Film Festival at UCSD Chronicles
Native Americans’ Experiences
in the U.S., Emphasizes Health Concerns

October 9, 2008

By Jan Jennings

A Native American Film Festival featuring documentaries and short films chronicling native people’s multi-faceted health experiences in the United States will be presented from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Cross-Cultural Center at the University of California, San Diego.

The event is part of UC San Diego’s 2008 California Native American Day Celebration. It is free and open to the public.

“The three films were selected to coincide with this year’s emphasis on health in American Indian communities,” says Natchee Blu Barnd, festival host and lecturer in American Indian Studies at California State University, Sacramento.

Screening at noon will be In the Light of Reverence which documents American culture’s relationship to nature in three places considered sacred by native peoples: the Colorado Plateau in the Southwest, Mt. Shasta in California, and Devils Tower in Wyoming. These areas are rich in timber and minerals and popular places for visitors. They also exert a spiritual gravity for Native Americans which puts them in conflict with mining companies, New Age practitioners, and rock climbers – all sides seeing themselves as besieged. The filmmakers are Christopher McLeod and Melinda Maynor.

At 2 p.m., Doe Boy, written and directed by Randy Redroad, will screen. It tells the story of a young man of mixed heritage who encounters complicated circumstances in his life, including his hemophilia.

The Business of Fancy Dancing, written and directed by Sherman Alexie, will screen at 3:30 p.m. It explores the disintegrating relationship of two best friends, co-valedictorians in high school who left the Spokane Indian Reservation for college and ultimately different paths. One becomes a world-famous gay poet, the other drops out of college to return to the reservation. They meet years later on the reservation at the funeral of a mutual friend.

“Taken together, these seemingly unrelated films actually explore how for many native peoples the notion of health is multifaceted and extends beyond our individual selves,” says Barnd, who received his doctorate from UCSD’s Department of Ethnic Studies. “Equally important, the festival places an emphasis on contemporary native lives and issues.”

Barnd will lead a discussion following the screenings.

For further information on the film festival, call (858) 534-9689. For more information on the Native American Day Celebration visit the website at http:blink.ucsd.edu/go/nativeamerican.

Media Contacts:
Jan Jennings, 858-822-1684
Pat JaCoby, 858-534-7404