Weaving Worlds Press Kit

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In this compelling and intimate portrait of economic and cultural survival through art, Navajo filmmaker Bennie Klain takes viewers into the world of contemporary Navajo weavers and their struggles for self-sufficiency. Highlighting untold stories and colorful characters involved in the making and selling of Navajo rugs, Weaving Worlds explores the lives of Navajo artisans and their unique--and often controversial--relationship with Reservation traders. The film artfully relates the Navajo concepts of kinship and reciprocity with the human and cultural connections to sheep, wool, water and the land, showing how indigenous artisans strive for cultural vitality and environmental sustainability in the face of globalization by "reweaving the world."

For viewers: Please contact your local public television to find out when they will be scheduling this program.

Below are resources for stations to use in promoting their carriage of Weaving Worlds :

 



 

 

Zonnie Gillmore, a weaver from Chinle, Ariz., waits for the results of the bids at the Crownpoint rug auction. Alice
Weaving Worlds explores the economics and cultural survival through art among the Navajo. Lorraine Herder, Edith Simonson’s sister, picks brush to dye the wool the traditional way.
While some Navajo weavers use store-bought wool, Edith Simonson still raises sheep and spins wool the traditional way. Weaving Worlds Producer Bennie Klain

CLICK ON THE ABOVE IMAGES FOR LARGER BETTER QUALITY IMAGES FOR DOWNLOAD.
Image 1 (256 KB) Image 2 (344 KB) Image 3 (60 KB) Image 4 (314 KB) Image 5 (274 KB) Image 6 (529 KB). A list of photo captions (8 KB). Images courtesy of Nancy Schiesari.

Reviews:

Visual Anthropology Review

"This film is an excellent resource for teaching and learning about Navajo culture, capitalism and Native American history and is a "must see" for all Native Americans." --Beverly R. Singer, University of Mexico; American Indian Quarterly | Read the full review

"This well-paced film has high production values and provides an insider's view that is well worth checking out."--John Nesbit, Old School Film Reviews

"The film helps students to critically consider the processes and complexities of cultural continuity and change, and the confluence of spiritual, creative and economic motivations in art production."--Heather A. Howard, Michigan State University; Anthropology Review

"In this profoundly thought-provoking documentary, Weaving Worlds, filmmaker Bennie Klain ushers us out of the stores and into the homes of the weavers, who take us on a fascinating journey into their minds, memories, hearts and deep cultural roots."--Austin Film Society

"If films are about observation, it occurs to me that Bennie Klain and his film associates have used their highest skills of observation to raise a hugely important discussion among Navajo people by producing this film."--Beverly R. Singer, University of Mexico; American Indian Quarterly

 "Weaving Worlds possesses a critical point-of-view that, in the absence of voice-over narration, emerges through editing and cinematography."--Randolph Lewis; The Velvet Light Trap, Number 66, Fall 2010, pp. 50-61 (Article: The New Navajo Cinema: Cinema and Nation in the Indigenous Southwest)