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Chickasaw Cultural Center to host two-day Native film fest

SULPHUR, Okla. – Native films and filmmakers will be in the spotlight Aug. 15-16 during the Chickasaw Cultural Center’s Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival.

The festival will a showcase a wide variety of Native films as well as shine a light on indigenous filmmakers and the creative process of these modern-day storytellers.

Ten films and filmmakers from across the U.S. will be featured at the Cultural Center’s Anoli’ Theater on the 40-foot tall large format screen.

Activities begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, with a screening of the documentary “Behind The Scenes” followed at 10:45 a.m. by the documentary “Ladonna Harris: Indian 101,” the story of Comanche activist Ladonna Harris.

“The Burden of Being” plays at 11:50 a.m. followed by a question and answer session with the filmmaker Rod Pocowatchit. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Pocowatchit is a director and producer known for “The Dead Can’t Dance,” “The Most Beautiful” and “Sleepdancer.”

The Indigenous sci-fi film “Legends from the Sky,”will be presented at 1:15 p.m. followed by award-winning documentary “The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo” and a question and answer panel with filmmakers Wynn Ponder, Mike Bell, and Maria Runyon.

“The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo” is the story of the late, legendary drummer who played with Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, Lita Ford, and other rock and roll icons of the 1980s and 1990s.

The thriller “Violet” will be screened at 4:30 p.m. followed by a question and answer forum with its filmmaker Mark Williams at 5:15 p.m.

“Edge of America,” will be screened at 6:45 p.m. followed by an 8:15 p.m. question and answer session with director Chris Eyre. Eyre, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, has been described as the “pre-eminent Native American filmmaker of this time” by “People” magazine.

Sunday’s events open at 1 p.m. with the Chickasaw Nation documentary “First Encounter” and a question and answer session with filmmakers Brad Clonch and Philip Sullivan. The documentary portrays actions taken by the Chickasaw that proved to be the catalyst for the dwindling of Hernando de Soto’s mission for gold and riches in America during the late 1530s and 40s.

The world’s first Native American zombie comedy/drama “The Dead Can’t Dance” shows at 1:45 p.m. and at 3:25 p.m. filmmaker Rod Pocowatchit will answer questions about the film.

A documentary about Seminole’s “Grisso Mansion,” screens at 3:45 p.m., followed by a question and answer session with Choctaw filmmaker Mark Williams.

The Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival is free and open to the public. A complete schedule and film descriptions are listed below. Schedule is subject to change.

The Chickasaw Cultural Center, located at 867 Cooper Memorial Drive in Sulphur, is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

For more information, call (580) 622-7130 or visit http://www.chickasawculturalcenter.com.

Chickasaw Cultural Center’s Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival Featured Films

Ladonna Harris: 101

LaDonna Harris: 101 is the story of Comanche activist Ladonna Harris who led an extensive life of Indian political and social activism and is now passing on her traditional culture and leadership values to a new generation of emerging indigenous leaders.

The Burden of Being

The Year is 2064. After the War. In a future where only one utilitarian race, known as The Nation, is recognized, a what-used-to-be called “Native American” man is imprisoned for studying his ancient tribal ways. He longs for his lost love while being tortured to reveal an underground network of rebels trying to preserve their fading culture.

Legends of the Sky

A Native American Veteran, burdened by survivor’s guilt after a disastrous military tour, is forced to search for his missing grandfather after his ancestral land is mysteriously taken over by an Unknown Federal Organization.

The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo

This film is the story of the late, legendary drummer who played with Ozzy Osborne, Motley Crue, Lita Ford and other rock and roll icons of the 1980s and 1990s. The film features superstar interviews, concert footage, home movies and behind-the-scenes video of this larger-than-life Apache musician whose unshakable passion carried him from the wrong side of the tracks to the tops of the charts – only to be taken by cancer at the height of his career.

Violet

Michael and Kerry move into their new home and accidentally discover an old box from Collins Psychiatric Hospital, where Michael’s dad was the Chief psychologist in the 1980s. Soon after, Kerry begins to see haunting images of the patient known as “Subject 23 – Violet.”

Edge of America

Native American filmmaker Chris Eyre directs the made-for-TV sports drama Edge of America, based on a true story and shot entirely in Salt Lake City. A black man from Texas has a difficult time fitting in with the tight-knit Nation American community at the Three Nations Reservation where he is the new English teacher and basketball coach.

First Encounter

The “First Encounter” documentary portrays the actions taken by the Chickasaw that proved to be the catalyst for the dwindling of Hernando de Soto’s mission for gold and riches in America during the late 1530s and 40s. It was the first European contact for the Chickasaw, but perhaps the most important and set the standard by which the tribe remained for centuries, and still remains today – “unconquered and unconquerable.”

The Dead Can’t Dance

The world’s first Native American zombie comedy/drama! “The Dead Can’t Dance” follows three Native American men who discover they are somehow immune to a virus that is killing everyone else and turning them into zombies. The men get stranded in the middle of Kansas, seek refuge in a remote school and must put aside their petty differences to survive the macabre night.

Grisso Mansion

The Grisso Mansion is located in Seminole, Oklahoma, and is a tourist attraction maintained by the Seminole Nation. For many years, visitors to the Mansion have reported seeing ghostly images and hearing things that would continue to go unexplained. In early 2013, staff members discovered a cellphone video that took place in the mansion’s ballroom. This documentary from the Native American Paranormal Project (N.A.P.P.) will detail those dark days and origin of the mansion, and the many lives it tragically affected. The N.A.P.P. team, through their investigation footage, will reveal the lingering presence still residing with the mansion walls.

Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival Schedule

10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015

10:30 a.m. “Behind the Scenes”

10:45 a.m. “Ladonna Harris: Indian 101”

11:50 a.m. “The Burden of Being”

12 p.m. Rod Pocowatchit Q&A

1:15 p.m. “Legends from the Sky”

3 p.m. “The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo”

4:05 p.m. Mike Bell, Wynn Ponder and Maria Runyon Q&A

4:30 p.m. “Violet”

5:15 p.m. Mark Williams Q&A

6:45 p.m. “Edge of America”

8:15 p.m. Chris Eyre Q&A

Noon – 4:50 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16

1 p.m. “First Encounter”

1:25 p.m. Brad Clonch and Philip Sullivan Q&A

1:45 p.m. “The Dead Can’t Dance”

3:25 p.m. Rod Pocowatchit Q&A

3:45 p.m. “Grisso Mansion”

4:35 p.m. Mark Williams Q&A

 

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