WICHITA'S ONLY EVENT FEATURING FILMS
BY OR ABOUT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
NOVEMBER 15-17, 2024
All events are at the Mid-America All-Indian Museum, 650 N. Seneca, Wichita, KS
(Please park in the Exploration Place parking lot and enter through the Keeper Plaza)
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF PRODUCER DEANIE EATON
All events are free and open to the public
Films are unrated and may not be suitable for all audiences (especially openingnight!)
DOWNLOAD THE SCREENING GUIDE BY DANIEL PEWEWARDY
OPENING NIGHT, FRIDAY, NOV. 15, 2024
Presented by Alex M. Thomas and Lucky's Everyday
Hey, Viktor!
Written and Directed by Cody Lightning
(Comedy narrative) This hilarious, irreverent "mockumentary" takes place 25 years after former child actor Cody Lightning's time in the limelight after a real-life brief role in the ground-breaking 1998 Sundance hit "Smoke Signals." Now grown and trying to hold onto that film "stardom" despite his despicable behavior, he tries to revive his fortunes with a self-produced sequel to "Smoke Signals" that no one actually wants to see. This premiered at the prestigious 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City before showing here. (2023, 102 min.) 7 p.m. (Note: Contains profanity and brief male frontal nudity)
Opening Reception
Featuring free small bites and limited beer and wine in the museum's Kiva space. 6 p.m.
Preceded by:
RKLSS
Written and Directed by Tank Standing Buffalo
(Animation short) A man runs into trouble with the law, is jailed and subjected to solitary confinement and intense brutality. His art allows him to find a way to be in the world and to reflect on his own reality. (2020, 5:07 min.)
SATURDAY, NOV. 16, 2024
Shorts program 1, 2 p.m. (Total run time: 48 min.)
Four Nights and A Fire
Directed by Alex Nystrom
(Drama) A young Ojibwe photographer stubbornly takes on the responsibility of keeping a sacred fire alive for four consecutive days and nights in mourning of his father. His father's spirit tries to reach him from the other side. (2023, 12:35 min.)
Lady Red Warriors
Directed by Mark Williams
(Documentary) The inspiring story about the rise of the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation women's stickball team, Tvshka Homma Ohoya also known as the Lady Red Warriors, and two Nations coming together (Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation) to become a force in the stickball community.(2023, 21 min.)
Return
Directed by Joleece Pecore
(Drama) A normal hunting season on the rez takes a turn when people start going missing, flashes of light appear in the sky, and the community is continually working to preserve and restore their culture and teachings (2024, 12 min.)
Cold Road
Directed by Kelvin Redvers
(Narrative thriller) An Indigenous woman (Roseanne Supernault, in a brilliant performance we're thrilled to showcase) and her dog trying to make their way north in Canada to see her dying mother find themselves stalked by a semi-truck driver on barren highways, with no help from authorities. (2024, 100 min.)
3:30 p.m.
SATURDAY CENTERPIECE EVENT, NOV. 16, 2024
Presented by Hulu, Emily Bonavia and Hotel at Old Town
Centerpiece Reception
Featuring free small bites and limited beer and wine in the museum's Kiva space. 6 p.m.
Prey (Comanche language version with English subtitles)
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
(Narrative thriller) A skilled warrior (Amber Midthunder) of the Comanche Nation fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth. (Hundreds of years before Arnold Schwarzenegger ever shows up). An all-Comanche language-dubbed version of the film with English subtitles will be shown, followed by a Q&A with Comanche producer and special guest Jhane Myers, who made it all happen. (2022, 100 min.)
7 p.m.
Special guest: Producer Jhane Myers
JHANE MYERS is a Producers Guild of America nominee and two-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker. As a member of the Comanche and Blackfeet Nations, she is recognized for her passion and dedication to films surrounding and preserving the legacies of Native communities.
Most recently she is a 2024 Gotham Film and Media Institute/ Cannes Film Festival Producer fellow as the first Native fellow. She was also an advising producer on the popular Ralph Lauren x Naiomi Glasses collaboration campaign, which was the first Native Artist in Residence program.
As an originator of Native community engagement she has established herself as a vital cultural and community resource for Native-content projects produced by the networks and studios, which over the years have included: producer for the Primetime Emmy winning “Prey” (20th Century/Hulu/Disney) “1883” (Paramount); “The Wilds” (Amazon); “Monsters of God” (Plan B/TNT); “Magnificent Seven” (MGM/Columbia Pictures); “Wind River” (Weinstein Co.); “The Lone Ranger” (Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films); and “Apocalypto” (Icon Ent./Touchstone).
SUNDAY, NOV. 17, 2024
Shorts program 2, 1 p.m.
(Total run tmie: 60 min.)
Radio Bingo
Directed by Shelby Mitchell-Adams
To help revitalize the Mohawk language, a local reservation radio station incorporates the Mohawk language into a game of Radio Bingo. (8 min.)
Starbound
Directed by Madison Thomas
A short sci-fi/ family drama that explores the return of eight year old Billy Campbell after being abducted by aliens four years earlier. (11 min.)
Məca
Directed by Ritchie Hemphill, Ryan Haché
A stop-motion representation of the late Elder Ida Smith telling her grandson the 'Nakwax'daxw legend of the Mink. (8:18 min.)
Zombies Don’t Eat Stupid People
Directed by Darcy Waite
In a world with Zombies, a dysfunctional zombie control task force is the last line of defense.
(4:07 min.)
Reclaim
Directed by Ashley Qilavaq-Savard
A small Inuit community in the high arctic is snowed in. A young woman continues to hang around her white boyfriend until she is the only Inuk left. Faced with a horrendous reality, she must make the ultimate decision. (14 min.)
Dating Indian
Directed by Len Morissette
Tara is happy she can finally bring a Native boyfriend home to her family, only to find out the night before that he’s not really Native. (10 min.)
Rodrick Pocowatchit Showcase, 2:30 p.m.
(Total run tmie: 53 min. Followed by Q&A)
Apocalypse,
Then ...
A young man in quarantine holds a prisoner in his basement and questions what is real and what isn't. (9 min.)
The Incredible Brown NDN
An average Joe decides to become the world's first Native American superhero. (10 min.)
The Incredible Brown NDN 2: Brown and Down
After choosing to become the world's first Native American superhero, an average Joe tries to discover his superhero powers and comes to the harsh reality that being a real-life superhero has some real-life consequences. (16 min.)
The Burden of Being
In the year 2061, where only one utilitarian race -- known as 'The Nation' -- is recognized, a Native American man is imprisoned for speaking his ancient tribal language.
(12 min.)
Other
A Native American man goes on a job interview and discovers a glaring omission on the job application. (5 min.)
PBS American Portrait: The Tradition I Will Carry On
This was featured on the PBS series "American Portrait," which featured stories filmed by everyday people to explore what it means to be an American today. (1:14 min.)
Rodrick Pocowatchit bio
Rodrick Pocowatchit is a lifelong Wichitan and has written and directed four independent feature films right here in Kansas, including the zombie cult hit “The Dead Can’t Dance.” He has made about 20 short films, including “The Incredible Brown NDN,” which was featured in KANSAS! magazine. Rod is an alumnus of the Sundance Institute’s renowned screenwriting program and received a directing fellowship with L.A. SkinsFest at CBS in Los Angeles. He is also a freelance film columnist for The Wichita Eagle, and is also the founder and director of the AlterNative Film Festival, Wichita’s first all-Indigenous film event. Rod is also the social media content specialist for Hunter Health.
The Death Tour
Directed by Stephan Peterson and Sonya Ballantyne
(Documentary feature) This rousing, robust documentary follows wrestling hopefuls across remote Indigenous communities in Canada's far North on the most grueling tour in indie wrestling. This test of strength will show how far some of them are willing to go to fulfill their dreams. You don't have to like wrestling to enjoy this, it's more of an examination of the human spirit than a film about the wrestling. But it's a look into that world, too. Because they aren't just athletes, they're artists. 4 p.m.
Closing night film: Red Fever
Presented by NorthStar Comfort Services, Inc.
Community Partner: Tallgrass Film Festival
Directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Neil Diamond
(Documentary feature) This had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, an in-depth look at the ways Indigenous cultures have been reduced to stereotypes, appropriated by mainstream popular culture, and the impact on Indigenous peoples. Sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious, this takes those stereotypes and turns them upside down. Followed
by an exclusive virtual Q&A with co-director
Diamond. 6:30 p.m.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Alex M.
Thomas
Bonavia Charitable
Trust
