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DESCRIPTION:
In conjunction with the 14th annual LA SKINS FEST, this program will showcase six wide-ranging short documentary films by indigenous filmmakers. The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by award-winning director and LA SKINS FEST board member Ian Skorodin.

Program:
Decolonized Cooking with Chef Nico Albert (Directed by Jeremy Charles. Running Time: 9 min.)
Cherokee chef Nico Albert learns and cultivates ancestral ways through the dishes she creates, bringing her food to the next level. And as the singer of a metal band in her spare time, her whole life is next level.

Keladi (Directed by Brit Hensel. Running Time: 9 min.)
Artist Keli Gonzales shares how she uses her art to help perpetuate the Cherokee language and traditional values.

Choogie Kingfisher, Cherokee Storyteller (Directed by Kyle Bell. Running Time: 9 min.)
The Cherokee Nation relies on storytellers to carry on oral traditions and stories. Each storyteller has their own way of passing on that knowledge, and Choogie Kingfisher is sure to win over hearts with his unique brand of storytelling infused with Cherokee humor you won’t find anywhere else.

Language Is Everything (Directed by Jennifer Loren. Running Time: 8 min.)
Along with the languages of so many indigenous people, the Cherokee language is suffering. This short documentary tells the story of that loss through the life story of preeminent linguist Durbin Feeling.

The Third (Directed by Jennifer Loren. Running Time: 16 min.)
Lindy Waters III is a basketball standout playing for Oklahoma State University. As a Cherokee and Kiowa ballplayer, Lindy takes pride in being a role model for young Native American players. This director’s cut of The Third is not available online.

Harry Osahwee (Directed by Sterlin Harjo. Running Time: 7 min.)
First-language Cherokee speaker Harry Oosahwee is a well-known artist whose many life experiences and mentors play a major role in the work he creates. 

Bios:
Kyle Bell is an Emmy Award–winning filmmaker based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since his filmmaking career began in 2015, his films have screened at festivals around the world. Bell was selected for 2019 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab. Most recently, he has won the 2020–2021 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative to be mentored by cinema legend Spike Lee. 

Jeremy Charles is a writer, director, cinematographer, and producer of documentary and narrative films. After careers as a designer, freelance writer, and a photographer recognized for bold portraiture and work in the music scene, Jeremy transitioned to filmmaking in 2014, founding FireThief, a Native-owned film production company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Brit Hensel is an Oklahoma-based writer and award-winning filmmaker whose work focuses on Indigenous storytelling and environmental justice. Her passion for storytelling first took shape through her work as an independent screenwriter and co-founder of Selu Productions. Brit comes from the people of Giduwa and is a citizen of Cherokee Nation. She earned her BA in History from North Park University, and is a 2019–2020 NeXt Doc Collective Film Fellow. 

Sterlin Harjo, a member of the Seminole Nation, has Muskogee heritage and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he studied art and film. He received a fellowship from the Sundance Institute in 2004. In 2006, he received a fellowship from the United States Artists foundation. In addition to directing award-winning features and shorts, Harjo is a founding member of a Native American comedy group, The 1491s, and is one of the directors of the monthly television news magazine, Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People. 

Evolving from an investigative reporter and producer to a documentarian and host, Jennifer Loren has been in the television and film industries since 2001. In 2014, she co-created the highly acclaimed show Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People. In 2019, Jennifer helped to create the Cherokee Nation Film Office and now serves as its director. A first-of-its kind endeavor by a tribal nation, its mission is to increase the presence of Native Americans in every level of the film and television industries. 

Ian Skorodin graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began his directing career with an award-winning feature film entitled TUSHKA, based on the murder of a Native American activist’s family. After premiering at Sundance in 1998, TUSHKA went on to win Best Feature at the Arizona International Film Festival and the Spirit Award at the First Nations Film Festival in Chicago.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and LA SKINS FEST.