Reel Injun, a new documentary about the portrayal of American Indians in U.S. movies, has been earning high praise and notice from bloggers and film critics. About the film:
Hollywood has made over 4000 films about Native people; over 100 years of movies defining how Indians are seen by the world...
Travelling through the heartland of America, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond looks at how the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding – and misunderstanding – of Natives.
With candid interviews with directors, writers, actors and activists, including Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch, Robbie Robertson, Sacheen Littlefeather, John Trudell and Russell Means, clips from hundreds of classic and recent films, including Stagecoach, Little Big Man, The Outlaw Josey Wales, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Atanarjuat the Fast Runner, Reel Injun traces the evolution of cinema’s depiction of Native people from the silent film era to today.
I can’t wait to see it.
The trailer:
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 16
anne — August 13, 2010
It's definitely a must see. I can't remember where I saw it - possibly on the National Film Board (Canada) website. It's so frustrating and sad to see how Natives are treated in film and in the film industry, but the documentary also highlighted good stories (what progress is being made, people who've stood up for fair and proper treatment of Natives and Native culture in film, etc.) so it left me feeling hopeful.
andie — August 13, 2010
Looks interesting..the only film I ever saw that actually dealt directly with Natives as more than either props or antagonists was Smoke Signals. It thought it was good.
JihadPunk77 — August 13, 2010
I would love to see that. I'm very interested in Indigenous culture(s) and wish that Hollywood would do more films with Indigenous characters played by Indigenous actors.
I don't want to spam, but I'd like to encourage you guys to check out this young Najavo film student who needs donations so she can get school supplies to study filmmaking:
http://www.indiegogo.com/Send-Camille-to-Film-School
please donate to her if you can spare a dollar or two!
littleblue — August 13, 2010
Though it has no bearing on the overall theme of the post, there is a little mistake in the trailer... Daniel Day Lewis' character, Hawkeye, in Last of the Mohicans was supposed to be white, not Indian. His European settler parents were killed. After he was orphaned, he was found by and adopted/raised as one of Chingachgook's own.
Skada — August 13, 2010
Atanarjuat is probably one of the best movies I've ever seen. Another great Native-made movie is Dance Me Outside. I had the pleasure of watching a great many films, both about Native people and made by Native people, when I took American Indians in Film a year ago with an incredible professor. And if anyone wants a great book on the subject, try Wiping the War Paint off the Lens by Singer.
Rue — August 13, 2010
This has probably been posted here in the past, but if you're building a syllabus on anti-racist cinema, Reel Bad Arabs is another very good documentary to check out.
Rat Liz — August 14, 2010
Sigh, i cant wait to get out of college so i can stop filming sports crap and start filming stuff like this. though, its fun being the only woman and crew head for the location shoots
Deborah — August 14, 2010
Another film I loved that's not mentioned here is "Pow-wow Highway". It's been years+ since I've seen it, but I liked it better than Smoke Signals.
Blackbird — August 14, 2010
You can watch Reel Injun on the CBC's website here:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Passionate_Eye/ID=1454400439
Weekly Feminist Reader — August 15, 2010
[...] documentary, Reel Injun, looks [...]