” Past series included a Native American actor as the speaker, but this year Terri Miles Schuld, association chairwoman, said she wanted to bring a Native American director who is looking to the future of films featuring Native Americans.

“I can feel Oklahoma in his film,” she said after watching Harjo’s film about a young man dealing with his father’s death. The film follows the man as he tries to keep his family together, and it is narrated by the deceased father.

Miles Schuld said the five films in the series cover a range of issues in the Native American community and show that the culture is alive in the modern world.

The first two films of the series, “Edge of America” and “Homelands,” are family-friendly films. Harjo’s film is rated R, and the fourth film, “Imprint,” is a PG-13 suspense thriller.

The last film, “Unnatural & Accidental,” is a repeat from last year’s film series and is for mature audiences only.

Miles Schuld said the film had a strong response last year, and while it is a shocking and graphic movie that focuses on the murders of Native American women, it is an important film for all women to watch.

“It’s a hard movie, but it gets the message across, and it’s a message that needs to be brought to life,” Riall said.

Criscenzo-Boyer said the films take a different direction because a new generation of filmmakers and actors are trying to depict contemporary Native American culture and destroy the myth that Native Americans live a perfect life close to nature.

“It will help people realize Native issues are real and going on,” she said.