By Arlene Bowman
In Navajo Talking Picture film student Arlene Bowman (Navajo) travels to the Reservation to document the traditional ways of her grandmother. The filmmaking persists in spite of her grandmother's forceful objections to this invasion of her privacy. Ultimately, what emerges is a thought-provoking work which abruptly calls into question issues of "insider/outsider" status in a portrait of an assimilated Navajo struggling to use a "white man's" medium to capture the remnants of her cultural past. Excellent for film studies as well as those interested in Native American culture.
Reviews
~ "Bowman herself emerges as a sympathetic character from an absurdist comedy as both her ancestry and film goals elude her." - Steven Mikulan, Los Angeles Weekly
~ "Unsparingly honest." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Notes
~ New Museum of Contemporary Art
~ Turin Int'l Film Festival
~ National Educational Film and Video Festival
~ UCLA Native American Film and Video Festival
~ Margaret Mead Film Festival
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