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Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native Filmmaker
In more than twenty powerful films, Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has waged a brilliant battle against the ignorance and stereotypes that Native Americans have long endured in cinema and television. In this book, the first devoted to any Native filmmaker, Obomsawin receives her due as the central figure in the development of indigenous media in North America.
Incorporating history, politics, and film theory into a compelling narrative, Randolph Lewis explores the life and work of a multifaceted woman whose career was flourishing long before Native films such as Smoke Signals reached the screen. He traces Obomsawin’s path from an impoverished Abenaki reserve in the 1930s to bohemian Montreal in the 1960s, where she first found fame as a traditional storyteller and singer. Lewis follows her career as a celebrated documentary filmmaker, citing her courage in covering, at great personal risk, the 1991 Oka Crisis between Mohawk warriors and Canadian soldiers. We see how, since the late 1960s, Obomsawin has transformed documentary film, reshaping it for the first time into a crucial forum for sharing indigenous perspectives. Through a careful examination of her work, Lewis proposes a new vision for indigenous media around the globe: a “cinema of sovereignty” based on what Obomsawin has accomplished.
Incorporating history, politics, and film theory into a compelling narrative, Randolph Lewis explores the life and work of a multifaceted woman whose career was flourishing long before Native films such as Smoke Signals reached the screen. He traces Obomsawin’s path from an impoverished Abenaki reserve in the 1930s to bohemian Montreal in the 1960s, where she first found fame as a traditional storyteller and singer. Lewis follows her career as a celebrated documentary filmmaker, citing her courage in covering, at great personal risk, the 1991 Oka Crisis between Mohawk warriors and Canadian soldiers. We see how, since the late 1960s, Obomsawin has transformed documentary film, reshaping it for the first time into a crucial forum for sharing indigenous perspectives. Through a careful examination of her work, Lewis proposes a new vision for indigenous media around the globe: a “cinema of sovereignty” based on what Obomsawin has accomplished.
- GenresBiography
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 31, 2024
this summer was my consume as much obomsawin media as possible summer
June 3, 2017
Film has become one of my passions, and there are many filmmakers I have never heard of. The Pacific Film Archive's and the NW Film Center's programs often include films of this ilk. Recently, for me, this includes William Greaves and Alanis Obomsawin. I had seen Obomsawin's film, Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, last year at the NW Film Center and last November, the Pacific Film Archive offered three of Obomsawin's films, with Obomsawin in person to talk about her films. Too bad Berkeley is not closer. I wanted to know more about Obomsawin.
A pdf of Randolph Lewis' book was available through the Multnomah County Library. This book really captured my attention. The writing is accessible and not overtly academic. Lewis provides a biography of Obomsawin's life, and the context for her work, including a brief history of the National Film Board of Canada, where she works as a documentary filmmaker. (It mentions her friendship with Leonard Cohen, which put me on the tangent to read his book, Beautiful Losers.)
The author notably presents himself as a white male: non-native, non-Canadian who is examining the work of a First Nations artist. From my perspective, his writing is sensitive and inclusive. He is careful in the details in the statements he makes. His statements about the "Cinema of Sovereignty" are well-thought. "...is about authority, autonomy, and accountability in the representational process. It is the embodiment of an insider's perspective, one that is attuned to cultural subtleties in the process of image-making as well as in the final image itself."
Youtube offers some of Obomsawin's films, including two full-length films: Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance and Is the Crown at War with Us? If you have any interest in documentaries, and particularly in documentaries by a First Nations filmmaker, they should not be missed.
A pdf of Randolph Lewis' book was available through the Multnomah County Library. This book really captured my attention. The writing is accessible and not overtly academic. Lewis provides a biography of Obomsawin's life, and the context for her work, including a brief history of the National Film Board of Canada, where she works as a documentary filmmaker. (It mentions her friendship with Leonard Cohen, which put me on the tangent to read his book, Beautiful Losers.)
The author notably presents himself as a white male: non-native, non-Canadian who is examining the work of a First Nations artist. From my perspective, his writing is sensitive and inclusive. He is careful in the details in the statements he makes. His statements about the "Cinema of Sovereignty" are well-thought. "...is about authority, autonomy, and accountability in the representational process. It is the embodiment of an insider's perspective, one that is attuned to cultural subtleties in the process of image-making as well as in the final image itself."
Youtube offers some of Obomsawin's films, including two full-length films: Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance and Is the Crown at War with Us? If you have any interest in documentaries, and particularly in documentaries by a First Nations filmmaker, they should not be missed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews