Cherokee film makes its way to France

By D.E. Smoot
Phoenix Staff Writer

May 15, 2008 09:51 pm

— A Cherokee language film produced by K.A. Gilliland will make its European debut at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
“Stories of the Cherokees” promoters say the Cannes, France, showing marks the first time a Cherokee language film has premiered at the famed French festival.
The film, which was commissioned for the Cherokee Travel Plaza in Roland in collaboration with Cherokee Nation Enterprises, promotes Cherokee culture and language through the eyes of Cherokee storytellers and actors.
Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chad Smith said, “Stories of the Cherokees” is “a well-told story and a story that should be told.”
“We need more videos like this to let the public know what Cherokees are like, both in the past as well as today,” Smith said. “Using Cherokee language in the stories is part of our overall initiative to use every technology and opportunity we can find to promote our language.”
Gilliland said the 15-minute high-definition film was inspired by the traditions of Cherokee oral history. The short film, the first of the three originally planned, documents the tribe’s pre-Columbian existence.
The second will document the Cherokee Nation’s removal from the Southeast United States and relocation to the Indian Territories. The third will portray the tribe’s present-day existence.
Gilliland said “Stories of the Cherokees” was completed in December. The film won Best Cultural Film of 2007 in the International Cherokee Film Festival.
“The first festival was local, but after it won, I entered it in two additional festivals,” Gilliland said. “I was just taking a shot in the dark, but we found out two days ago we won the 29th Annual Telly Award and that it would be shown at Cannes.”
Gilliland said the news stunned, then thrilled cast and crew alike. The film, directed by Andrew Sikora, features David Scott, Robert Lewis and Chris Smith, each of whom tell parts of the Cherokee story in three vignettes.
The first, Gilliland said, features Lewis, a traditional storyteller who describes the tribe’s origins and later migrations. Scott “brings memories of a mound-building society to life” in the second vignette. Smith recreates a tale of an “Ancient Warrior” in the third act, which is driven by an original score written for traditional Cherokee instruments.
The short film, Gilliland said, fuses live action shots with two- and three-dimensional animation. “Stories of Cherokees” was filmed at locations within the Cherokee Nation. Production of the second and third films is expected to begin this fall.
The 61st Cannes Film Festival opened Wednesday and continues through May 24.
Reach D.E. Smoot at 684-2903 or dsmoot@muskogeephoenix.com.