Older than America

Last updated
Older than America
Older than America Poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Georgina Lightning
Written by
Produced by
  • Christine K. Walker
Starring
CinematographyShane Kelly
Edited by
Music by George S. Clinton
Production
company
Tribal Alliance Productions
Distributed by Tribal Alliance Productions
Release date
  • March 8, 2008 (2008-03-08)(South by Southwest Film Festival)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages

Older than America (alternatively titled American Evil) is 2008 American suspense drama film directed by Georgina Lightning and starring Adam Beach, Wes Studi, Tantoo Cardinal, Georgina Lightning and Bradley Cooper. The film explores the devastating personal and cultural effects of the American Indian boarding schools on the members of a Native American family in Minnesota.

Contents

Plot

Three intersecting stories are told centered on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation and the adjacent town of Cloquet in the Arrowhead Region of northeastern Minnesota. The answers to the outstanding questions in these stories are all hidden in the secrets from a generation ago at the now abandoned Catholic boarding school on the reservation.

In Story One, Ojibwe Native Americans Rain Many Lightnings O'Rourke (Georgina Lightning) and Johnny Goodfeather (Adam Beach), a teacher and a police officer have been living together for ten years, off the reservation despite Johnny's job solely out of circumstance. They have not felt ready to get married until now, Johnny asking her which coincides with his announcement that he has been accepted into the FBI training program in Washington, DC. Rain isn't sure if she is prepared to move, since her mother, Irene, has long been institutionalized in a local psychiatric institution diagnosed as schizophrenic, she inching closer to being in a vegetative state. Under this circumstance, Rain was raised by her Aunt Barbara ("Auntie Apple"), a devout Catholic who has long assimilated into western society and who turns to local priest Father Bartoli for any guidance. One day, after Rain swerves to avoid some children in the road and winds up in a car accident, Johnny swears there were none. What Rain eventually confides to Johnny is that she of late has been seeing visions of things she doesn't understand, she fearing that she may be going the way of her mother. She is later transferred to a psychiatric institution; when Johnny challenges Auntie Apple and tries to force his way to her, his hotheadedness gets him arrested. Rain eventually finds out the children she's been seeing running around the community are not living children, but the spirits of dead children. Through visions and investigations she discovers these unquiet dead are the little girls and boys who were murdered at the Indian boarding school that used to kidnap, institutionalize, and abuse children in the community. [1] She realizes that the spirits of the children are speaking to her so the truth can come to light and that, maybe, the community can finally find healing. [1]

In Story Two, Luke Patterson (Bradley Cooper), a government geologist, has come to the area to investigate a reported earthquake - if it be the case, a rare earthquake - on the reservation. Beyond Johnny helping him get a city hall permit to investigate on the reservation, Luke befriends Johnny and his family during his extended stay in the area and begins to learn more about the history behind the reservation and the local boarding school from Johnny's father Pete.

In Story Three, Steve Klamath is running for mayor against the long time incumbent, Paul Gunderson, who has always been pro-development on the reservation. As the campaign progresses, Steve, who wants to fight for indigenous rights from the inside of the establishment, seems to be waging a losing battle both within the Native population as they historically stay home on voting day, and with the non-Native population who largely viewing him with contempt for his policies. Local radio talk show host Richard Two Rivers (Wes Studi), who is seen as the voice of the reservation, outwardly gives Steve's campaign airtime if only because it is Steve's side who contacts the radio station about the campaign, although his background shows Richard may not be who he is as perceived by the public.

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by events from Lightning's life, and the lives of her family members and community. Her father, who occasionally had violent outbursts, had been silent about his childhood. When Lightning was 18, her father committed suicide. This shocking event launched her on a quest, as she attempted to find out about her father's mysterious childhood. In the course of her research, she found herself visiting the Indian boarding school where her father, along with many First Nations children, had been institutionalized as a boy. She saw the large cemetery behind the school, with the names of so many young students on the headstones. From this disturbing experience, the concept for the film emerged. [2] [1]

While the filmmaker is from Canada, the film is set in America, and was shot primarily at the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation in Minnesota. Filming took place in late 2006 on or around the Fond du Lac Reservation and Cloquet and Esko, Minnesota. [2] [1]

Music

The film's music was compiled and produced by George S. Clinton.

Release

Older than America retitled as American Evil for UK DVD release UK American Evil DVD cover.jpg
Older than America retitled as American Evil for UK DVD release

The official world premiere for Older than America took place at the 2008 SXSW Festival in the narrative feature competition. [3] [4] The film screened at other festivals including the Women with Vision Festival in March 2008, Talking Stick Film Festival in June 2008 [5] and Lake Arrowhead Film Festival in April 2009. [1] [6]

The film had a VOD release through IFC Films on March 17, 2010. [7] The film was released in DVD format on October 12, 2010.[ citation needed ] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc by Metrodome in the United Kingdom under the title American Evil on March 5, 2012, for which the cover art and starring credit highlights Bradley Cooper's role in the film. The film received mostly negative reviews in the UK after its DVD and Blu-ray Disc release, with most critics calling it cheaply made, and was only released in the UK due to the mass popularity of actor Bradley Cooper and his involvement in the film to boost sales. [8]

Accolades

The film won Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (for Wes Studi) awards at the American Indian Film Festival. [9] It was named Best Dramatic Feature at the 2008 Flyway Film Festival. [10] The film received the Aloha Accolade Award from the Honolulu International Film Festival on March 8, 2009. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Eastman</span> American physician, writer, and social reformer (1858–1939)

Charles Alexander Eastman was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was the first Native American to be certified in Western medicine and was "one of the most prolific authors and speakers on Sioux ethnohistory and American Indian affairs" in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Earth Indian Reservation</span> Anishinaabe / Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota

The White Earth Indian Reservation is home to the White Earth Band, located in northwestern Minnesota. It is the largest Indian reservation in the state by land area. The reservation includes all of Mahnomen County, plus parts of Becker and Clearwater counties in the northwest part of the state along the Wild Rice and White Earth rivers. The reservation's land area is 1,093 square miles (2,830 km2). The population was 9,726 as of the 2020 census, including off-reservation trust land. The White Earth Indian Reservation is one of six bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, their governing body for major administrative needs. It is about 225 miles (362 km) from Minneapolis–Saint Paul and roughly 65 miles (105 km) from Fargo–Moorhead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Chippewa Tribe</span> Governmental authority for six Ojibwe bands in Minnesota

The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is the centralized governmental authority for six Ojibwe bands in Minnesota. The tribe was created on June 18, 1934; the organization and its governmental powers are divided between the tribe, and the individual bands, which directly operate their reservations. The bands that make up the tribe are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Earth Nation</span> Native American band in Minnesota, USA

The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation, is a federally recognized Native American band located in northwestern Minnesota. The band's land base is the White Earth Indian Reservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fond du Lac Indian Reservation</span> Indian reservation in northern Minnesota

The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota near Cloquet in Carlton and Saint Louis counties. Off-reservation holdings are located across the state in Douglas County, in the northwest corner of Wisconsin. The total land area of these tribal lands is 154.49 square miles (400.1 km2). It is the land-base for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Before the establishment of this reservation, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa were located at the head of Lake Superior, closer to the mouth of the Saint Louis River, where Duluth has developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa</span>

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) band located near Cloquet, Minnesota. Their land base is the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, located mainly in Carlton and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota, 20 miles west of Duluth.

Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is the popular name for the land-base for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Central Minnesota, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The contemporary Mille Lacs Band reservation has significant land holdings in Mille Lacs, Pine, Aitkin and Crow Wing counties, as well as other land holdings in Kanabec, Morrison, and Otter Tail Counties. Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is also the name of a formal Indian reservation established in 1855. It is one of the two formal reservations on which the contemporary Mille Lacs Band retains land holdings. The contemporary Mille Lacs band includes several aboriginal Ojibwe bands and villages, whose members reside in communities throughout central Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe</span> Federally recognized American Indian tribe in east-central Minnesota

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, also known as the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in east-central Minnesota. The Band has 4,302 members as of 2012. Its homeland is the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, consisting of District I, District II, District IIa, and District III.

The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC) is an intergovernmental body established by the U.S. state of Minnesota to serve as a liaison between state government and the Native American tribes residing within the state's boundaries. Created by the Minnesota Legislature, MIAC aims to improve relationships, facilitate dialogue, and address issues of mutual concern between the State of Minnesota and the tribal governments. The council plays a critical role in advising on policy, advocating for indigenous rights, and promoting cultural understanding.

Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians or simply the Mississippi Chippewa, are a historical Ojibwa Band inhabiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in present-day Minnesota.

Mary Brave Bird, also known as Mary Brave Woman Olguin and Mary Crow Dog was a Sicangu Lakota writer and activist who was a member of the American Indian Movement during the 1970s and participated in some of their most publicized events, including the Wounded Knee Incident when she was 18 years old.

Jim Northrup was an Anishinaabe newspaper columnist, poet, performer, and political commentator from the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation in Minnesota. His Anishinaabe name was "Chibenashi".

Sandy Lake is an unincorporated community Native American village located in Turner Township, Aitkin County, Minnesota, United States. Its name in the Ojibwe language is Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag, meaning "Place of the Sandy-shored Lake". The village is administrative center for the Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, though the administration of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, District II, is located in the nearby East Lake.

<i>Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee</i> 1994 drama TV film

Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee is a 1994 TNT film starring Irene Bedard, Tantoo Cardinal, Pato Hoffmann, Joseph Runningfox, Lawrence Bayne, and Michael Horse and August Schellenberg. The film is based on Mary Crow Dog's autobiography Lakota Woman, wherein she accounts her troubled youth, involvement with the American Indian Movement, and relationship with Lakota medicine man and activist Leonard Crow Dog. The film is notable for being the first American film to feature an indigenous Native American actress in the starring role. Lakota Woman is also the third overall and first sound film with an entirely indigenous cast after In the Land of the Head Hunters and Daughter of Dawn.

Georgina Lightning is a First Nations film director, screenwriter, and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth A. Myers</span>

Ruth A. Myers was known as the “grandmother of American Indian Education in Minnesota.” A persistent voice for American Indian children and their families, Myers focused on education policy. She focused on learning opportunities for American Indian children. She also worked for curriculum and resource materials that reflected the American Indian history and culture for all Minnesota learners.

<i>Songs My Brothers Taught Me</i> 2015 film by Chloé Zhao

Songs My Brothers Taught Me is a 2015 American independent coming-of-age Native American drama tragedy film written and directed by Chloé Zhao in her feature film directorial debut, and produced by Zhao and Forest Whitaker. Developed at the Sundance Institute workshops, the film, set in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, explores the bond between a Lakota Sioux brother and his younger sister.

Sister Marie Inez Hilger was an American Benedictine nun and anthropologist who was the first woman admitted to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Bonga Fahlstrom</span> 19th-century Ojibwe-African American woman in Minnesota

Margaret Bonga Fahlstrom was a mixed-race woman of African and Ojibwe descent who came from a fur trading family in the Great Lakes region. In 1823, she married Jacob Fahlstrom, the first Swedish settler in Minnesota, and lived with him on a small farm at Coldwater Spring near Fort Snelling. Margaret was one of the few free Black women living in the area around the time that enslaved women such as Harriet Robinson Scott were struggling to find a path to freedom. In 1838, the Fahlstroms became the first converts to the Methodist faith in Minnesota, and moved to a farm in Washington County in 1840. Jacob became well known as the Methodist lay preacher "Father Jacob". His success as a traveling Christian missionary was often attributed to his fluency in the Ojibwe language, as well as his marriage. Margaret and her daughters were also known for their involvement in early church meetings in Minnesota, and their hospitality toward Methodist circuit riders.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kerr, Euan (7 March 2008). "Director hopes Minnesota-made movie leads to healing". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 Northrup, Jim (2011). Anishinaabe Syndicated: A View from the Rez. Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. p. 20.
  3. ↑ Jones, Michael (4 February 2008). "SXSW announces lineup". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  4. ↑ Variety Staff (4 February 2008). "2008 SXSW lineup". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Baker, Deborah. "New Indian film Festival". Native Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 "USA: Native Film Bringing Home 17th Award". GALDU: Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Shining Elk, Michelle R. (21 March 2010). "'Older than America,' Georgina Lightning receive nom for emerging artist award". Native American Times. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "American Evil (aka Older Than America) on DVD and Blu-ray in March" . Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  9. ↑ Wise, Wyndham. "Georgina Lightning". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Older Than America". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.