Native American & Indigenous Film
by Sanguine_Marble | created - 01 Jul 2013 | updated - 01 Jul 2013 | PublicThese are some of my favorite/important films featuring American Indian/Indigenous people/characters. I have an M.A. in Media Studies and did my thesis on American Indian women directors, so this subject is very interesting to me.
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1. Whale Rider (2002)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Family
A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 43,988 | Gross: $20.78M
Love this film! So rare to feature an Indigenous girl's story at the forefront!
2. Skins (2002)
R | 84 min | Crime, Drama
An inspirational tale about the relationship between two Sioux brothers living on the Pine Ridge reservation.
Director: Chris Eyre | Stars: Eric Schweig, Graham Greene, Gary Farmer, Noah Watts
Votes: 1,557 | Gross: $0.24M
Love this film by Chris Eyre, especially the last scene.
3. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)
119 min | Documentary
A film account about the military 1990 siege of a Native American reserve near Oka, Quebec, Canada and its causes.
Director: Alanis Obomsawin | Stars: Jack Burning, Herbie Barnes, Alanis Obomsawin, Ethel Blondin
Votes: 473
Love Alanis Obomsawin! You can find her full-length documentary films here: http://www.nfb.ca/explore-all-directors/alanis-obomsawin/
4. Trudell (2005)
PG | 79 min | Documentary
A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances and politics.
Director: Heather Rae | Stars: Robert Redford, Kris Kristofferson, Sam Shepard, Amy Ray
Votes: 506 | Gross: $0.02M
Amazing and beautiful film by Heather Rae!
5. Smoke Signals (1998)
PG-13 | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
Arnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
Director: Chris Eyre | Stars: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer
Votes: 12,573 | Gross: $6.72M
The most well-know Indian directed film (Chris Eyre). Great indie gem!
6. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
R | 172 min | Drama
The telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
Director: Zacharias Kunuk | Stars: Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Lucy Tulugarjuk
Votes: 6,854 | Gross: $3.79M
It was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut, and has been highly praised.
7. Four Sheets to the Wind (2007)
R | 81 min | Drama, Romance
After his father's untimely suicide, Cufe leaves his home in a Native American reservation in search of a more fulfilling life.
Director: Sterlin Harjo | Stars: Wes Allen, Jeri Arredondo, Laura Bailey, Nando Betancur
Votes: 639
Directed by one of my fav Indian directors Sterlin Harjo, featuring great performances by Cody Lightning and Tamara Podemski. A lovely low-budget film!
8. Barking Water (2009)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
Frankie is dying. Irene hasn't forgiven him. And they are racing against time to find their way home. Frankie needs help and Irene is the one he turns to. He must go home one last time. And... See full summary »
Director: Sterlin Harjo | Stars: Bebe Harjo, Gabriel Pelayo, Frederick Schroeder, Quese IMC
Votes: 214
Another lovely film by Sterlin Harjo! Side Note: This is writer Sherman Alexie's fav Native American film.
9. Thunderheart (1992)
R | 119 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham Greene, Fred Ward
Votes: 17,095 | Gross: $22.66M
While it has a white male lead, it features great performances from Graham Greene & Sheila Tousey and touches on some real issues (Sheila's character is based on the amazing Anna Mae Pictou Aquash).
10. Incident at Oglala (1992)
PG | 89 min | Documentary, History
This film describes the events surrounding a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge reservation in S. Dakota where two FBI agents were killed.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Robert Redford, Norman Zigrossi, Robert Sikma, Darelle 'Dino' Butler
Votes: 1,284 | Gross: $0.54M
Side note: Leonard Peltier is still in prison, even though the F.B.I. evidence that put him there is sketchy. This film & Thunderheart would be good screened together.
11. Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
PG | 94 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Kenneth Branagh, Laura Monaghan
Votes: 30,201 | Gross: $6.17M
Great film that focuses on the history of aboriginal children in New Zealand (happened in the U.S. and Canada too) being forced into Boarding schools.
12. Ten Canoes (2006)
Unrated | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Australia's Northern Territory, a man tells us a story of his people and his land. It's about an older man, Minygululu, who has three wives and realizes that his younger brother Dayindi may try to steal away the youngest wife.
Directors: Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr | Stars: Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Minygululu
Votes: 5,101 | Gross: $0.28M
Love Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil (Crocodile Dundee, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Tracker).
13. Frozen River (2008)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama
A mom looks for another source of income, when her husband leaves with the money meant for the new mobile home. A nearby Indian territory stretches across the border to Canada with a drivable frozen river between. Smuggling?
Director: Courtney Hunt | Stars: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe
Votes: 26,436 | Gross: $2.51M
Great performances. Native actress Misty Upham has a great supporting role in this.
14. Miss Navajo (2007)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary
The role of women and tradition in Dine (Navajo) culture is explored through a young woman's quest for the Miss Navajo Nation crown.
Director: Billy Luther | Stars: Radmilla Cody, Marilyn Help Hood, Ida Gail Organick
Votes: 75
Great Documentary! Check it out on Netflix!
15. Clearcut (1991)
R | 100 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction.
Director: Ryszard Bugajski | Stars: Ron Lea, Graham Greene, Michael Hogan, Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman
Votes: 1,351
I haven't seen this one yet, but I'm sure Graham Greene is amazing.
16. Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School (2008 Video)
80 min | Documentary, Family
From Rich-Heape Films, the award winning producers of Trail of Tears Cherokee Legacy and Black Indians An American Story and told from the Native American perspective, this documentary ... See full summary »
Directors: Chip Richie, Dan Agent, Gayle Ross, Karl Tipre | Stars: Gayle Ross, August Schellenberg
Votes: 37
Harrowing story of how the U.S. government forced Native children into boarding schools.
17. Apache 8 (2011)
Documentary
APACHE 8 tells the story of an all-women wildland firefighter crew from the White Mountain Apache Tribe, who have been fighting fires in Arizona and throughout the U.S., for over 30 years. ... See full summary »
Director: Sande Zeig
Votes: 30
Love this documentary directed by Sande Zeig and produced by Heather Rae.
18. Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, History, Western
The story of the Apache chief and his armed resistance to the U.S. Government's subjugation of his people.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Wes Studi
Votes: 13,429 | Gross: $18.64M
While I love Wes Studi in anything, the movie lacks mention of the female warrior Lozen whose skill helped them tremendously! Definitely look her up, she was pretty awesome.
19. The Only Good Indian (2009)
114 min | Western
Set in Kansas during the early 1900s, a teen-aged Native American boy (newcomer Winter Fox Frank) is taken from his family and forced to attend a distant Indian "training" school to ... See full summary »
Director: Kevin Willmott | Stars: Wes Studi, J. Kenneth Campbell, Winter Fox Frank, Paul Butler
Votes: 376
Another great performance from Wes Studi, and a depiction of Indian boarding schools.
20. Older Than America (2008)
102 min | Drama
A Native American woman is haunted by visions that compel her to seek the truth about a residential school.
Director: Georgina Lightning | Stars: Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, Bradley Cooper, Georgina Lightning
Votes: 1,214
Georgina Lightning directs this haunting film.
21. The Business of Fancydancing (2002)
103 min | Drama, Music
Seymour Polatkin is a successful, gay Native American poet from Spokane who confronts his past when he returns to his childhood home on the reservation to attend the funeral of a dear friend.
Director: Sherman Alexie | Stars: Evan Adams, Michelle St. John, Gene Tagaban, Swil Kanim
Votes: 548 | Gross: $0.17M
One of the few fiction films exploring Two-Spirit identity.
22. Two Spirits (2009)
R | 65 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Lydia Nibley explores the cultural context behind a tragic and senseless murder. Fred Martinez was a Navajo youth slain at the age of 16 by a man who bragged to his friends that ... See full summary »
Director: Lydia Nibley
Votes: 93
Also known as Two Spirits: Sexuality, Gender, and the Murder of Fred Martinez
23. Naturally Native (1998)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama
Three Native American sisters (Red-Horse, Bedard, Guerrero) decide to try to sell a line of cosmetics they call Naturally Native, based on old tribal remedies, only to have to fight an ... See full summary »
Directors: Jennifer Wynne Farmer, Valerie Red-Horse | Stars: Valerie Red-Horse, Yvonne Russo, Irene Bedard, Kimberly Guerrero
Votes: 167 | Gross: $0.01M
One of the few fiction films featuring female Native American leads.
24. Edge of America (2004 TV Movie)
105 min | Drama
Based on a true story, a black educator takes a job teaching high-school English at the Three Nations Reservation, and is coaxed into coaching the girls basketball team.
Director: Chris Eyre | Stars: James McDaniel, Irene Bedard, Delanna Studi, Misty Upham
Votes: 462
Another great one by Chris Eyre.
25. The Doe Boy (2001)
85 min | Drama, Romance
A Cherokee boy is a haemophiliac in a culture obsessed with blood identity.
Director: Randy Redroad | Stars: Kevin Anderson, Robert A. Guthrie, Nathaniel Arcand, Jeri Arredondo
Votes: 294
Intriguing film by Randy Redroad.
26. The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006)
112 min | Drama
A portrayal of the lives of the last great Inuit shaman, Avva, and his beautiful and headstrong daughter, Apak. Based on the journals of 1920s Danish ethnographer Knud Rasmussen.
Directors: Norman Cohn, Zacharias Kunuk | Stars: Pakak Innuksuk, Leah Angutimarik, Neeve Irngaut, Natar Ungalaaq
Votes: 385
Also by the crew that did Atanarjuat:The Fast Runner
27. The Last Wave (1977)
PG | 106 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Frederick Parslow
Votes: 10,997
28. Windtalkers (2002)
R | 134 min | Action, Drama, War
Two U.S. Marines in World War II are assigned to protect Navajo Marines, who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich
Votes: 73,478 | Gross: $40.91M
A lot of people attribute the U.S.'s success in WWI & WWII to Choctaw and Navajo code talkers.
29. Choctaw Code Talkers (2010)
56 min | Documentary
In 1918, not yet citizens of the U.S., Choctaw members of the American Expeditionary Forces were asked to use their Native language as a powerful tool against the German Forces in World War... See full summary »
Director: Valerie Red-Horse | Stars: Israel Richard Adams, Mary Ashby Anderson, Calvin Billy, William Billy
Votes: 14
Great film by Native director Valerie Red-Horse.
30. Spirit Rider (1993 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Family
Jesse Threebears is a troubled Native-American teen who has been tossed from one foster home to the next since his mother died when he was an infant. Finally, he is taken in by his ... See full summary »
Director: Michael J.F. Scott | Stars: Herbie Barnes, Gordon Tootoosis, Michelle St. John, Tantoo Cardinal
Votes: 150
31. DreamKeeper (2003)
TV-PG | 174 min | Drama, Fantasy
The legends of the Native American nations come to life in this epic new miniseries, as two generations--a century-old storyteller and his grandson, a troubled 17-year-old boy--embark on a cross-country journey toward self-discovery.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: August Schellenberg, Eddie Spears, Gary Farmer, John Trudell
Votes: 1,717
I have yet to see this, but I've heard lots of raves about it.
32. Blackstone (2009–2015)
44 min | Drama
Blackstone is an authentic drama that explores the dynamics of family, power and politics on a First Nation reserve.
Stars: Carmen Moore, Eric Schweig, Michelle Thrush, Steven Cree Molison
Votes: 424
Canadian show with great performances by a ton of Native actresses/actors.
33. Christmas in the Clouds (2001)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
During the holidays at a ski resort in Utah run by a Native American tribe, the overworked manager and a widowed woman from the big city overcome mistaken identities and intrusive guests in their pursuit of romance.
Director: Kate Montgomery | Stars: Timothy Vahle, Sam Vlahos, Mariana Tosca, M. Emmet Walsh
Votes: 888
34. Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 100 min | Drama
Mary Crow Dog, daughter of a desperately poor Indian family in South Dakota, is swept up in the protests of the 1960s and becomes sensitized to the injustices that society inflicts on her ... See full summary »
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Charles Abourezk, Dave Bald Eagle, Lawrence Bayne, Edgar Bear Runner
Votes: 331
Hard to find film, featuring an excellent performance by Irene Bedard (voice of Disney's Pocahontas).
35. Turquoise Rose (2007)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
Raised in the suburbs of Phoenix, a Navajo college student must choose between a vacation in Rome or moving to the reservation to care for her ailing grandmother.
Director: Travis Holt Hamilton | Stars: Deshava Apachee, Donavon G. Barney, Ethel Begay, Kathleen Benner
Votes: 95
36. Rez Bomb (2008)
95 min | Romance, Thriller
Set on and around the poorest place in the USA, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Rez Bomb is a love story/thriller about a Lakota girl and a white guy who are very much in love but get ... See full summary »
Director: Steven Lewis Simpson | Stars: Amara Zaragoza, Trent Ford, Chris Robinson, Russell Means
Votes: 80
37. Coyote Waits (2003 TV Movie)
107 min | Drama, Mystery
Two tribal cops uncover a plot involving a lost fortune, an historical artifact and a mythical Coyote on a Navajo reservation.
Director: Jan Egleson | Stars: Adam Beach, Candice Costello, Jimmy Herman, Gary Kanin
Votes: 745
Park of PBS pictures detective series featuring Native-themed stories starring Wes Studi & Adam Beach
38. Powwow Highway (1988)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Drama
Two Northern Cheyenne men take a road trip from Montana to New Mexico to bail out the sister of one of them who has been framed and arrested in Santa Fe. On the way, they begin to reconnect to their spiritual heritage.
Director: Jonathan Wacks | Stars: Gary Farmer, A Martinez, Joanelle Romero, Amanda Wyss
Votes: 1,897 | Gross: $0.28M
Gary Farmer is always entertaining.
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