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| Rebecca Belmore, Anishinabekwe White Thread, 2008 |
Technically it's just after midnight here in Toronto but it's still June 1st out on the Eastern edge of Turtle Island so: Happy First Day of Aboriginal History Month!
To kick'er off might I suggest watching Reel Injun, a fantastic documentary on the representation of Indigenous people in Hollywood. Or watch Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner, an amazing film about an Inuit legend about old rivalries disrupting a small nomadic community (the scene at the end where he is running naked through the tundra is so incredible; worth the whole movie right there and the whole movie is pretty damn good as it is). Both are available in full at the links! Wow, what a great start, right?!
Unfortunately there isn't a *legal* way of finding Smoke Signals online but it's also a really kick-ass movie (and, this coming from someone who doesn't even like movies) based on a few Sherman Alexie short stories (he also wrote the screenplay) and starring Gary Farmermy and my (imaginary) boyfriend Adam Beach. You should go and rent it from your friendly neighbourhood video store before they disappear forever like Betamax and strawberry milk.
The voice over is weird, right?
I love all 3 of those movies, and yeah, it's a great place to start! I'm also really curious to see "Mad Bastards" http://www.madbastards.com.au/ it's an Australian Aboriginal movie that debuted at Sundance this year. Oooh, and another new one: "Here I Am" http://www.hereiamfilm.com/ has caught my eye too.
ReplyDeleteThose both look really good, too, but I should've also mentioned that it's National (Canadian) Aboriginal month. Not that Smoke Signals is Canadian, I just wanted to talk about how great it is and how much I love Adam Beach (who is Canadian).
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