AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY WITH ‘THE ACADEMY AWARDS THE OSCAR’
Pre-Oscar Screening Series is a presented by Red Nation Film Festival and held during Native Women in Film & Television {Film Festival} (NWIF) founded 2009, every year NWIF screens award-winning films made of/about North American Indian, Canada First Nation Peoples, and International Indigenous Peoples, our mission is to keep American Indian Image at the forefront of the Motion Picture Industry.
Oscar History
In honor of the The Academy Awards, Red Nation Film Festival thought we’d share some facts of these ground-breaking American Indian Oscar Winners, Nominees and Activists.
1970, Chief Dan George was the first Native American nominee for a worthy performance in ‘Little Big Man’
1973, Marlon Brando took a stand for American Indian Image and the Industry’s treatment of American Indian in not accepting the Oscar for “Godfather’ instead sent Sacheen Littlefeather to speak on his behalf.
There have only been two Native ACTORS to be nominated for an Oscar;
Chief Dan George for his role in the 1970 Little Big Man
Graham Greene for his roles in the 1991 Dance with Wolves
There has only been one Native MUSICIAN to *WIN* an Oscar;
1982, Buffy St Marie – Best Music, Original Song for An Officer and a Gentleman, For the song “Up Where We Belong.”
There has only been one Native FILMMAKER to be close to Oscar nod;
There has only been one Native FILMMAKER to be close to Oscar nod;
2000, Joanelle Romero’s (actor/director/producer/founder of Red Nation Film Festival/Native Women in Film) documentary short, American Holocaust: When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian, narrated by Edward Asner, makes the Academy’s Documentary shortlist in preliminary round. This documentary is the first and only film that compares Hitler’s attempted genocide of German Jews with the U.S. government’s treatment of American Indians and the lasting effects on the culture today.
Romero’s is the only Native filmmaker to date of The Academy in Motion Picture Arts & Sciences that was short-listed for an Oscar in the Documentary Branch. Romero is the first Native filmmaker to receive in 2005 the Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award for “the vision to see the truth and the courage to speak it.” Romero as of 2016 is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Romero’s was entered into the The Academy Awards for OSCAR consideration in 2000. 22 short films were entered that year, then Academy’s Documentary Branch determined the shortlist in a preliminary round of voting “9 were chosen for consideration” American Holocaust: When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian was part of that 9 chosen. Then five were nominated. Before the film was removed from Youtube it had reached 2 million views. You can watch this award-winning film on Red Nation Television Network. www.rednationtv.com
American Indian stories have proven to be bankable and marketable. Proving in Kevin Cosnter’s Dances with Wolves. Winning seven Oscars at the 63rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The screenplay was adapted from the 1988 novel Dances with Wolves by the author, Michael Blake.
The Revenant is a 2015, directed byAlejandro G. Inarritu. The screenplay by Mark L. Smith and Iñárritu is based in part onMichael Punke’s 2002 novel of the same name, describingforntierman Hugh Glass’s experiences in 1823. The Revenant won three Golden Globe Awards, five BAFTA Awards and at the 88th Academy Awards, Iñárritu, DiCaprio and Emmanuel Lubezki won the awards for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography, respectively. DiCaprio also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actor.
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