Native Features: Indigenous Films from Around the World

by Houston Wood

Native Features is the first book to look at feature films made by Indigenous people, one of the world's newest and fastest growing categories of cinema. The book provides easy to understand guidelines to help viewers appreciate the more than 50 Indigenous features now in circulation. Native Features shows how movies made by Native peoples throughout the world often strengthen older cultures while they simultaneously correct stereotypes found in non-Indigenous films.


The book focuses on well-known films, such as Rabbit-Proof Fence, Smoke Signals, and Whale Rider, as well as on many films seldom seen beyond the regions where they were made. Separate chapters trace the exemplary careers of Cheyenne and Arapaho director Chris Eyre and of Australian Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil. There are chapters as well that look at Indigenous feature films by region. These detail how individual Indigenous films fit within the distinctive film histories of the Arctic, Australia, Oceania, and North America.


As the first extended study of the recent global explosion of Indigenous cinema, Native Features provides pioneering ways of thinking about these films that will likely shape discussions for decades to come.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2008

Reviews

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books aims to provide contextualization for different groupings of Indigenous films. The first two parts explore some of the 'original Indigenous hits', popular directors and actors, concepts, challenges, and stereotypes that exist in the industry. The third part then breaks off and groups films into regions and before-2000 and post-2000.

The first sections discuss popular films like Smoke Signals while the later groupings will allow you to explore titles that you may not have heard of without picking up this text. That is positive--but only so far as it briefly gives you an idea of what those films are about. The section doesn't offer in-depth analysis of every film listed (which you may/may not be expecting).

But a good 'starting point' for those interested in Indigenous film.

Definitely of note: There is a section dedicated to Oceania (which is often missing from other collections of this nature). That's a huge plus in my book!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book focuses on indigenous films around the world. It describes in detail the plots, characters, film techniques, themes, and more that occur in various indigenous films. The novel discusses films made by Native Americans, Inuit (Alaskan), Sami (Scandinavian), Aboriginal (Australian), and Oceanic. I may have missed other peoples but those are the sections we read in class. You can correctly surmise from the previous sentence that I didn't read this book cover to cover, but selectively as led by my college professor. :)

[Madeline]

Seems to me that this book emphasized the behind the scenes aspect of film more than it did the actual films - that's still quite an interesting thing to read about, especially in this context, but it might not be what you want . . . it might not help you with the films, either.