Film
Reel Injun
Cert:(adv PG)
Dir. Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, Jeremiah Hayes
USA, 88 mins, 2009
Cast: Documentary with Russell Means, Graham Greene, Adam Beach, Wes Studi, Sacheen Littlefeather, Jim Jarmusch and Clint Eastwood
Via a road trip across the United States, Reel Injun examines the personification of the American Indian over more than a century of motion pictures. En-route it casually explodes a few myths and shatters some entrenched stereotypes. Much of the wider world’s understanding and appreciation of Native American culture comes courtesy of the white man’s skewed interpretation. John Ford, revered as the father of the quintessential American western, comes under sustained fire for casting noble human beings as blood-thirsty savages in 1924’s The Iron Horse and, 15 years later, Stagecoach. Director and co-writer Neil Diamond also takes a justified swipe at Hollywood’s predilection for casting white actors (Burt Lancaster, Charles Bronson, Chuck Connors et al) as Indians whilst genuine Native Americans were confined to the ensemble. There is commentary from long-time activists like Russell Means, one of the armed protesters at Wounded Knee who later became a respected actor, and model Sacheen Littlefeather who, on behalf of Marlon Brando, infamously took to the stage of the Academy Awards in 1973 to refuse his Oscar.
The Short film
Scent will screen before this film.
Print source: Rezolution Pictures International Inc.
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