OSAGE NATION

Barking Water, premier film, partially shot in Pawhuska Indian Village and downtown Pawhuska

The low-budget independent film, also written by Harjo and produced by Chad Burris and his local Indion Productions, was shot in less than three weeks in Ponca City, White Eagle, Pawhuska and Holdenville.

Tulsa filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s “Barking Water” has been selected for screening at Venice Days, a sidebar event that highlights new directors opposite the larger Venice Film Festival. Harjo’s movie is the only film from the United States selected for Venice Days. “Barking Water” is Harjo’s second feature film, and it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.

“Before Oklahoma was a red state, it was known as the Land of the Red People, described by the Choctaw phrase Okla Humma. In his sophomore film, Sterlin Harjo takes viewers on a road trip through his own personal Oklahoma, which includes an eclectic mix of humanity. Irene and Frankie have a difficult past, but Frankie needs Irene to help him with one task. He needs to get out of the hospital and go home to his daughter and new grandbaby to make amends. Irene had been his one, true, on-again, off-again love until they parted ways for good. But to make up for the past, Irene agrees to help him in this trying time. With steady and graceful performances by Richard Ray Whitman as Frankie and Casey Camp-Horinek as Irene, this story takes viewers for a ride in the backseat of Frankie and Irene’s Indian car, listening to their past and the rhythmic soundtrack that sets the beat for a redemptive road journey. Harjo wraps us in the charm and love of Oklahoma through the people and places Irene and Frankie visit along the way. In this sparingly sentimental and achingly poignant film, Harjo claims his place as one of the most truthful and honest voices working in American cinema today. Barking Water is an expression of gratitude for the ability to have lived and loved.” Sundance Film Festival

Local members of the production will be on hand following this feature for Q&A

A 16 minute short on the Life of former Osage Chief George Tall Chief . Now 92, this film documents the life of Amy’s grandfather George Tall Chief. Full feature scheduled for completion sometime in 2009. Time: 16 minutes

I was told by those old ones
that every song has a special time and a place where its sang
this is our song
and this our time
they used to say the only good Indian is a dead Indian
I must be a no good at being Indian
cuz I feel alive and kicking……………………

1970, Fictional biography – Dustin Hoffman portrays a 120-year-old white man, adopted by the Indians as a child, who witnessed General George A. Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn in 1876. The novel by Thomas Berger, is a picaresque comedy and drama about a boy raised by the Cheyenne nation during the 19th century. A major part of the film involves contrasting the lives of American pioneers and Native Americans. Time: 2hrs 19 min. Rated PG. Showing: 10:00am Constantine Theatre

A Man called Horse, starring Richard Harris, Judith Anderson and Jean Gascon

1970, Fictional drama - Richard Harris plays an English aristocrat who is captured by the Dakota Sioux in 1825. He lives with them and begins to understand and accept their way of life. The most famous scene has Harris undergoing the ritual of the Sun Dance. Time: 1 hr 54 min. Rated PG (violence). Showing: 1:00 p.m. Constantine Theatre

4:00pm

Feature Film Pawhuska Premier

&

Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival

Barking Water

Barking Water, premier film, partially shot in Pawhuska Indian Villager

Directed by Sterling Harjo (Seminole/Creek)

The low-budget independent film, also written by Harjo and produced by Chad Burris and his local Indion Productions, was shot in less than three weeks in Ponca City, White Eagle, Pawhuska and Holdenville.

Tulsa filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s “Barking Water” has been selected for screening at Venice Days, a sidebar event that highlights new directors opposite the larger Venice Film Festival. Harjo’s movie is the only film from the United States selected for Venice Days. “Barking Water” is Harjo’s second feature film, and it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.

Showings: 4:00p.m. Constantine Theatre