Institute History
Description
PROGRAM THREE
Hidden Medicine is an
experimental, mystical film that deals with the relationship between indigenous people and the environment. The story takes place in Onondaga
country with appearances by Chief Oren Lyons and clan mother Audrey Shenendoah. A young girl, played by director Robby Romero’s daughter, has a dream about a traditional
runner who takes a crucial
message from his clan to the United Nations. The film beautifully weaves story, poetry, music, and politics,
creating an impending sense of our planet’s struggle to survive.
City of Dreams by Jorge
Manzano tells the dramatic story of a young Native man who leaves his community with his mother to move to Toronto, her “city of dreams,” only to find poverty, alcoholism, and disillusionment. He encounters the street, insanity, and eventually prison, and there he learns of the death of his mother and first touches the spiritual
elements of his culture, finding a sense of renewal.
Today Is a Good Day:
Remembering Chief Dan George is Loretta Todd’s memoir of the legendary chief, most remembered for his performance as Old Lodgeskins in Little Big Man. His performance in Arthur Penn’s classic gained him an Oscar nomination and brought a newer, more accurate dimension to Native characterization. Todd’s intimate engagement with his family, early life, and personal mandate to dignify the American Indian on film is deeply touching. Dan George was a man of humor, compassion, and
eloquence, truly extraordinary.
Loretta Todd, Director
Loretta Todd has made many award-winning films including Forgotten Warriors, which screened at Sundance in 1997. She studied film at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and received a Rockefeller Fellowship at NYU. She is a director and writer, and attended the Sundance Screenwriters Lab with her script Raven. Today Is a Good Day: Remembering Chief Dan George is her most recent work. She is Cree from northern Alberta amd makes her home in Vancouver.