This November is Native American Heritage Month, an opportunity to celebrate the rich and diverse cultures of Native Americans. This list spotlights five contemporary Native American filmmakers and their work, with recommendations by Video Librarian.
Julianna Brannum
Julianna Brannum is a documentary filmmaker and member of the Quahada band of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma. She is also a film programmer who has worked with festivals like the Los Angeles Film Festival and has produced programs for the Discovery Channel, A&E, Bravo, and PBS. She co-produced an episode of the PBS series “We Shall Rise” about the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973.
LaDonna Harris: Indian 101
Full-blooded Comanche LaDonna Harris entered the spotlight in the mid-1960s when she developed the “Indian 101” class for in response to ignorance about Native Americans. Filmmaker Julianna Brannum traces Harris's life from her Oklahoma childhood through her Washington years and work with various agencies and organizations, up through her current focus—as president of the nonprofit Americans for Indian Opportunity—on building solidarity with native peoples worldwide.
Read our review here.
Sarah Del Seronde
Sarah Del Seronde is a Navajo producer and director. She is from the Bennett Freeze Lands of the Diné Nation, an area of land that was banned from repairs and development due to a land dispute with the Hopi Tribe from 1966 to 2009. This environment influenced Seronde, and inspired her documentary work focusing on the Native American working class.
Metal Road
Offering a brief look at the history of Navajo workers building and repairing railroad tracks around the U.S., Metal Road is an engaging documentary that intertwines a chapter of American labor history with an ongoing story of Native American involvement in building the nation’s infrastructure.
Read our review here.
Sterlin Harjo
Sterlin Harjo is a filmmaker and member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. His feature films, Four Sheets to the Wind and Barking Water, both premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The first season of Harjo’s comedy series, Reservation Dogs, appeared on FX in 2021. Sterlin Harjo’s work focuses on Native American culture in his home state of Oklahoma.
This May Be the Last Time
Director Sterlin Harjo's This May Be the Last Time serves two purposes: to document Native American spiritual songs, and to revisit his grandfather's mysterious disappearance. An interesting music documentary with a personal touch, this is recommended.
Read our review here.
Sky Hopinka
Sky Hopinka is an experimental filmmaker and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. His work explores the relationship between land and heritage, exploring landscapes as a way to uncover cultural identity. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College.
Malni – Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore
Malni – Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore discusses life, death, rebirth, the afterlife, and much more in a profound film. The film centers around the Chinook death myth, one that director Sky Hopinka uses to frame the action with Sweetwater Spahme and Jordan Mercier as our Chinook representation. Hopinka brings a level of authenticity to the proceedings via his Ho-Chunk and Pechanga lineage.
Read our review here.
Billy Luther
Billy Luther is a director and producer who belongs to the Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo tribes. He has directed two feature documentaries that explore modern Native American cultural events. He is currently working on his first narrative feature, Frybread Face and Me, with Taika Waititi acting as executive producer.
Miss Navajo
Inaugurated in 1952, the Miss Navajo pageant features a number of interesting competitive categories related to Navajo culture in the areas of tribal history, traditional arts (such as singing or drumming), domestic skills (fry-bread making, rug weaving, etc.), native language proficiency, and the aforementioned sheep butchering (swimsuits and baton twirling are notably absent here). Billy Luther's engaging Sundance-aired documentary interweaves interview clips of former Miss Navajo winners with fly-on-the-wall footage shot during the three-day 2005 competition.
Read our review here.