American Indian activist, poet, actor John Trudell to keynote BCC American Indian Film Festival

BELLEVUE, WASH. – John Trudell, a Santee Sioux known world-wide for his radical activism as leader of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s and later for his powerful poetry, music and oratory, will be the featured speaker at Bellevue Community College’s Fifth Annual American Indian Film Festival Nov. 15 and 16.

     Subtitled “Cultural Survival in The Arts,” the festival will be held primarily in Carlson Theatre, located in Building E on Bellevue Community College’s main campus (3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue, at the intersection of S.E. 28th St. and 148th Ave. S.E.).

     All festival events are free and open to the public.

     Trudell’s keynote address will follow the 4 p.m., Nov. 16, showing and discussion of “Trudell: The Movie.”

     The festival will also feature films by the late Phil Lucas (Choctaw), who founded the Festival, and works by his students.

     Lucas, who died last February, was a Bellevue Community College instructor and an Emmy-winning, internationally known producer of feature films and documentaries.

     Lucas’ son Jessy will lead the opening ceremonies, and a special commemorative session highlighting Phil Lucas’ work will be held in the evening on Nov. 15, in room 201 of the college’s N Building (at the south end of the campus).

     The festival will also feature:

     ●    "Finding Dawn," with introduction and discussion by the director, Canadian filmmaker Christine Welsh (Métis). This wrenching, 70-minute documentary puts a human face on three of the estimated 500 Native women who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada over the past thirty years. Along the road to honor those who have passed, we uncover reason for hope.

     ●    "The Duck-In," introduced and discussed by the co-producer, Rachel Edwardson (Inupiat). “The Duck-In” tells the story of the Inupiat’s successful protest against the U.S. government's insensitivity to their traditional way of life at the time of Alaska’s statehood.

     ●    "Sacred Salmon: A Gift to Sustain Life” and “Restoring the Balance," which mix the comments of Native Americans with scientific research to illustrate the impact of chemical contamination on the ways of life of Native American tribes of the Columbia River and its tributaries.

     ●    “Half of Anything,” presented and discussed by director Jonathan Tomhave (Hidatsa/Prairie Band Potawatomi/Hocak). In this film four Native Americans, including John Trudell and Sherman Alexie, share their thoughts on the question, "What is a real Indian?".

     ●    ”Seeds of Life” and “Red & White,” with commentary by the filmmaker. Karen Brioso (Cherokee). "Seeds of Life" presents one man’s story as an agent of ethical change and how he affects his community through his connection to spirit, identity and place. "Red and White" reveals Brioso’s own struggle to reconcile being half white and half Cherokee.

     Paintings of local artist, Steve Hapy (Anishinabe descent), poetry readings by local writers and a performance by virtuoso violinist Swil Kanim (Lummi) also will be presented.

     Potlucks at 4 p.m. on Nov. 15 and 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 will give festival-goers an opportunity to meet some of the artists and speakers.

     For a full schedule of festival activities visit http://bellevuecollege.edu/aiff/ or contact Sara Sutler-Cohen at ssutler@bcc.ctc.edu or (425) 564-5722.

     The American Indian Film Festival is presented by faculty, staff and students of Bellevue Community College, with media sponsorship by BCC’s KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio.

ABOUT JOHN TRUDELL
     A controversial man of historic proportions, John Trudell came to prominence in the late 1960s when he and a community group, Indians of All Tribes, occupied Alcatraz Island for 21 months.

     That action brought international recognition for the contemporary Indian cause, which Trudell helped lead as national spokesman for the American Indian Movement (AIM).

     Trudell became one of the most volatile political activists of the 1970s, considered by the government to ‘militant’ and ‘subversive.’ The FBI dossier on Trudell exceeded 17,000 pages, one of the longest in the bureau’s history.

     Trudell dropped from the public eye in 1979 when, just 12 hours after he burned an American flag in protest on the steps of FBI headquarters, his pregnant wife, three young children and mother-in-law were killed in a house fire on a Nevada reservation – a suspected arson that was never officially investigated.

     Following that tragedy Trudell began to channel his anger, emotion and political commentary through poetry and music, for which he has won wide acclaim.

     Trudell has also acted in several movies, including “Thunderheart” and “Smoke Signals.” He most recently played Coyote in Hallmark’s television movie, “Dreamkeeper.”

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