The International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management is proud to present the 4th Annual Indigenous Film Festival at the Star z FilmCenter from October 10-13, 2007. Below is the film schedule, listed by day. For additional events taking place October 9 - 14 at other venues please go to www.iiirm.org.
Day 1 - Wednesday, October 10
7:00pm
The Velvet Devil
Dir. Larry J. Bauman. The year is 1945. The glamorous singing sensation known as The Velvet Devil is performing on-stage at the legendary Hippodrome in Toronto. but in the middle of her signature tune, strange things begin to happen - a premonition, a telegram, sad and terrible news. Soon Velvet is on a train home, back to the Canadian prairies she fled so long ago, for her mother's funeral. We travel with Velvet as she journeys through her troubled past and comes to embrace her Métis heritage that she once rejected. IN-PERSON! Actor, writer & singing sensation Andrea Menard.
Plays with the short film Brown Sugar
A short story about a young Maori woman's dreams of becoming a singer. From the Pasifika Dreams Series produced by Maori film icon Don C. Selwyn.
Day 2 - Thursday, October 11
6:55pm
IN-PERSON! Wapikoni Mobile First Nations youth filmmakers with some of their short films!
The Green Bush
Dir. Warwick Thornton. Local DJ Kenny realizes his job at the community radio station is about more than just playing music. Kenny jokes that his Green Bush show is broadcast to a 'captive' audience - namely the local prison. While taking requests from those on the inside and out, Kenny has to cope with the results of a wild night outside and learn his place in the circle of violence. Green Bush is a celebration of an era of music, working for the cause and getting things done. But not in the way you would expect.
Out Of The Shadows: Sammy Butcher
Dir. Lisa Watts & Allan Collins. Documentary about Sammy Butcher, renowned as the best guitar player in Central Australia, focuses on his work within his community of Papunya, his traditional culture and language.
The Ballad of Peter LaFarge
Dir. Sandra Hale Schulman. Peter LaFarge, the writer of The Ballad of Ira Hayes, and a friend to Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, was an unsung hero at the crossroads of folk, native, blues and protest music.
Clean Fight
Dir. Michael Patience. The story of First Nations kick- boxing champion Trevor "The Red Dragon" Queezenence who loses a championship match when he experiences diabetic shock. With a trainer who wants to get him back in the ring, and a girlfriend who wants him to quit, Trevor learns to balance his drive to compete with the limitations of his condition. A positive message about learning how to live one's dreams within the limitations of a health condition.
Day 3 - Friday, October 12
7:00pm
When The Season Is Good: Artists of Arctic Alaska
Dir. Andrew Okpeaha MacLean. An ivory carver, a skin sewer, a sculptor, a painter...'When the Season is Good' depicts the lives and art of four contemporary Alaska Native artists from the Bering Sea and Arctic region. Through their personal stories, the film explores the juncture of art, culture, economics, and survival in some of the most remote places in the world where long-held cultural traditions and a lifestyle of hunting, fishing and gathering exist alongside everyday modern life.
Merrepen
Dir. Steven McGregor. Meet the ladies from the Merrepen Art Center as they demonstrate how to gather and prepare materials for weaving and contemplate the future of Australian Aboriginal arts and culture. "There are not are not enough elders left. That's why we are painting our stories and making things."
Carriers of Culture
Dir. R.J. Joseph. Documentary of Akwesasne Mohawk basketry traditions.
IN-PERSON! Director R.J. Joseph
Day 4 - Saturday, October 13
Seperate admission for the following three sets
5:45pm
Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture
Dir. Robert Mugge. Hula is the dance of the Hawaiian people and has been practiced since early Polynesians arrived in the islands around 500 AD. Passed on from generation to generation by kahuna (priests and sages) and by kumu hula (master teachers), the hula has also been suppressed by 19th century missionaries and plantation owners, distorted by Hollywood movies, and exploited by the local tourist industry. This film reveals Hawaiian culture as few outsiders have seen it: rich, expressive, colorful, and totally unique.
7:40pm
Clean Fight
Dir. Michael Patience. The story of First Nations kick- boxing champion Trevor "The Red Dragon" Queezenence who loses a championship match when he experiences diabetic shock. With a trainer who wants to get him back in the ring, and a girlfriend who wants him to quit, Trevor learns to balance his drive to compete with the limitations of his condition. A positive message about learning how to live one's dreams within the limitations of a health condition.
The Fighting Cholitas
This documentary profiles the Cholitas that perform Lucha Libre in Bolivia. A group of bold, female, Bolivian wrestlers push the limits of their culture by performing the acrobatic maneuvers of Lucha Libre every Sunday - in the traditional long skirts that characterize the cholitas. Polynesian Power
Dir. Jeremy Spear & Robert Pennington. This documentary, narrated by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, chronicles the ascent of Polynesians in American Football and the cultural history that defines this journey. Profiling two Samoan athletes, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Isaac Sopoaga -- one from the islands and one from the 'hood -- Polynesian Power explores America 's diversity and the challenge of chasing dreams.
7:30pm
Teachings of the Tree People
Teachings of the Tree People is a tribute to the life and work of Skokomish elder Gerald Bruce Miller (subiyay), a nationally prominent cultural leader and teacher who brought his talents home to lead a cultural renaissance in the Pacific Northwest. His story offers a powerful model of cultural and environmental stewardship. IN-PERSON! Producer Tracy Rector.
Kumeyaay: Survival in the Weave
Dir. Edward Kramer. The story of master basket weavers from a Kumeyaay village in Baja California using their ancient weaving tradition to make modern day commodities and walking the delicate line between product and sacred tradition.
Selected Short Films from Longhouse Media/ Native Lens
IN-PERSON: Various Filmmakers
Chatelin Bruno 
