04 Native American
List activity
199 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
25 titles
- DirectorYves SimoneauStarsAidan QuinnAdam BeachAugust SchellenbergA historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
- DirectorTaylor SheridanStarsElizabeth OlsenJeremy RennerGraham GreeneA wildlife officer, who is haunted by a tragedy that happened because of him, teams up with an FBI agent in solving a murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation and hopes to get redemption from his past regrets.Taylor Sheridan’s film was released around the same time Savanna Greywind went missing, which later sparked the creation of Savanna’s Act. The film is about a Native woman who is killed, and whose death is investigated by a federal agent who realizes very quickly the red tape that keeps many Native women’s cases from being solved. source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorChloé ZhaoStarsJohn ReddyJashaun St. JohnIrene BedardWith an older brother in jail and living with their single mother on Pine Ridge Reservation, Johnny and his sister Jashuan's lives develop new challenges when their absentee cowboy father suddenly dies. The loss prompts Johnny to strike out for Los Angeles, but would mean leaving behind his beloved sister.Written and directed by Chloé Zhao, Songs My Brothers Taught Me showcases the harsh realities Native families face on the reservation. source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorChris EyreStarsAdam BeachEvan AdamsIrene BedardArnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.This classic comedy is iconic for many reasons. It is a film we in the Native community reference and joke about in almost every family setting. If you don’t know what it means to yell “Hey Victor!” at anyone named Victor, you need to watch this movie. You’ll understand many of our jokes then. This film was written, directed and acted by Natives. source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorStephen S. CampanelliStarsAjuawak KapashesitWayne BakerSladen PeltierFollows the life of Native Canadian Saul Indian Horse as he survives residential school and life amongst the racism of the 1970s. A talented hockey player, Saul must find his own path as he battles stereotypes and alcoholism.This film is about a young Canadian First Nations boy who becomes a champion hockey player, but truly it’s about his experience using hockey as an escape from the boarding schools. If you haven’t heard about boarding schools, known at the time as Indian residential schools, and how they were created to strip Natives of our culture, the film might be shocking to you. source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerMary McDonnellGraham GreeneLieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.While some would say that director and star Kevin Costner’s film is older and outdated, it was done extremely accurately for a film that came out in 1990. Most of the film is spoken in Lakota, translated by my brother-in-law’s relative, Albert White Hat. Albert White Hat was chair of the Lakota Language Department at Sinte Gleska University in Rosebud, South Dakota, where I live. source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorSanjay RawalStarsKris BergenChucky CarpenterTwila CassadoreAn intimate portrait of a growing movement amongst Indigenous Americans to reclaim their spiritual and cultural identities through food sovereignty.Sanjay Rawal’s new documentary follows Indigenous people as they reclaim traditional foods and put into practice their sovereignty. Being in control over one’s traditional foods and ways of eating and living is a practice that is slowly coming back to our peoples. This film showcases the journey of several Native peoples as they journey down that road of reclamation. Source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- The lives of the Chinle High School boys' basketball team based on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona.This Netflix docuseries follows the Chinle High School basketball team on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Basketball is a huge sport in Indian Country, and I remember when this series first came out, how all my Navajo friends felt seen! Natives across most of the U.S. follow the basketball scene very closely, and this series specifically focuses on the Native side of the sport. Source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorKorinna SehringerStarsChaske SpencerQ'orianka KilcherTyler ChristopherShouting Secrets is a hopeful and heartwarming, universal story taking place in a present day Native American family. It's a story that is at once about the constancy and the fragility of love, as well as the importance of family.This film, directed by Korinna Sehringer and featuring the Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal, is about a young and successful Apache novelist who’s left the reservation but has to return when his mother falls ill, and it accurately captures what Native families in today’s world look like. Since there are many different representations of the modern Native family, this is a good contrast to Songs My Brothers Taught Me. Source: Corinne Rice, AARP
- DirectorZacharias KunukStarsNatar UngalaaqSylvia IvaluPeter-Henry ArnatsiaqThe telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
- DirectorSydney FreelandStarsAshleigh MurrayRachel CrowLance GrayAfter their mother ends up in jail, two sisters turn to train robbery in order to support their family.
- DirectorCatherine BainbridgeAlfonso MaioranaStarsGeorge ClintonRobbie RobertsonGary GiddinsA documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history.
- DirectorSydney FreelandStarsJeremiah BitsuiCarmen MooreMorningstar AngelineThree young Native Americans - an adopted Christian girl, a rebellious father-to-be, and a promiscuous transsexual - strive to escape the hardships of life on an Indian reservation.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsBebe HarjoGabriel PelayoFrederick SchroederFrankie is dying. Irene hasn't forgiven him. And they are racing against time to find their way home. Frankie needs help and Irene is the one he turns to. He must go home one last time. And, like so many times before, Irene is extending herself beyond her common sense. The two set out on a journey that becomes more than getting home; confronting the past, love, understanding, and self discovery. Barking Water is a tale of great love that looks at what brings us all together. It's a tale of home...and what it takes to get there.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsJames McDanielIrene BedardDelanna StudiBased on a true story, a black educator takes a job teaching high-school English at the Three Nations Reservation, and is coaxed into coaching the girls basketball team.
- DirectorAndrew Okpeaha MacLeanStarsJosiah PatkotakFrank Qutuq IrelanJohn MillerIn Barrow, Alaska, teenagers Qalli and Aivaaq find their bond tested when a seal-hunting trip goes wrong, resulting in the death of their friend.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsWotko LongBronnson Tre HarjoJamie LoyMekko is an native American man who is released from prison. He served time for killing a cousin. Homeless, he learns that he must become a warrior to fight the "witch" preying on his people because they have lost their spirit.
- DirectorElizabeth CastleChristina D. KingStarsMarcella GilbertMadonna Thunder HawkA documentary which details the life of Lakota activist and community organizer Madonna Thunder Hawk, whose career fighting for Indigenous and women's rights has now spanned over 50 years.
- DirectorSterlin HarjoStarsWes AllenJeri ArredondoLaura BaileyAfter his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
- DirectorHeather RaeStarsRobert RedfordKris KristoffersonSam ShepardA chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances and politics.
- DirectorHepi MitaStarsAwatea MitaEruera 'Bob' MitaHepi MitaDocumentary portrait of pioneering filmmaker and mother Merata Mita, detailing how her filmmaking intersected with the lives of her children and indigenous filmmakers globally, and featuring rare archival footage dating back to 1977.
- DirectorNeil DiamondCatherine BainbridgeJeremiah HayesStarsAdam BeachChris EyreRussell MeansThe history of the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.
- DirectorAlex SmithAndrew J. SmithStarsChaske SpencerDavid MorseGary FarmerVirgil First Raise wakes with a shiner and a hangover in a roadside ditch on the stark but beautiful plains of Montana. As he rises to face the day he sees a vision of his father lying dead at his feet. Impossible-- his father froze to death in a snowdrift years earlier. Virgil returns home to find that his wife, Agnes, has left him. Worse, she's taken his electric razor and his beloved rifle. Virgil sets out to find her-- beginning a hi-line odyssey of inebriated encounters, sexual skirmishes, and improbable cloak-and-dagger intrigues with the mysterious 'Airplane Man'. Virgil's quest also brings him face-to-face with childhood memories and visions of his beloved, lost brother Mose-- some glorious, some tragic. Only when Virgil seeks the counsel of an old, blind man named Yellow Calf, does he grasp the truth of his origins and begin to thaw the ice in his veins.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsNicolas CageAdam BeachPeter StormareTwo U.S. Marines in World War II are assigned to protect Navajo Marines, who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.
- DirectorScott CooperStarsScott ShepherdRosamund PikeAva CooperIn 1892, a legendary Army Captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.This movie from 2017 may more accurately be called a Western film rather than a Native American one. However, it does include a focus on the interactions between the Army Captain and the family of a Cheyenne war chief being brought back to Montana. It has a lot of drama, some action, and conflict, but the real focus of the movie is the internal conflict and connection between the people.