Coming Attractions

The all-female wildland firefighting crew from the White Mountain Apache Tribe has been fighting fires on the reservation and throughout the United States for more than 30 years. With humor and tenderness, four extraordinary women from different generations of the Apache 8 crew share their personal stories.

Program Website: www.apache8.com

The film Casino Nation is a snapshot of a Native American tribe at a crossroads. After having endured a long and bloody struggle over tribal gaming, the Seneca Nation of Indians is now in the casino business. In production now, this film highlights the impact of sudden prosperity on this small sovereign nation that has historically struggled with crushing poverty. Will the distinctive culture and identity of these native people be able to withstand the onslaught of American culture’s promise of big and easy money? And will the tribe be able to heal the deep rifts created by conflict over casinos? The film explores these and other issues facing the Senecas during this critical time of sweeping change.

Program Website: www.casinonation.net

In 1918, not yet citizens of the U.S., Choctaw tribal members of the U.S. American Expeditionary Forces were asked to use their native language as a powerful tool against the German Forces in World War I, setting a precedent for code talking as an effective military weapon and establishing them as America's original Code Talkers.

In Games of the North, Director Jonathon Stanton follows the lives of four Native Alaskan athletes as they compete in the traditional sports of their ancestors. Mental strength and physical endurance are tested with contests of high kicking to seal hopping. But such games are more than sport—they instill a survival instinct for living in the Arctic, building perseverance, strength and Alaska Native values.

Program Website: www.gamesofthenorth.com

Beau LeBeau (Oglala Lakota) is obese. Several members of his family are obese, and his mother died last year from diabetes. This is a real-time movie that documents his journey to get healthy by converting to a traditional Lakota diet centered on buffalo and native foods. LeBeau will be under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Weiland as he explores the history and culture of the modern reservation.

Using a mix of animation, music and ideas from people who see the world from a Native American perspective, the film explores such topics as Creation, First Contact and the Soul of America and offers a visually stunning, thought-provoking mosaic of reflections on our shared past, turbulent present and undiscovered future.

Comanche activist LaDonna Harris, who has led an extensive life of Indian political and social activism, is now passing her traditional cultural and leadership values to a new generation of emerging indigenous leaders.

Preview trailer.

The North Arctic landscape is changing rapidly—so too are the lives of Inupiat Natives living on tiny, vanishing island of Kivalina, Alaska. Many believe global warming is to blame but filmmakers show how one humble village fights to save their homeland under a cloud of doubt.

Losing Ground NAPT Page

The phrase "Native American music" may not invoke tubas and baton twirlers, but brass band music has been a part of Native culture for more than a century. Combining portraits of contemporary bands and archival material, the film offers an unexpected view into this surprising music scene.

Native Americans return from WWI to pursue freedom at home. Will Rogers finds stardom, Osages strike oil, Indians meet tourism and tribes create new governments, then another generation fights for the U.S. in WWII. NAPT funding will support scripting for episode two of the four-part series.

Moving beyond stereotypes of the past and present, the film tells the complex story of contemporary life on the Navajo Nation—America's largest Indian reservation—from the perspective of three high school boys' cross-country teams.

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/RacingtheRez

The history of lacrosse in North America is a rich and multi-layered one. Much more than a Native American ball and stick game, lacrosse is a cultural window into Native American communities and their historical relationship with each other and the dominant culture. Our goal is to develop a documentary that looks at the culture, history and resurfacing of lacrosse as it relates to Natives and Non-Natives.

Check out Patty Loew's Producer Profile

Check out Michelle Danforth's Producer Profile

Through the perspective of the small Chitimacha Indian tribe of Lousiana’s Atchafalaya Basin—known as “the people of the many waters”—the film explores the different ways of knowing and remembering Native American history and offers alternative accounts.

As their high school graduation approaches, three Native American teenagers in Navajo, New Mexico, must decide whether to stay in their community—a place inextricably linked to their identity—or pursue opportunities elsewhere.

Program Website: www.upheartbreakhill.com

Program's Facebook Page

The Emmy-nominated documentary Walking into the Unknown will make you a first eye-witness in the intimate journey of one man, Dr. Arne Vainio, a Native American physician and health columnist for both local and national newspapers.  An enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Dr. Vainio realizes that he needs to digest and personally implement the advice that he gives to his own middle-aged patients upon his impending 50th birthday. You’ll experience this very personal turning point in one man’s life and his quest to overcome the health issues that are jeopardizing his future.

Program Website: www.sightspeaks.com

From the perspective of Lakota activist Madonna Thunder Hawk, the film traces the untold history of women's activism in the Red Power Movement and follows Thunder Hawk as she encounters the major players in events that changed the landscape of Indian Country forever.

Program Website: www.warriorwomen.org