AMERICAN INDIAN FILM PERSPECTIVES
SPECIAL FORUMS
STORCH THEATER at SYRACUSE STAGE
Thursday, May 1st
10:00am – 12:00pm
American Indian Film Perspectives with Sonny Skyhawk, Chris Eyre, Georgina Lightning and James Lujan
The idea for this Forum came from discussions with Sonny Skyhawk. The original title was "American Indian 102.” Quoting Sonny; “This forum will be an informative discussion about who we really are. We are definitely not "searching for identity." We know who we are, it is mainstream America and the World who continue to want to re-define us. Anyway, we accept " American Indians " for the sake of discussion only.”
CHRIS EYRE: is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma. His first feature, Smoke Signals (1998) won numerous awards worldwide and made him a unique figure; becoming the first Native American director to ever make a movie that received national theatrical release. Some of his other films include: Skins (2002) with Graham Green and Eric Schweig; Skinwalkers (2002) executive producer, Robert Redford, with Adam Beach and Wes Studi; A Thief in Time (2003), executive producer Robert Redford, based on the Tony Hillerman novel; Edge of America (2004), for which Mr. Eyre won a Directors Guild of America Award, with James McDaniel and Tim Daly; A Thousand Roads (2005) executive producers, Peter Guber and Richard West, Jr., made for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian where it plays as an exclusive and unlimited engagement in Washington, D. C..
GEORGINA LIGHTNING is a Cree Indian making her directorial debut with the film Older Than America. She was recently featured in Filmmaker Magazine as one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film. She has a long track record of creative experience in the film industry as an actor, producer and acting coach on such projects as: Dreamkeepers, Backroads, Johnny Greyeyes, Christmas In The Clouds, Tecumseh The Oath, Smoke Signals, among countless others. Lightning has also guest starred in T.V. episodes of Walker Texas Ranger and West Wing. She is also the cofounder of Tribal Alliance Productions, a production company committed to producing media that matters told from a native prospective. A long time advocate of Native Indian advancement in the film industry, Lightning also formed Native Media Network, a group dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Native Indian talent.
JAMES LUJAN is a filmmaker and playwright from Taos Pueblo. He currently serves as the director of InterTribal Entertainment, a multimedia initiative of the nonprofit Southern California Indian Center, Inc., in Los Angeles. In 2006, Lujan launched the Creative Spirit Script-to-Screen Shootout, an annual screenplay contest and filmmaking week designed to provide employment, training and networking opportunities for emerging and established Native American talent in the film industry. In two years, the Creative Spirit program has produced four short films with Native writers, directors and actors. Lujan’s documentaries include High Strange New Mexico, Little Rock’s Run, and Challenger: An Exploration of Art and Spirit, In 2004, Lujan was chosen as a Native Screenwriting Fellow by the Sundance Institute. As a playwright, Lujan has three produced plays including Kino and Teresa (2005).
SONNY SKYHAWK: is a well known film and television character actor, writer, producer for the last 35 years. He has appeared in 58 films and television productions in his career. He is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation of South Dakota and currently presides as Chairman of the Screen Actors Guild Taskforce on American Indians. He is the founder of American Indians in Film & Television, an International Advocacy that promotes the true portrayal of the American Indian in those mediums. Sonny Skyhawk, is presently producing his own screenplay entitled Heartsong, about the redeeming power of will and spirit of American Indian children, while experiencing oppressive treatment, bigotry and cultural genocide at a Depression era Reservation Boarding School.
Sponsored by the Oneida Indian Nation and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)
