On a Knife Edge

Last updated
On a Knife Edge
On a Knife Edge Poster.jpg
Official film poster
Directed byJeremy Williams
Produced byEli Cane
CinematographyStephen Robinson
Edited byNick Fenton
Music by Samuel Sim
Distributed byJourneyman Films
America ReFramed
Release dates
  • June 10, 2017 (2017-06-10)(SF Doc Fest)
  • November 7, 2017 (2017-11-07)(United States)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

On a Knife Edge is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Jeremy Williams and produced by Eli Cane. The film premiered at the 2017 SF Doc Festival, [1] and broadcast nationally on the PBS World show America ReFramed on November 7, 2017.

Contents

On a Knife Edge is shot in an observational style, following the lives of Guy Dull Knife Jr, and his son, George Dull Knife, as George prepares to become the next leader of his family and becomes politically active in his community. [2] The film is notable for the sheer span of George's life that it covers, [3] documenting a five-year period of George's adolescence. [4] The film was shot on the Pine Ridge Reservation, in Whiteclay, Nebraska, Rapid City, SD, and at Standing Rock.

Synopsis

The film chronicles the coming-of-age of George Dull Knife as he grows up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He lives with his father and extended family outside of Kyle, SD and is a freshman at Little Wound High School. He is mostly concerned with avoiding the drugs, alcohol, and gangs that permeate life on the Reservation, but soon becomes involved in social justice campaigns combatting police brutality, illegal alcohol sales, and the Keystone XL Pipeline. A pivotal moment occurs when George is 15, after the alleged mutilation of Vern Traversie, a blind Lakota elder who went to Rapid City Regional Hospital for heart surgery in 2012 and emerged with what appeared to be the letters KKK cut into his torso. Amid the community outrage and public protests, George joins the American Indian Movement. Guy Dull Knife is a veteran of AIM from the 1970s, when their activity peaked with the Wounded Knee Occupation, and becomes a guide for George as he becomes more politically active. Together they form a security group, designed to protect protesters from law enforcement or counter-protesters at rallies and marches.

The film follows George's increasing involvement in AIM, with a particular focus on the illegal alcohol sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska. While it is illegal to sell or possess alcohol on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Whiteclay borders the reservation and until September 2017 [5] sold the equivalent of over 4,000,000 cans of beer a year, despite its tiny population of just 12 residents. [6] Much of George's coming of age is shown in the film through his growing role of leadership at AIM protests designed to shut down the alcohol sales at Whiteclay. Towards the end of the film, George becomes disillusioned with AIM and the activist lifestyle, due to repeated failures and the lack of impact their actions seem to have. His father convinces him to remain active, citing his family legacy of resistance to the US Government and describing it as their duty. The film ends at the DAPL protests, where George has recommitted to AIM and his family legacy.

Legacy and the family history are central to the way that Guy raises George and are recurring themes throughout the film. They are demonstrated through a series of animations which depict key moments in Dull Knife family history and are based on paintings created by Guy. Family history and contemporary context are told through these animations, which alternate with George's ongoing story.

Production

Filming began in April 2010 and continued until December 2016. Production trips were conducted in an episodic way [7] and generally lasted from a few days to several weeks, with a small crew, usually from one to three people. [8]

Animations were created simultaneously and during post-production. Nebraska-based artist Michael Burton worked with Guy, creating the painted stop-motion animations in his Lincoln, NE studio. [9]

The film is a coproduction of ITVS, Vision Maker Media, and Normal Life Pictures, Inc. It received additional funding from Tribeca Film Institute, Humanities Nebraska, and the South Dakota Humanities Council.

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryRecipientResult
2018Native American Journalists Association - National Native Media AwardsTV – Best Coverage of Native AmericaEli Cane and Jeremy Williams1st Place [10]
2017Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive Human Rights Documentary Film FestivalHarry Randall Award for Best FeatureEli Cane and Jeremy WilliamsWon [11]
Tulsa American Film FestivalBest Documentary DirectorJeremy WilliamsWon [12]
Portland International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, DocumentaryEli Cane and Jeremy WilliamsWon [13]
Spotlight Documentary AwardsGold Award, June 2017Eli Cane and Jeremy WilliamsWon [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakota people</span> Indigenous people of the Great Plains

The Lakota are a Native American people. Also known as the Teton Sioux, they are one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people, with the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and Western Dakota (Wičhíyena). Their current lands are in North and South Dakota. They speak Lakȟótiyapi—the Lakota language, the westernmost of three closely related languages that belong to the Siouan language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Ridge Indian Reservation</span> Indian reservation in United States, Oglala Sioux

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located almost entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota, with a small portion in Nebraska. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was created by the Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888. in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border. Today it consists of 3,468.85 sq mi (8,984 km2) of land area and is one of the largest reservations in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiteclay, Nebraska</span> Census-designated place in Nebraska, United States

Whiteclay is a census-designated place in Sheridan County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 10 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Means</span> Oglala Lakota activist (1939–2012)

Russell Charles Means was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician and writer. He became a prominent member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) after joining the organization in 1968 and helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morning Star (chief)</span> Chief of the Northern Cheyenne people

Morning Star (1810–1883) was a great chief of the Northern Cheyenne people and headchief of the Notameohmésêhese band on the northern Great Plains during the 19th century. He was noted for his active resistance to westward expansion and the United States federal government. It is due to the courage and determination of Morning Star and other leaders that the Northern Cheyenne still possess a homeland in their traditional country in present-day Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Mae Aquash</span> First Nations activist (1945–1975)

Annie Mae Aquash was a First Nations activist and Mi'kmaq tribal member from Nova Scotia, Canada. Aquash moved to Boston in the 1960s and joined other First Nations and Indigenous Americans focused on education and resistance, and police brutality against urban Indigenous peoples. She was part of the American Indian Movement, participated in several occupations, and participated in the 1973 Wounded Knee incident at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, United States.

Nebraskans For Peace, or NFP, is a peace advocacy organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. "Nebraskans for Peace is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization working nonviolently for peace with justice through community building, education and political action."

Michael John Murphy is a folk musician based in Omaha, Nebraska. He plays various instruments, including the guitar, piano, and Native American flute. He has been a singer songwriter based out of Omaha since the 1970s.

Cecilia Fire Thunder is a nurse, community health planner and tribal leader of the Oglala Sioux. On November 2, 2004, she was the first woman elected as president of the Tribe. She served until being impeached on June 29, 2006, several months short of the two-year term. The major controversy was over her effort to build a Planned Parenthood clinic on the reservation after the South Dakota legislature banned most abortions throughout the state. The tribal council impeached her for proceeding without gaining their consensus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wounded Knee Occupation</span> 1973 American Indian occupation protest

The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, United States, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The protest followed the failure of an effort of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) to use impeachment to remove tribal president Richard Wilson, whom they accused of corruption and abuse of opponents. Additionally, protesters criticized the United States government's failure to fulfill treaties with Native American people and demanded the reopening of treaty negotiations to hopefully arrive at fair and equitable treatment of Native Americans.

Richard A. Wilson was elected chairman of the Oglala Lakota of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he served from 1972–1976, following re-election in 1974.

<i>Skins</i> (2002 film) 2002 film

Skins is a 2002 American feature film by Chris Eyre and based upon the novel of the same name by Adrian C. Louis. It was filmed on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which served as the setting in the novel. Lakota Sioux tribal police officer Rudy Yellow Lodge struggles to rescue his older, alcoholic brother, Mogie, a former football star who was wounded in combat three times in Vietnam. Winona LaDuke makes a cameo appearance as Rose Two Buffalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native American tribes in Nebraska</span>

Native American tribes in the U.S. state of Nebraska have been Plains Indians, descendants of succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples who have occupied the area for thousands of years. More than 15 historic tribes have been identified as having lived in, hunted in, or otherwise occupied territory within the current state boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow Bear</span>

Yellow Bear, Mato Ǧí, was an Oglala Lakota leader.

Raymond Yellow Thunder was an Oglala Lakota, born in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Border effects refer to asymmetries in trade patterns between cities and regions of different countries and those that are located in the same country. Usually, trade volume between the former is much less. Economic integration may be a solution to overcome these effects. A 2017 meta-analysis of 1,271 estimates of the border effect finds that borders reduce trade by one third.

Franklin Dean LaMere was an American activist and politician. He was a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska from South Sioux City, and the son of a Gold Star Mother and a combat veteran father. He was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the 1970s and was noted for his work opposing liquor sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska, a small town whose main industry is selling alcohol to residents of the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol sales are prohibited. LaMere was a leader in the Democratic Party, and served as chairman of the National Native American Caucus. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention seven consecutive times from 1988 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakota Nation Invitational</span>

The Lakota Nation Invitational is an annual multi-sport event tournament held each winter that began in 1976. The event takes place in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City and hosts around 40 different schools from Indian Reservations in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. The event has categories including basketball, traditional Lakota hand games, knowledge and language bowls, a student art show, a business plan competition, wrestling, volleyball, cross country, archery, golf and a chess tournament

Paul Ignatius Manhart, S.J. was ordained a Jesuit priest of the Roman Catholic Church and served in various capacities on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City. His entire priestly career was dedicated to ministering among the Oglala Lakota Native Americans. Fr. Manhart’s scholarly work in linguistics helped preserve and disseminate the living, native North American Lakota language. He was a firsthand witness and participant in the Wounded Knee incident of 1973.

Bryan V. Brewer was president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from 2012 to 2014.

References

  1. "SF DocFest 2017 Overview". 30 May 2017.
  2. ""On a Knife Edge" Documentary screened in Rapid City". 26 October 2017.
  3. "Film Inquiry: Intimate Insight Into Overwhelming Injustice". 9 June 2017.
  4. "Rapid City Journal: "On a Knife Edge' screens in Rapid City". 17 October 2017.
  5. "The Denver Post: Nebraska Supreme Court ends beer sales at border of dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota". 29 September 2017.
  6. Bosman, Julie (25 March 2017). "New York Times: Nebraska May Stanch One Town's Flow of Beer to Its Vulnerable Neighbors". The New York Times.
  7. "ABQ Journal: Lakota legacy: 'On a Knife Edge' explores growing up on Pine Ridge Reservation".
  8. "Getting to the Root: Eli Cane interview "On a Knife Edge".
  9. "UNL Announce: Art alum works on animation project to tell the story of Guy Dull Knife".
  10. "2018 Associate Division III Winners". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  11. "I'll Be There: Film Festival Shows Legacy of the Lincolns". 19 November 2017.
  12. "2017 TAFF Award Winners".
  13. "Audience and Jury Awards Announced for the 2017 Portland Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  14. "2017 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards".