I ñupiaq film at Sundance

[Susan Penfield]

I agree...Let's hope more of these types of films start to surface at places
like Sundance.

A footnote about 'The Linguists': -- the film makers (Ironbound Films)
included a wonderful section in the film with Johnny Hill, Jr (Chemehuevi
from Parker, Arizona) and paid for Johnny to attend Sundance last week. I
just got a call from Johnny about it all -- He had a great time and really
welcomed all the press attention he got. He is a wonderful ambassador for
many 'last speakers' (as the film was originally called) and got front page
news in some of the local papers (at Sundance)...as well as radio interviews
while he was there. He was most touched by some comments from  the other
native people who were attending and who made contact with him after his
public interviews.

I think all public attention for the plight of endangered languages is
important as raising awareness is part of the much needed work of 'language
activists' ====and film is a bold and very expressive way to reach a broader
audience.

Susan

On Jan 26, 2008 5:02 AM, Linda Lanz <lanz at rice.edu> wrote:

> Hi folks,
> I know there's been a lot of talk about the linguist documentary at
> Sundance, but I just found out that there's an Iñupiaq short film being
> featured at Sundance this year, too. It's called Sikumi (On the Ice), by
> Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, and it's shot entirely in the Iñupiaq language
> (northern Alaska). (The filmmaker is, incidentally, son of Edna Ahgeak
> MacLean, one of the foremost Native linguists and educators working on
> Iñupiaq revitalization - way to go, MacLean family!).
>
> Nice to see a film in an indigenous language featured in such a
> high-profile setting! If you'd like to check it out for yourself, you can
> watch it online at Sundance's site:
>
>  http://www.sundance.org/festival/shorts/
>
> I think this is set to work only for one day, so Sikumi will only be up on
> their website January 26 (North American time zones).
>
> Best,
> Linda L.
>
>  -------------------------
> Linda Lanz
> Dept. of Linguistics
> Rice University
> lanz at rice.edu
>
>
>
>


-- 
____________________________________________________________
Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D.

Department of English (Primary)
American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI)
Second Language Acquisition & Teaching Ph.D. Program (SLAT)
Department of Language,Reading and Culture
Department of Linguistics
The Southwest Center (Research)
Phone for messages: (520) 621-1836


"Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought,
an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities."

                                                         Wade Davis...(on a
Starbucks cup...)
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