Events
Indigenous Cinema '22
Week Four December 2 – 5, 2022
"Trafkintun" feat. Waikil con banda acústica (Sesión en Vivo en la Ruka)
| Title: | "Trafkintun" feat. Waikil con banda acústica (Sesión en Vivo en la Ruka) |
| Release Date: | 2019 |
| Runtime: | 5:33 minutes |
| Director: | Gerardo Quezada |
| Language: | Mapuzungun and Spanish |
| Countries/Territories: | Ngulumapu (Chile) |
| Community/Nation: | Mapuche |
| Synopsis: | “Trafkintun” is a song inspired by the ülkantun (traditional Mapuche song) of my maternal grandmother Francisca Huaiquil. Through her song, she makes visible the values and ties of friendship. The song is a call to strengthen this traditional practice, which is maintained in some places in the Mapuche territory, Wallmapu, where families from different locations gather to share and exchange not only material things, but also knowledge of the word. |
| Director Bio: | Jaime Cuyanao Venegas is a Mapuche artist, who under the name of Waikil, makes rap music in Spanish and Mapuzungun (traditional Mapuche language). He is the son of a Mapuche father and mother from the areas of Vilcún and Traiguén respectively, and although he was born in the city of Santiago, he spent part of his childhood in the south of Chile (Traiguén), where he lived in the countryside with his maternal grandmother, with whom he maintained an intense connection. Since living in Santiago, he has begun to strengthen his Mapuche identity and, through music, to recount the everyday experiences of his people in both rural and urban areas. Currently, the lyricist together with his band are working on an acoustic format, through which they have explored new sounds, fusing genres of Latin American music, Mapuche music (ayekawe) and rap, building a mix of rhythms, chords, and melodies that are intertwined with rhymes in Spanish and Mapuzungun. His band is made up of Lorena Manzo (Kultrún and Peruvian Cajón), Francisco Herrera (Violin and Udu), Cristofer Collio (Guitar and Pifilka), Vicente Fabres (Bass), and Jaime Cuyanao (Voice and Mapuche instruments). |
Ma's House
| Title: | Ma's House |
| Release Date: | 2022 |
| Runtime: | 9:00 minutes |
| Director: | Jeremy Dennis |
| Language: | English |
| Countries/Territories: | US |
| Community/Nation: | Shinnecock |
| Synopsis: | Ma’s House was once the heart of a community for the Shinnecock peoples, who have remained in their same homelands for 10,000 years. As Ma’s grandson, artist and photographer Jeremy Dennis is on a quest to restore the family home to its central role as a community gathering place for a new generation of diverse artists. Through personal mementos, intimate narratives, and a touch of celebrity gossip, Dennis and his family reveal generations of history and hope contained within the walls of their home. |
| Director Bio: | Jeremy Dennis is a contemporary fine art photographer and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY. In his work, he explores Indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation. He has been part of several group and solo exhibitions and holds an MFA from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, and a BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University, NY. He currently lives and works in Southampton, New York on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. |
Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: Essa Terra É Nossa! / This Land Is Our Land!
| Title: | Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: Essa Terra É Nossa! / This Land Is Our Land! |
| Release Date: | 2020 |
| Runtime: | 70 minutes |
| Directors: | Isael Maxakali, Sueli Maxakali, Carolina Canguçu, Roberto Romero |
| Languages: | Portuguese and Guaraní with Portuguese, Spanish, and English subtitles |
| Countries/Territories: | Brazil |
| Community/Nation: | Maxakali |
| Synopsis: | In the past, white people did not exist and we lived hunting with our yãmĩyxop spirits. But the whites came, cut down the forests, dried up the rivers, and drove the animals away. Today, our long trees are gone, the whites have surrounded us, and our land is tiny. But our yãmĩyxop are very strong and they teach us the stories and songs of the ancients who walked here. |
| Director Bio: |
Isael Maxakali is a filmmaker, teacher, and visual artist. He directed the films Tatakox (2007); Xokxop pet (2009); Yiax Kaax - Fim do Resguardo (2010); Xupapoynãg (2011); Kotkuphi (2011); Yãmîy (2011); Mîmãnãm (2011); Quando os yãmîy vêm dançar conosco (2011); Kakxop pit hãmkoxuk xop te yũmũgãhã (Iniciação dos filhos dos espíritos da terra, 2015), Konãgxeka: o Dilúvio Maxakali (2016), and Yãmiyhex: as mulheres-espírito (2019). In 2020, he won the PIPA Online Award, one of the main contemporary art awards in Brazil. Sueli Maxakali is a filmmaker, teacher, and photographer. She co-directed the films Quando os yãmiy vêm dançar conosco (2011) and Yãmiyhex: as mulheres-espírito (2019). In 2009, she published the photo book Koxuk Xop Imagem (Beco do Azougue Editorial) about the rituals and daily life of Aldeia Verde, with photographs of Maxakali women. Carolina Canguçu received her masters degree in Social Communication from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and currently coordinates the Interprogramming of TV Educativa da Bahia. She is an editor, researcher, film teacher, and curator of documentary exhibitions. She works with traditional peoples in audiovisual training courses. She has been a member of the Filmes de Quintal collective for 12 years, which organizes forumdoc.bh, Belo Horizonte's Documentary and Ethnographic Film Festival. Roberto Romero has a PhD in Social Anthropology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He is a member of Associação Filmes de Quintal and one of the organizers of the forumdoc.bh, Belo Horizonte's Documentary and Ethnographic Film Festival. He was assistant director for the feature film Yãmĩyhex: the women-spirit (Sueli and Isael Maxakali, 2019). |
The Hemispheric Institute and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution present Indigenous Cinema 2022.
Following Ailton Krenak’s invitation to consider the interdependence between all living beings, we look at what nourishes and sustains us: from the primary bond to land and water, to acts of healing and ceremony. Beyond denunciation, these films delve into Indigenous conceptions of territoriality and spirituality, with images and sounds that channel vitality, connection and relationality in the face of the multiple threats to our collective wellbeing. Can we retrace the pathways, listen to the seeds, to the rivers, and the poets? Can we petition the spirits and sing in our own languages?
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