For the last eight years the Hanson Film Institute has partnered with the Arizona State Museum to develop and produce the Native Eyes Film Showcase featuring the best new works by and about Native Americans and Indigenous peoples. This blog is written by Vicky Westover, director of the Hanson Film Institute, College of Fine Arts, University of Arizona. She and Lisa Falk, director of education at the Arizona State Museum, rely on their dynamic collaboration to create a provocative showcase each year.

I think what makes the partnership between the Arizona State Museum and the Hanson Film Institute so valuable and significant is Lisa’s expertise in Native history, culture, and issues, coupled with my expertise in film history, aesthetics, and production. Lisa provides creative thinking around ways to engage audiences in related activities and post screening discussion, and I bring to the project the highest quality filmmaking being made and the highest quality in technical exhibition possible. This is a strong combination.

As curators of Native Eyes, I think our method should be to look for very best work by and about Native Americans and Indigenous peoples currently available to us and then make selections in order to present it in a meaningful way to the audience. For example, we need to consider what these films are saying about how we understand Native culture today and how Native filmmakers want us to understand their culture. Why was the filmmaker drawn to this subject? Many of the films featured in this year’s showcase have a theme of courage and gratitude. By presenting them in this way we ask audiences to think about these issues.

While labels such as good and bad are not particularly helpful, I want to specify the things I look for in a film (here I am talking mostly about narrative work). I realize that some of the adjectives I use are subjective:

• Originality and personal point of view
• Quality idea and writing (including the ending)
• Highly Capable directing and therefore acting
• Highly capable cinematography (composition, camera movement, etc.)
• Highly capable production design
• Good editing
• Good soundtrack (design and mix)

Since emerging filmmakers may not have all of the above, I look for excellence in as many aspects possible. I can forgive weakness in some aspects (except almost never for concept/writing, directing, and acting) if there is high quality in other aspects.

Since we have a relatively short showcase, I believe it is our duty to the filmmakers, to the audience, to the art form, and to the content issues, to present stellar examples of work being done by both emerging and established Native American filmmakers. I believe that we are pretty much equally about the art form and the cultural content. In this day when so many people can make films, it is especially important to have high standards.

In any given showcase, and based on work available, we can decide on any or all of the following and have a juxtaposition, a balance, or a preponderance of:

• Content Issues
• Gender representation
• Theme
• Tone
• Genre/style (including structure)
• Tribal affiliation
• Geographic location

Does my own aesthetic taste come in to play as a programmer? Yes! That’s the joy of being a film programmer. For example, I tend to like long camera takes, a slower editing pace, strong compositions, strong personal points of view, and black and white cinematography. I have an appreciation for both naturalistic and mannered acting styles. As we review works, first we look for good quality filmmaking and then make selections based on content, issues, etc. followed by decisions on film order and pairing, and availability of guest filmmakers, etc.

A goal of Native Eyes is to convey something about Native American culture and point of view through film in an accessible way and challenge audiences when possible. Challenging work for many audience members can be films that do not adhere to mainstream filmmaking conventions. For example, they don’t follow standard narrative structure, or camera work, or editing pace, or they mix genres. So is there room for entertainment and feel good stories? Of course! But they also need to fit our criteria of high quality aesthetic film experiences.

This year as in past years, we try to pair feature films with shorts and also offer a shorts program. Shorts are an excellent way to get a glimpse into the development of a filmmaker. Many will uses shorts to try out new ideas and techniques. We also always bring in filmmakers, or actors or others who can comment on the making of the film or engage in a discussion about the film’s subject with the audience. It makes a fuller experience and provides deeper understanding to the attendees.

More information on this year’s Native Eyes Film Showcase’s featured films and locations is on Arizona State Museum’s website. Photos from these films: Grab, Off the Rez, Apache 8, Matariki.