Tulsa

Tulsans can kick off Indigenous Peoples Weekend on Thursday, Oct. 5 with free masterclass filmmaking workshops from Native filmmakers and screenings of short Indigenous films at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa and an early screening of the feature film “Fancy Dance” at Circle Cinema.

 

"Quality Indigenous cinema is vitally important to our communities," said Alicia Nevequaya, director of the festival. "The Indian Territory Film Festival is dedicated to identifying and engaging members of our community with the goal of educating and lifting up the next generation of Indigenous storytellers."

 

The inaugural Indian Territory Film Festival will open with a free workshop discussion, masterclass and short film screening by Loren Waters, award-winning filmmaker and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe. Waters has worked on projects such as Reservation Dogs, Fancy Dance, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Her second short documentary “ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ” (Meet Me at the Creek) is set to premiere in 2024. She will screen her short film “Restoring Néške'emāne” and provide a sneak peak of an upcoming project.

 

The festival will continue with Circle Cinema Walk of Fame filmmaker Kyle Bell screening his short film “Spirits” (Poyvfeckv) followed by a workshop discussion. Bell was selected to the 2019 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab. Most recently, he won the 2020-2021 Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative to be mentored by cinema legend Spike Lee.

 

The festival concludes with an early $5 screening of Fancy Dance, starring Lily Gladstone (star of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”) and directed by deadCenter Film Icon Erica Tremblay. The film follows an aunt in her efforts to keep her family intact after her sister goes missing. It earned the Best Narrative Feature award at deadCenter Film Festival.

 

Indian Territory Film Festival is in collaboration with deadCenter: Continuum, Nevaquaya Fine Arts, Cherokee Film and the Center for Poets and Writers at OSU-Tulsa.

 

For a complete schedule, visit bit.ly/indianterritoryfilmfest.