News
Co-Founders to receive special award
May 2008 - Co-founders Annie Silverstein and Tracy Rector and their Longhouse Media program Native Lens are being recognized this year as "Red Cross Real Heros 2008" for their work with in tribal communities. As a program founded in partnership with the Swinomish Tribe, they have worked with the youth of this community for nearly four years. During this period of time they have also managed to mentor and teach over 550 youth, Native and non-Native, from across Washington State. An award breakfast will occur on May 14th at 7:30 a.m. in Anacortes at the Swinomish Northern Lights Casino.

Read more about the Anacortes/San Juan Islands Red Cross

http://anacortessanjuan.redcross.org/
March Point - receives a special award
March 31, 2008 - -"March Point - a work in progress" received a special award at the prestigious youth film festival called NFFTY (National Festival for Talented Youth) last night at the closing ceremonies. The honor acknowledged the film as a vehicle to help engage audiences to take action in their communities and for the environment. All three of the youth directors were present and spoke at the Q&A, answering questions from the impact of the film on the issue to future goals for each of them as individuals. They did a wonderful job, spoke well and are ready for the next opportunity to talk publicly! The National Festival for Talented Youth provides young filmmakers with an opportunity to showcase their films to audiences of all ages. They feel with audience reaction and insight that individuals can grow creatively as filmmakers. The festival also offers workshops and panel discussions on various filmmaking principals and useful production experience from industry professionals. Check them out at www.nffty.org
Longhouse Media founder to receive Horace Mann Award
SEATTLE - Tracy Rector, Seminole, executive director and co-founder of Longhouse Media/Native Lens, will receive Antioch University Seattle's Horace Mann Award March 27 at a black tie event in Seattle Center's McCaw Hall. The Horace Mann Award honors individuals who have ''won victories for humanity'' through their work or volunteerism. Past recipients include Billy Frank Jr., Nisqually, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. Rector is earning her master's in education and teacher certification from the university's First Peoples Program. She specializes in Native American studies, traditional plant medicine and documentary film. She co-produced the awardwinning films ''Teachings of the Tree People'' and ''Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller.'' Through Longhouse Media (www.longhousemedia.org), she is helping to train a new generation of storytellers in filmmaking and new media. The program operates youth filmmaking programs at Muckleshoot and Swinomish. The program was a recipient of the 2007 Seattle Mayor's Arts Awards and participants' films have been shown in film festivals in Seattle and New York City. ''When [Antioch] President Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet phoned me to congratulate me, I was excited and in shock,'' Rector said of the award. ''As soon as I hung up the phone, I was hopping around the office because it honestly was such a sudden surprise that the only reaction that came to me was to jump up and down, and then call my mom, of course. ''This award has the potential to open many doors for the work that I do. It is an honor for me to be recognized for a lifetime of commitment to volunteer work and to our youth; but for the bigger picture, this acknowledgement will benefit Longhouse Media and the work we do to uplift Native youth,'' Rector continued. ''For example, grant funders love to be associated with persons and groups who are doing notably good work.''
Youth from Area Tribes take Center Stage
At first, three teens from the Swinomish Reservation thought making a movie with Longhouse Media’s Native Lens project was a great ploy to get out of drug court. But as they delved deeper into the project, Travis Tom and Cody Cayou, both 16, and Nick Clark, 17, began to learn about the history of the Swinomish and March Point, land that was once part of the Swinomish Reservation and now is home to two refineries. “We all grew up on the Swinomish Reservation, but we didn’t know a thing about March Point,” said Cayou, narrating the teens’ documentary, “March Point.”

“March Point” and five other short films created by native youth will be shown Saturday as part of the Native Experience in Film Festival at the Swinomish Reservation. The teens are from the Swinomish, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Suquamish and Tulalip tribes. The festival is sponsored by the Skagit County Historical Museum. It also will feature professional actors, writers and directors, including Elaine Miles, famous for acting in the Emmy-winning television show “Northern Exposure;” award-winning actor Robert Guthrie; and writer and director Rick Stevenson of the feature-length film “Expiration Date.” “This is the greatest opportunity to see new ideas and meet the people doing them,” said Brian Young, an independent filmmaker based in Skagit County, who will be moderating the panel discussions at the festival. “And you don’t even have to leave the county.”

Stevenson’s film “Expiration Date,” which received the American Indian Film Festival’s 2006 awards for Best Film and Best Actor, also will be shown at the festival. In addition, professional performers, filmmakers and teens will discuss their films and the role that indigenous filmmakers and actors play in mainstream and independent movies. The discussions are aimed at shining a light on what goes on behind the cameras and in the minds of filmmakers and actors, organizers say. “They are going to see the up-and-coming filmmakers and who knows where they are going to go,” Young said. Many films created by Native Americans tell stories about journeys, with themes that are connected in some way to their characters’ environments, said Tracy Rector, executive director and co-founder of Longhouse Media’s Native Lens program. In Stevenson’s quirky comedic drama “Expiration Date,” Guthrie’s character, Charlie Silvercloud, struggles with a stark perception of his destiny and tries to face down his fears. Actress Dee Wallace, known for her role in the 1982 Steven Spielberg film “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” plays Charlie’s mother. “Charlie is detached from his culture but haunted by it nonetheless,” Guthrie said in a prepared statement from the film’s press kit. “His mother allows him to be Indian and in that sense of Indian, Charlie finally becomes a man.”

Inaccurate stereotypes
Historians and moviemakers say stories that accurately portray Native Americans are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the history of film, moviemakers have either misrepresented natives or stereotyped them as stoic Indians, drunken buffoons or blood-thirsty villains on the warpath. Most of those actors weren’t even Indian, he said. “Originally, you had your white guys in red makeup or a Hispanic guy,” Young said. Only in the past 20 years have Native American actors and filmmakers found roles and projects that portray their cultures honestly and respectfully, Young said. Some of those stereotypes still exist and are opposite of what Rector said she sees in the many cultures she interacts with as part of Longhouse Media’s Native Lens project. In 2003, Rector and Annie Silverstein partnered with the Swinomish Tribal Community and founded Native Lens. The women’s organization, Longhouse Media, encourages indigenous people to use film for self-expression, preserve their culture and prompt social change. The goal for Native Lens is to bring filmmaking to Native youth. So far, they’ve worked with 25 Swinomish teens and a total of 550 teens from indigenous cultures from Washington to New Mexico. Miles, who worked with writers and directors on “Northern Exposure” to make her character Marilyn Whirlwind more consistently Tlingit, has been working with Native Lens for at least three years. Filmmaker Sherman Alexie, who is not expected to attend Saturday, is on the group’s board of directors.

Honest teens
The short films presented by Native Lens and Longhouse Media include: “Storyteller,” “Fish,” “Rez Life,” “Fish Out of Water” and “Giving Thanks,” as well as “March Point.” All are between 1 and 5 minutes long except the hourlong “March Point.” The films show all sides of the teens who make them — the good, the bad, the humorous, Rector said.“The kids are pretty honest,” Rector said. In “March Point,” Nick, Travis and Cody try to understand how March Point, once part of the Swinomish Reservation under the Treaty of Point Elliot, was taken away from the Swinomish in 1873 by President Ulysses S. Grant and given to homesteaders. The Swinomish Tribal Community asserts that the land was illegally taken from them. In the 1950s, two oil companies purchased much of the point and later built refineries on the land. Two refineries, the Tesoro Refinery and Shell Oil Company’s Puget Sound Refinery, are still on that land. The Swinomish used to harvest shellfish along the shoreline of March Point. But for more than 100 years, toxins from boat building, lumber mills and other industries have polluted the two bays and the shorelines surrounding March Point. Those waters and tidal lands are among the sites in Puget Sound that the state Department of Ecology considers top priorities for toxic cleanup.

In the film, Nick, Travis and Cody interview tribal elders about the importance of seafood in their culture. They speak with leaders about the legalities behind the tribe’s claim to the land. They also dig clams and oysters with scientists who are studying the levels of pollution in shellfish, a dietary mainstay for many of the tribal groups in the Northwest. The results of those tests reveal that the shellfish harvested by tribal members, who eat more seafood than the average American, contain high levels of toxins linked to cancer and other illnesses. The film moves from the shoreline of March Point to a community shellfish feed to Olympia to talk to state leaders and then on to Washington, D.C., to speak with national leaders. As part of the filming process, the teens also learn about failure and success. They couldn’t get an interview with Gov. Chris Gregoire and neither state Rep. Rick Larsen or U.S. Sen. Patty Murray agreed to speak on camera about the March Point issue. However, at the first screening of the documentary, the audience cheered the teens’ effort. Rector said that in many ways, “March Point” is a coming-of-age story. “There are not many films that give a (sense) of what it means to be native, especially from the view point of teenage boys,” she said.

• Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or mmurvosh@skagitvalleyherald.com.
Native Youth Program Blends Tradition and Technology
Nick Clark, 18, was on the wrong path before he started making films with Native Lens. “My life was going down the drain,” he said in the trailer for his film “March Point.” “If I didn’t get involved with Native Lens I don’t know where I’d be at right now. Probably on the street somewhere or locked up.” Instead, Clark and two other La Conner High School students, Cody Cayou and Travis Tom, just completed “March Point,” an hour-long historical and environmental documentary with a $400,000 budget. Because of the program, Clark is keeping his grades up, preparing for a paid summer internship at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and getting his passport ready for travel to film festivals in Spain and France. He can hardly believe it. “I never thought it would get so big so fast. I just think it’s a good program for youth to tell their stories,” he said last week.

Cinematic stories by several students, including a trailer for “March Point,” will be screened during the Native Experience in Film Festival Saturday at the Swinomish Youth Center. The event includes a showing of the film “Expiration Date” and panel discussions with nationally known actors, directors and producers. Swinomish is an appropriate place for such an event. Native Lens, an innovative program that blends tradition and technology to give native youth a voice, started there four years ago as a partnership between Seattle-based Longhouse Media and the tribe, with seed money from Time Warner Foundation. “It’s a small tribe but they’ve been extremely supportive,” said Tracy Rector, executive director and co-founder of Longhouse Media. “The first year they spent $25,000 on equipment. It shows their commitment to the youth, the community and the program.”

Longhouse Media’s mission is to catalyze indigenous people and communities to use media as a tool for self-expression, cultural preservation and social change, she said. It draws from traditional and modern forms of artistic expression, storytelling, teaching and inquiry. Rector, an accomplished filmmaker who co-produced the PBS documentary “Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller,” said Longhouse Media and Native Lens were founded to respond to the lack of positive images and role models for youth in mainstream media, where Native Americans are typically absent or stereotyped as violent drunks or all-knowing sages. “We are not seen as doctors, lawyers, or businessmen. The message this sends to Native American children is that there is no place for us in modern society, that we are an antiquated culture,” she said.

Native Lens uses technology to correct this misperception. Rector said Longhouse Media Artistic Director Annie Silverstein, whose pieces have been shown at the Seattle Art Museum, on public television and in international film festivals, started planning with the Swinomish Tribe in 2003 to bring film making to young people. “It included workshops on the reservation that lasted three to six months and also workshops in Seattle. Those were called Full Circle gatherings,” Rector said. Students came from as far as Red Lake, Minn., to learn from mentors like Sherman Alexie and Cody Lightning. Clark was one of the first students. “Nick was really part of the very beginning, part of the group that helped form the program,” Rector said. He had taken acting classes at Everett and performed in a play about the Maiden of Deception Pass when he first heard of Native Lens. He came in because “I just liked acting,” he said. Clark’s first finished piece was a public service announcement about stereotypes called “Native Pride.” Soon he found himself engrossed in all aspects of film making, and now he helps inspire new students. “Nick has also been a peer mentor for youth,” Rector said. The program quickly expanded with funding from such sources as the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which awarded Native Lens $50,000 for 2008, the First Nations Development Institute and the Potlatch Fund. It now serves about 25 students at Swinomish and more than 500 students at reservations such as Suquamish, Tulalip, Lummi and Muckelshoot. A key to the program’s success is that it comes to the students, rather than asking them to go to Seattle. “I think it makes a big difference,” Rector said. The Swinomish students have excelled, and “March Point” is Native Lens’ most successful project so far. It tells the history of the area and the story of environmental deterioration of its land and water.

The film started with a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for an environmental piece. Clark, Cayou and Tom drove around the area with Silverstein looking for ideas. Clark said it was the smell of the refinery that led them to choose it as their subject. In 2006 a 20-minute version of the film received a standing ovation from an audience at the Lincoln Theatre. “They got really inspired. The audience really liked it,” Rector said. The quality of the segment opened doors. “We got a large grant from PBS and National Geographic to expand it to an hour,” she said. The team used the $73,000 grant to produce a segment worth submitting to the Sundance Film Festival. Although it was not selected, it was put on a list of the festival’s favorite rejected films and Longhouse Media got about 20 requests for the film, including an inquiry from the Cinestrat environmental film festival in Spain. “We’re going to submit to Cannes,” Rector said. Native Lens also received verification last week that “March Point” was broadcast quality. “Independent Lens called this week and said they are interested in acquiring it,” Rector said. The distributor will probably air it on PBS in the fall.

Clark, Cayou and Tom were invited to the Smithsonian Institution, where the programming director offered Clark a paid internship. While they were in D.C. the three met with U.S. Rep. Rick Larson and Sen. Patty Murray to discuss treaty rights and other issues. Clarks is a member of the Grand Ronde tribes of Oregon, but Swinomish is his home. “I’ve got Swinomish blood in me. I’ve been at Swinomish all my life. My grandmother is Swimomish,” he said. Although the three were lifelong residents, they learned much about Swinomish history from the research on treaty and land rights they had to do for the project. They found that the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott granted March Point to the tribe, although it was settled by whites. “I didn’t know that until we started,” Clark said. When asked how he felt about the discovery, he looked thoughtful. “Hurt, I guess, to know that the oil refinery is on what should be tribal land,” he said. He said he hopes that the film will help to rectify the situation. “Awareness is the first step,” Rector said. Whether or not it has an impact on large, political issues, Native Lens has enhanced awareness of learning styles and made a real impact on the students.

Rector described how Travis Tom, who worked on “March Point,” decided to write, direct, tape and edit a film for health class rather than writing a paper. The teacher and students were impressed with the quality of work he is capable of producing. They also gained insight about the young man and how he learns. “He got some of the first positive feedback in a school setting in his life,” Rector said. She said this is critically important for indigenous kids, many of whom do not graduate from high school. “The push-out rate for Native American kids is the highest in the state. Anything that helps is good,” she said. “I think it’s really critical that educators see there are multiple ways of learning.”

Museum hosts native film festival at reservation

Nationally known Native American actors, directors and producers will speak at the Native Experience in Film Festival, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19 at the Swinomish Youth Center, 17275 Reservation Road, La Conner. The festival includes screenings of the award-winning “Expiration Date,” short films by Swinomish youth and a trailer for “March Point,” and interactive panel discussions on the progress, challenges and impact of native film making with nationally known producers, directors and actors Robert Guthrie, Swil Kanim, Freddie Lane, Rick Stevenson, Gene Tagaban and Brian Young. Most recognizable to the general public may be Elaine Miles, who played Marilyn on “Northern Exposure.”

The event is presented by the Skagit County Historical Museum. Tickets are $10 until Jan. 16; lunch is included. Call 466-3365, get a form at http://www.skagitcounty.net/nativefilmfest or pick one up at the museum, 501 S. Fourth St., La Conner. Tickets at the door are $15, but seating is limited.

The trailer for “March Point” and several student films also may be seen at http://www.swinomish.org/departments/native_lens/native_lens_videos.html.
The Native Reign in Seattle

The rain is heavy, the sky is grey, the people are crabby but the art is smoking! I love what is happening here in Seattle, yeah that's right—Seattle. We are quickly becoming a reemerging hot bed of funky cutting edge art and media. Have you ever experienced that feeling of walking into a room full of vitality and energy? Not the overt in your face cheerleader type but the intrigue of the riveting Betty Page lookin' indigenous woman, or edgy glasses wearing Native hipster who has something to convey that could just rock your world! This is what's brewing in Seatown. Not only are the adult media makers cranking that Native soul but the youth are making some waves of their own. That's right, they have some powerful ideas to express and they are doing it real time. We all know high school can be a double-edged sword. It's that time in your life when there seem to be endless possibilities while at the same moment despair and doubt can creep into every thought. Well, two students from our Native Lens program, Travis and Cody, found a way to channel this complexity and share some of the daily pressures that can face a 15-year-old, meet the needs of their big health class project and get a movie made about underage drinking and peer pressure. The video rocked their grade, they got an "A" and they were given more positive feedback from their teachers than they have ever experienced in a school setting. Through shear charisma the boys created a pivotal piece of work that cannot be summed up as a classroom project but as a force of artistic history. Well that was over a year ago and that health class project has taken on a life of its own. "Fifteen" has inspired conversation, debate, tears, excitement and confusion, all the signs of vital art. Our neighbors to north have embraced the sheer brilliance of this work and have found a number of platforms to screen the piece. Recently, a real honor was bestowed upon the boys' work as they received an honorary mention for "Fifteen" at the ImagineNative Film Festival in Toronto. This was such a surprise yet an affirmation for media that matters. For me "Fifteen" is a breathtaking short that makes no excuses for being real and honest. Just like the Betty Page girl or Native illustrator boy with the funky glasses, they are exactly who they want to be and draw people to them that welcome this authenticity. Seattle is not necessarily in my experience the most warm or friendly city to be in but there are those periods in the history of the city that are golden. The kind that a generation of people never forget because it is when the art strikes a chord, it is exciting, honest and alive (the cabaret scene of the early 90's), when a new kind of music is born (Nirvana at the Off Ramp), and when the loft parties are gathering places for this collective force to spin some magic (Maktub and Super Sonic Soul Pimps) the masses are moved to create and open up to their own transformative possibilities (Bernie Whitebear, Red Earth). Yes, everyone, we are riding one of those waves again and our youth, Native, indigenous proud young people are paving the way for a new period of artistic, social justice, media driven excellence that will define another era!

Muckleshoot Native Lens Summer Workshop 2007

This summer far surpassed any planning that we initially dreamed of for both the returning and new youth at Muckleshoot. They experienced many new people, skills and situations. They learned to push themselves to work hard, be honest and collaborate. This summer the kids ROCKED.

First the workshop began with an exciting collaboration between Muckleshoot Native Lens participants with young teenagers from Morocco. In a condensed couple of days, at the Muckleshoot Tribal College and at the Longhouse Media offices in Seattle, the students created a film about culture and understanding. They designed the story, learned basic editing and made their own musical score on Garage Band. The visiting Moroccan youth were so honored by the generosity and beauty of the Muckleshoot Community and had a great time making videos with the Native Lens youth.

Next the summer film group learned to write a movie script, storyboard and practice some basic acting skills. They worked hard on a 33-page script called “Four Children”. They also spent time creating some original animation for their piece with a visiting animator. Their story is about a group of friends who have to deal with a strict uncaring teacher. Eventually, they learn to find their spirit power in nature as well as find strength in song and in the water. (They learned to use an under water camera for this scene!) The Wellness pool was alive with excitement and even a small Gardner snake joined the party. Who knows how it got into the pool, but the kids figured out how to safely put it back outside! Finally, the kids completed their summer program by creating a fun music video called “Be Healthy”. In the video the kids run, jump, swim and laugh to music about making healthy choices, drinking lots of water and eating good foods.

The students decided to go a head and plan for a public screening at the Muckleshoot pow wow on Saturday the 25th. It was fun and crazy to figure out how to bring the equipment into the dance tent and set up quickly between dinner and Grand Entry. The rain didn’t stop the kids…they only moved quicker and got everything in place. Nervously they started the show and watched with the audience as they premiered “Be Healthy” and “Four Children”. The youth did such a great job and the people watching knew the kids had worked very hard to create the films.

To end the summer program, some workshop participants took a trip to Seattle to help us accept an Arts and Culture Award from the Mayor. The youth came prepared but were also nervous to meet Greg Nickles just in case they would have to talk with him. Well, they got through with flying colors and made everyone so proud of their commitment and effort to tell their own stories! Our hands are raised to all of the young people who participated in the Muckleshoot Native Lens Summer Workshop and to all of the parent volunteers and school staff who supported the program!!!!!!
2007 Mayor's Arts Awards Announced.
Mayor Greg Nickels has announced the recipients of the fifth annual 2007 Mayor's Arts Awards. The Seattle Arts Commission reviewed nearly 200 public nominations and recommended the recipients to the mayor.

The 2007 Mayor's Arts Award recipients are Clarence Acox Jr., musician and director of Garfield High School's jazz program and its renowned jazz ensemble; Earshot Jazz and its Executive Director John Gilbreath; Jean Griffith, founding member and retired longtime director of Pottery Northwest; Longhouse Media's Native Lens Program; Massive Monkees, a b-boy (breakdance) crew; literary arts center Richard Hugo House; and Seattle Art Museum and Director Mimi Gardner Gates. Read more about the recipients here.The recipients will be honored at the Mayor's Arts Awards ceremony, noon, Friday, Aug. 31 at Seattle Center's Northwest Court. The outdoor ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will feature award presentations, followed by the official opening of Bumbershoot's Visual Arts Exhibits, which are free and open to the public from noon to 6 p.m. on Aug. 31.The Mayor's Arts Awards are presented in partnership with Bumbershoot®: Seattle's Music and Arts Festival and primary media sponsor Encore Arts Programs, the magazine proudly serving performing arts organizations throughout the Puget Sound. Media support is also provided by Seattle Channel and Seattle Magazine."Seattle artists and cultural organizations enhance our quality of life, they inspire, engage and contribute to our economic well being," said Nickels. "This year's award recipients reflect the diversity and extraordinary artistic achievement throughout the city, ranging from arts education to the literary and visual arts to jazz, film and hip hop."The Mayor's Arts Awards recognize the contributions made by artists, arts and cultural organizations and community members who make a difference through arts and cultural activities. To reflect the diversity of artistic achievement throughout the city, the awards do not have set categories."The Seattle Arts Commission is pleased to partner with Mayor Nickels to recognize the great contributions of this year's award recipients who inspire, provoke and connect us through a variety of artistic genres," said Dorothy Mann, Seattle Arts Commission chair. "The Mayor's Arts Awards shine the spotlight on the artistic and cultural jewels making a difference in our community."
Native-youth films in SIFF spotlight.

By Marc Ramirez
Seattle Times staff reporter

It's called "fly filmmaking" — or making films on the fly. Put another way, it's what happens when you bring 35 youths together, give them cameras and a script and ask them to produce a short film in less than two days.

Starting Thursday night, the young actors and filmmakers, ages 13 to 18, will converge on Skagit County's Swinomish Reservation to shoot and produce four interpretations of a script written for the event by Native American author Sherman Alexie.

The four films will then screen at Seattle's Egyptian Theater at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, kicking off the Seattle International Film Festival's (SIFF) FutureWave youth series. The FutureWave series showcases original live action, animated and documentary films up to 20 minutes long, all made by youths 18 and under; one film will be honored with the WaveMaker Award for artistic and technical achievement, including a $500 cash prize.

That SIFF is including the project as part of its prestigious program is significant, says Annie Silverstein, artistic director of project sponsor Longhouse Media. The Seattle-based nonprofit, funded mostly by the Swinomish tribe, fosters digital media and arts opportunities for youth, especially Native American kids.

"The fact that they picked us to host the first fly filmmaking project for youth is important, because it's showing they trust the work we're doing as being at the forefront of the youth-media wave," Silverstein says.

The fly filmmaking event echoes a similar event last year involving Native American youths from five Washington tribes and marking the one-year anniversary of Native Lens, a six-month film program run by Longhouse that teaches Native American youths to tell their stories through film. Native Lens was recently awarded National Geographic's All Roads seed grant for films by and about indigenous groups and underrepresented cultures.

This year's fly filmmakers are more diverse, including African-American, Latino, Asian and white students; most are from Washington state but others are coming in from California and Illinois. All applied for the chance to be part of the project, answering questions about their filmmaking experience and the representation and role of youth in the media.

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez@seattletimes.com
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                       
May 15, 2006 
CONTACT:  Tracy Rector
PHONE: 206-387-2468

First Ever Youth Fly Filmmaking Experience, a Partnership Between Longhouse Media’s NATIVE LENS program and the Seattle International Film Festival. 

Seattle, WA— Longhouse Media, an innovative media making organization, launches the first ever FutureWave Fly Filmmaking event in partnership with the Seattle International Film Festival.  Longhouse Media, a recent recipient of the National Geographic’s All Roads Seed grant for filmmaking, offers opportunities to Native youth to engage in technology and storytelling. FutureWave, launching this June, is a program of new works by the filmmakers of tomorrow.

What is Fly Filmmaking? An extremely artistic, creative, and stimulating form of filmmaking in which local filmmakers and actors are able to showcase their skills, collaborate with other artists, and premier their work at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF)! “Based on the incredibly short duration of time allotted to the filmmakers and actors, this process can be referred to as “on the fly,” that’s why it’s called: Fly Filmmaking.” remarked Longhouse Media’s Artistic Director Annie Silverstein.

On June 8th youth film makers from across the country will gather on the beautiful Swinomish Reservation, north of Seattle, to participate in the high-energy, cutting edge workshop.  Filmmakers, educators and actors will gather to guide the youth as they create original films in a 24-hour period, from a new short script written for the event, by acclaimed poet, author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie.

The final films will be premiered at the launch of the FutureWave youth film festival at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday June 10th, at the Egyptian Theater on Capital Hill, Seattle.  FutureWave will feature original short films (20 minutes or less) that are imaginative, evocative, innovative and inspiring -all from filmmakers who are 18 or younger. Films will range from narrative to documentary; live action to animation; shot on film or video. SIFF will present the best of young people’s filmmaking from around the world. 

Longhouse Media’s Executive Director Tracy Rector said, “We are excited and honored to be held up as innovators in the industry, by the Seattle International Film Festival.  I think it is an important moment in media when Native American’s have the opportunity to tell their own stories and encourage the next generation of young people to learn from one another how best to respect each other’s cultures and views.  The FutureWave filmmakers will have an opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people, make friends and make movies!”

The WaveMaker Award for excellence in youth filmmaking will be presented to one festival film chosen in recognition of its outstanding artistic and technical achievement. The award comes with a $500 cash prize.

When and Where:  June 10th, 2006 at the Egyptian Theater at 1:30 p.m.
Native Lens program introduces youth to media careers.

By Richard Walker
Indian Country reporter

SWINOMISH, Wash. - Swinomish elders vividly remember the fish and clams once yielded by the shores of March's Point.

Today, those shores are blighted by muck from the peninsula's three oil refineries. Beer cans, tires and trash are more likely to be found than clams. Above, in the path of bald eagles and migratory birds, exhaust billows from refinery smokestacks.

This land was supposed to be part of the Swinomish Indian Reservation, but delays in ratification of the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855 allowed non-Native settlement of the peninsula and, within 100 years, development of the area's first oil refinery.

''Slow Burn,'' a documentary by three Swinomish teens, explores the question of ownership of the peninsula - an issue being raised by Swinomish leaders - and the environmental impacts of the refineries.

The teens - Cody Cayou, 15; Nick Clark, 16; and Travis Tom, 15 - produced the documentary as part of the Native Lens program, which teaches media-making skills to young American Indians. The documentary received a standing ovation from a full house at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon during a Feb. 11 screening.

''We have so many talented kids out there. A lot of people don't realize the talent that is just crying to come out,'' said actress Elaine Miles, Cayuse/Nez Perce, who has 10 screen credits to her name, including ''Smoke Signals'' and ''Northern Exposure.''

''You should all be happy and proud of your kids.''

Miles encouraged Native Lens Artistic Director Annie Silverstein to submit the documentary to the Seattle and American Indian film festivals.

''They opened a can of worms that needs to be answered,'' Miles said later.

Native Lens is a program of Longhouse Media, a Seattle-based organization that teaches filmmaking skills as a form of storytelling to American Indian youth. Native Lens draws from traditional and modern forms of artistic expression, storytelling, teaching and inquiry.

''Our vision is to inspire youth to express their own stories and new thoughts as well as challenge assumptions about Native American culture,'' Silverstein said.

In a statement on Longhouse Media's Web site, actor Adam Beach (''Smoke Signals,'' ''Wind Talkers'') spoke of the importance of young Native people having a voice.

''The world needs to see us in the way we see ourselves. Our youth are the future,'' Beach said. ''Finally, we are taking control of our voice and the images of who we are as Native people by teaching them the skills to create our own media. Longhouse Media and Native Lens are important for this reason.''

Silverstein said Native Lens was born out of a discussion in 2003. Directors of 911 Media Arts Center, the predecessor of Longhouse Media, were talking about the importance of media as a way for young people to express themselves, and that Native youths' stories hadn't been told, Silverstein said. Longhouse Media approached funding sources, including tribal governments, for support and Native Lens started in 2004.

Funding for ''Slow Burn'' came from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Supporters of other films included First Nations Canoe Productions, the Suquamish Tribe and the Tulalip Tribes.

Other teen-produced films shown Feb. 11 included a public service announcement about lead poisoning; ''Bone Games,'' in which a young woman reminisces about childhood and her grandparents; ''Rez Life,'' about the choices a boy must make when becoming a man; a Claymation film in which Columbus visits the future and becomes repentant when he sees the destruction that will follow in his wake; and a film about the Suquamish Canoe Family Song and Dance Group's preparations to perform at the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Besides Cayou, Clark and Tom, others participating in the program were David Aleck, 15, Swinomish; Lenora Bagley, 13, Suquamish; Anna Cladoosby, 14, Swinomish/Tulalip; Frankie Dunn, 14, Cherokee; Chelsea Jones, 13, Suquamish; and Calina Lawrence, 13, Suquamish.

The teens learned to do thorough work but still have fun. For example, in ''Slow Burn,'' Cayou, Clark and Tom interviewed a refinery manager, filmed a mucky beach, explored old documents and wrote a letter to the governor. But in the ''bling bling'' scene, the trio don flashy jewelry and strike poses outside a gas station to emphasize the wealth that the refineries have acquired on the spit.

''The 'bling bling' scene was real fun,'' Clark said.

Some of the teens said Native Lens has opened their eyes to media as a possible career.

''Over the past few months, I've been thinking about what to do after school and college,'' Cayou said. ''I've been thinking about acting and filmmaking.''

Based on Native Lens' success in Washington state, Longhouse Media wants to see it grow into a national program, executive director Tracy Rector said.

In May, Native Lens brought 40 young people from five tribes together in Minnesota for two days of digital filmmaking and presentations by well-known Native artists and actors. A group of young participants planned and filmed ''Letter to Red Lake,'' a personal response to the March 21, 2005 shooting on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota.

Silverstein said Native Lens participants and Longhouse Media co-founders plan to meet with the community, present the video and collaborate with Red Lake youth on an educational media project about young people, violence and healing.

At the end of the Feb. 11 screening in Mount Vernon, an audience member asked Silverstein about the program's future here: Who will teach others these skills when Silverstein is gone?

She looked at the nine teens on stage with her and said, ''I think our teachers are right here.''

For more information about Longhouse Media and Native Lens, visit www.longhousemedia.org.
Copyright 2006 Longhouse Media