Dearest Longviews Listener,

if you’re thinking of going to see this film because you’re excited to see your favorite Native actor, or you’re simply interested in seeing how a mainstream film will depict a largly unidentified Native tribe, save your time and your money. It’s not worth it. All you need to do is listen to the following interviews with Jay Tavare and Russell Means to know that your time need not be wasted nor your eyeballs seared with too fast action, poor blocking, cloying musical orchestration, simpy dialogue, poorly lit fight scenes, and the sight of a ruddy skinned and lumbering Karl Urban. How anyone thought this guy could carry a film is beyond me. Worse still, is employing a cast of (actually) talented actors (save the Maxim chick) and not doing anything with them.

Tsk tsk. Now let this be a lesson, for no studio should give a music video director free reign over thirty million for any kind of feature length movie, especially not a music video director whose list of credits includes the name, Amy Grant. No really, I kid you not. But the film’s release did offer us the opportunity to speak with the ever gracious Jay Tavare and the original wandering bear, Russell Means.

 Jay Tavare: the Jesus Christ of Indians [39:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Wandering Bear [10:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Requickening Project is made up of five individuals who come from various backgrounds in the arts specific to Aboriginal art and its production. Shelley Niro, artist, filmmaker and exhibiting artist of the 2003 Biennale, Lori Blondeau, performance artist and director of Tribe Inc., Ryan Rice, artist, independent curator and co-founder of Nation To Nation and the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective will join Nancy Marie Mithlo, curator, academic and co-founder of the Indigenous Arts Action Alliance and Italian anthropologist Elisabetta Frasca with assistance from Mario di Martino in Venice, together have formed an active organization.

Paul Chaat Smith is an important man. He is well-versed in the history of the Native American image in media. He is a man of considerable art scholarship, especially in regards to painting. He is a man who was a part of the American Indian Movement of the 70’s, but has not had a documentary made celebrating his life during those times. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because he doesn’t talk-sing corny poetry or pontificate like Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, Paul Chaat Smith is an important man.
However, when I first laid eyes on him sitting at the signing table in the great hall at New York’s NMAI, I had no idea who he was. I think he could tell I had no clue who he was and it irked him. He signed my exhibition catalogue perfunctorily and skidded it over the long table towards a smiling James Lavadour.

“Gee what an asshole,” I thought.

Alas I was not there to see him, or James Lavadour, for that matter, I was there to see what Erica Lord concocted for this exhibit. Call me a dilletante, but I hate painting-unless it’s got naked chicks, dudes, Spanish contessas circa 1960, bloody bulls, amorphous sea creatures and bunnies with razor sharp teeth-then I’m all about painting. I love video installation, performance, photography of all sorts, but mostly portraiture that is ironic in some way. I like slip-shoddy work that is blessed with well-honed theoretical blah-d-blah, which is why i like Erica’s work so much. Not that it’s slip-shoddy but it ain’t highfaluttin painting either. I also love writing. I love writers. And I love writers who write non-fiction, especially about cultural diasporas, identity politics, the institution that is race and the construction of culture out of colonization. As it turns out, that asshole who threw my catalogue at poor James Lavadour is the type of writer I love. Paul Chaat Smith’s essay included in my exhibition catalogue was not about the painters included in the show-a medium he has based his entire critical career upon-but about Erica Lord’s mucho post-moderno work. He even proclaims NAICA’s beloved Zacharias Kunuk Native America’s “top dog.”

Indeed!

I didn’t think I’d like someone as surly as Chaat Smith but damn if he ain’t a great writer. He has written all manner of great writing on a many varied topic, mostly related to Native American artists and their media representation. He’s the Indian cultural critic. And I had no idea when I, along with angsty critic Brooke Green, harassed him about painting on the 5 train going uptown. No idea. Paul Chaat Smith is an important man.
A very very important man.

(get yourself versed kids. Read Mr. Smith’s good words here-http://redplanet.home.mindspring.com/index.htm)

There’s been quite a mixed bag of opinions regarding director Taika Waititi’s feature film debut, Eagle vs. Shark. Everything from it’s a “wanna-be Napolean Dynamite” to a “good enough first effort” that bares some resemblance to Napolean Dynamite. It does, in fact, bare some resemblance to those super-indie Sundance films of years past, including Napolean Dynamite, but with a twist in that the film has a discernable objective and falls not so neatly into the romantic comedy genre. I say not so neatly and I mean that in a good way for Eagle vs. Shark elevates the genre whereas Gigli, The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Seconds (more like “How to Lose Your Audience in Ten Seconds”) do nothing but relegate the genre to the term “chick flick” and nobody likes a chick flick except chicks in Nebraska or Alabama and nobody cares about what they think of movies at all except studio hacks looking to make yet another buck.

As usual, I digress. The film is in fact a better than “good first effort” and that has a lot to do with excellent comedic writing and actress Loren Horsley. Sure the film is filled with sweet indie tunes by the Phoenix Foundation, and better than average supporting characters, but it is Miss Horsley’s portrayal of Lily that is the backbone of the film which yeah, yeah, we know, bares resemblance to Napolean Dynamite, but solely in tone. Now that we have establsihed that unilaterally held opinion let’s move on shall we?

About that Loren Horsley.

Well, unlike her masterful portrayal of that sex appeal challenged nerd, she is hawt! I don’t develop girl-crushes very often but when I do it’s usually on those who possess something I don’t and in the case of Miss Horsley it’s a really awesome head of curly hair. I also have curly hair but it’s nowhere near as good a head of curls as hers. And they’re dirty blonde curls to boot! Sexy. You wouldn’t believe she was as ravashing as she is seeing her outfitted as Lily, the aforementioned sex appeal challenged nerd, but she is, with a lovely smile (without mole), a melifluous laugh, and impossibly big eyes she’s a cupie doll come to life. I can see why Taika Waititi fell in love with her.

Aside from dashing blonde curls and cupie doll smiles she is a tremendously talented actress possessed of great skill. A lot is made of sexy amazonian actresses who ugllify themselves for the sake of an Oscar nomination (yes, you Charlize Theron, who should have also been given an award for turning yourself into an Ompah Loompah for the awards ceremony that year. yeesh) however Horsley created Lily well before the script was written pointing to her innate ability to conjure an entirely different human being outside herself whereas aforementioned amazons merely mimmick the personalities of those who’ve pass ed through this world. That is no easy task in itself but try creating a character from scratch. One that is not like you at all, trust me, Loren is no dork and I doubt she is wanting for romantic love, then have that character be completely believeable. If you succeed, and she certainly has, you have is what is commonly referred to as brilliance. There are so few truly brilliant performances in film. Those that qualify have nothing to do with re-creating other peoples already lived lives. Sorry Charlize, my apologies Robert De Niro. A truly brilliant performance comes from the creation of a character that is completely believeable, when it is hard to tell the character from the actor, which is probably why they call it character acting. So believeable is Horsley’s Lily, as a character if not a true human being, that she could disappear into her being never to return. Imagine that? It’s like Sybil but less creepy and without the child abuse issues, and that truly is brilliant. Or maybe a little creepy? In either case, it’s easy to see why director Taika Waititi fell in love with her-Loren Horsley or maybe Lily. Nah, probably not Lily. Well, maybe Lily too.
Coming Summer 2007.
Stay tuned to official website for awesomeness.
www.eaglevsshark.net

written by: Maria Colon, editor/amazon

www.thenaica.org

It is very sad to make an ass out of yourself. Especially in front of people you want to impress. One of NAICA’s saddest days at Sundance was when we assed up our interview with the cast of Eagle vs. Shark. It was a very, very sad day indeed. We tried to be too clever. And everyone knows what happens when you try to be too clever: you ass things up.

We had just screened Eagle vs. Shark prior to our scheduled interview with Taika, Loren and Jemaine, the director and cast of the film, respectively. All we had heard about them from friends and colleagues was how funny they were. Funny, funny, funny. We like to think that we at NAICA are funny too. Funny, funny, funny. So we decided to stage a funny interview. Since, you know, we’re all so funny and stuff. It was going to be just about the funniest interview ever.

What happened was like the anti-christ of funny interviews.

Maria was not feeling well, I was too stubborn to take over, and to top it off, we couldn’t get any wine at the Airborne Lounge, only vitamin powder, of which we already had surplus amounts of. Needless to say, we weren’t feeling very funny. Turns out the cast of Eagle vs. Shark wasn’t feeling very funny either, or at least they weren’t feeling our “not-feeling-very-funny” funny.

It was a disastrous, pained and awkward interview that culminated with us shouting, “We have t-shirts for you!!” This was shouted in order to cover the fact that we had just given the anti-christ of funny interviews. We also gave them buttons and cards. We may have shouted about those things too.

Later on in the week when we saw the cast again, they were all very sweet to us and at the Native Forum Party I even had a chance to apologize to Taika for our assiness. It felt good. In a funny sort of way.

[Look and Listen]

You can see a reenactment of this interview in the video player at the top of the blog. Coming soon: a salvageable video clip from our chat as well as NAICA’s take on Eagle vs. Shark.

Of the many films NAICA has had the pleasure of seeing this past week at Sundance, the documentary Cocalero has been one of our favorites. The film is a portrait of enigmatic Bolivian presidential candidate, Evo Morales and his journey to become the country’s first indigenous president.

But of course, the film is much more than that. Evo’s role in the documentary is a segue for the viewer’s introduction to the people behind his campaign: from the Coca farmers of Bolivia to indigenous grassroots campaigners to Anglo-Latin pop stars.

The documentary is an informal, organic mixture of verité shots, natural lighting and casual interviews. Juxtaposed next to this is the fact that the film is a nearly flawless edit. It is this mixture of chaos and order that makes Cocalero so beautiful and intriguing.

[Look and Listen]

Upon seeing the film, we knew we had to talk to the director. Twenty-six year-old Alejandro Landes is a graduate of Brown University and is Columbian by way of Brazil and Ecuador. He took the time to sit down with NAICA and humor our pseudo-political questions as well as regale us with tales of Evo and the people of Bolivia.

Check out our interview with him in the video player at the top of our blog and visit the film’s website at www.cocalerofilm.com.

[image courtesy of www.cocalerofilm.com]

After a packed screening of their film, Four Sheets to the Wind-a Sundance favorite-lead actors Cody (aka Chad or some other name that begins with a “C” and drifts into my mind causing me to become confused) Lightning and Tamara Podemski took a moment to speak with us about preparing for their roles as Okie brother and sister dealing with the death of their father and reconciliation with life and it’s many vagaries.

[Look and Listen]

Check out our interview with them in the media player at the top of the blog. There is also a video of a post-screening Q&A available for your viewing pleasure. Photos from the Q&A are available to view in our gallery.

We’re pretty sure Sterlin Harjo is the main reason God made Oklahoma. Not only is he a talented filmmaker premiering his first feature film, Four Sheets to the Wind, at Sundance, but that boy can rep for the Sooner State like no other. Just yesterday at the panel for the “Burden of Representation” he was talking about his innate desire to continue writing and filming in his home state. He talked about how he had these specific images burned in his head, images of fields with old cars and family houses he grew up around; images he felt compelled to galvanize and reassemble on screen.

In Four Sheets to the Wind, the state of Oklahoma is as much a character as Cufe, the film’s protagonist, or Miri, his sister, or any other character for that matter. One can feel the director’s personal landscape emerging from the shots of sky and land, city and country. If there is a motif in Four Sheets it is the rich pattern of landscapes surrounding the story and it’s characters. At the panel yesterday, Harjo said he could write better in Oklahoma, that somehow his stories were richer, clearer, when he wrote there. If that is indeed the case, and if Four Sheets is any indication of this felicitous relationship, let’s hope Harjo never moves.

[Look and Listen]

To hear Sterlin talk about, among other things, his affinity for the Sooner State, check out our interview with him in the media player at the top of the blog. There is also a video of a post-screening Q&A available for your viewing pleasure. Photos from the Q&A are available to view in our gallery.