"Thunderheart" comes to the Abbe - the 5th Annual Native Film Series

This year, the Abbe’s annual film series focuses on the changing representation of Native people in film, specifically as Native writers, actors and directors gain more control over telling their own stories. On Thursday, November 7 from 7:00 to 9:00pm the Abbe will show the second film in the series. Thunderheart is based on actual events on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota and the story follows an FBI man with Sioux background who is sent to help with a murder investigation. While on the reservation, the agent faces his own past and has to come to terms with his heritage. The American Indian Movement (AIM), whose members were deeply involved with the events chronicled, helped inform the story, and some of the actors in the film are members of AIM. A discussion will follow the film. 

The final film in the series, on Thursday, December 5, will be More Than Frybread. This film showcases Native storytelling in a mockumentary style film that is written, directed, and acted with an almost all Native cast and crew. It tells the story of twenty-two Native American frybread makers, representing all twenty-two federally recognized tribes in Arizona, who convene in Flagstaff to compete for the first ever, first annual, state of Arizona Frybread Championship! 

Both films are free and open to the public thanks to support from Reel Pizza.