
- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
LOS ANGELES — The Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood executives' favorite unproduced screenplays, announced Tuesday the nine scripts selected for the inaugural Indigenous List, which highlights the best Indigenous film and television writers working in the United States. The Black List worked in collaboration with IllumiNative and the Sundance Institute.
Eligible writers were able to submit their scripts for consideration to blcklst.com from June 24 through Sept. 27, 2020. Scripts for both feature films and TV pilots were accepted by Indigenous screenwriters working within the United States.
“IllumiNative is proud to partner with the Sundance Indigenous Program and The Black List to showcase the immense talent of Native writers,” Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee), founder and executive director of IllumiNative, said in a statement. “These writers, and the more than six dozen other scripts submitted during this process, shows the growing talent, diversity and strength of Indigenous storytellers.”
“The Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program team and I congratulate these extraordinary storytellers whose scripts have been selected for the Inaugural Indigenous List — they offer not only some of the most unique voices of Indigenous film and television writing, but also offer a glimpse of what our American popular culture landscape will be shaped like when Indigenous voices are recognized and included,” said Indigenous Program director N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne, Mescalero Apache) in a statement.
In a statement, Black List founder Franklin Leonard said: “It’s a real honor to be partnered with [Runningwater], the Indigenous Program team at the Sundance Institute, Crystal Echo Hawk, and everyone at IllumiNative. I look forward to these and many more stories from Indigenous writers gracing screens of all sizes.”
Check out the scripts selected for the 2020 Indigenous List below:
“BUNKER BOSS” by Joey Clift
After a nuclear war forces most of humanity into underground bunkers, a total loser must become the inspirational leader of a bunker known to execute any leader that drops below a 60% approval rating. (Animated)
“FANCY DANCE” by Erica Tremblay & Miciana Alise
Following the disappearance of her sister, a Native American hustler kidnaps her niece from her white grandparents and sets out for the state powwow in the hopes of keeping what’s left of their family intact.
“FIREBIRD” by Kathyn Machi
After earning the chance of a lifetime to dance her dream ballet in France, a talented teenage Cherokee ballerina and her cowboy father search for her estranged mother, who left them years ago to chase her own dreams abroad.
“LORDS OF THE EARTH” by Blackhorse Lowe
LORDS OF THE EARTH is about two star-crossed lovers searching for each other amidst the backdrop of a harsh and violent New Mexico territory in 1863. In the film, Hastiin Hashke’ is a Navajo man who longs to be reunited with his wife, Taa’deezbaa, who was abducted into slavery.
“MOLOKA’I BOUND” by Alika Maikau
After several years in prison, Kainoa wants nothing more than to reestablish a relationship with his son and Hawaiian heritage, but old friends and new circumstances threaten to derail his path.
“POI DOGS” by Bryson Chun
When a small-town, high-end Hawai’i dog groomer learns that a hit was put on her on the Dark Web, she has to race to find the culprit among her friends and family before it's too late.
“THE BLIND” by Sterlin Harjo
When the teenage son of a Native American hunter is murdered by a group of backwoods drug dealers, the mourning father decides to exact revenge on those responsible for his death and the corruption in their small town.
“THE WILDEST WEST” by Blake Pickens
Riley works as a theme park attendant at Seven Flags Over Texas, a miserable establishment full of tyrannical customers that make obscene demands. But when a spot opens up to play Geronimo in the park's annual Wild West Show, he sees an opportunity to stop hawking hot dogs and become closer to his real goal of becoming an actor.
“TINDER ON THE REZ” by Brooke Swaney & Angela Tucker
Just because you are 35 and living back on the Rez with your parents, your brother and his two kids, doesn’t mean you can’t get laid, right? Don’t ask Lenny. It’s a sensitive topic.
More Stories Like This
‘Take this and carry it to the top of the world’ | Lakota Man Becomes the First Native American to Summit Mt. EverestWATCH: Native Bidaské with MSNBC Contributor Alyssa London as She Discusses The Culture Is: Indigenous Women
Here’s What’s Going on in Indian Country, June 01—10
Long Awaited “Killers of the Flower Moon” about 1920 Osage Murders Receives a Nine- Minute Standing Ovation at Cannes Film Festival
First Nations Singer’s New Album A ‘Stamp in Time’ and ‘Act of Resistance’
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.