The Verde Valley Archaeology Center & Museum is proud to launch our first Indigenous Film Festival, in cooperation with the Sedona International Film Festival, on November 3 and 4. It is the mission of this film festival to break systematic barriers by creating cultural understanding through film. Our vision for the future of cinema is one in which Native American and Indigenous perspectives are respectfully pictured, recognized and valued in a way that promotes authentic identities, economic outcomes, equity and wellbeing for our Indigenous communities.
SATURDAY, NOV. 4 at 1:30 p.m. — Feature film "FANCY DANCE"
"Fancy Dance" is a 2023 drama film directed by Erica Tremblay in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Tremblay and Miciana Alise. It premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023. On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "An urgent drama grounded in its observant depiction of reservation life, Fancy Dance establishes director/co-writer Erica Tremblay as a rising filmmaking talent".
Since her sister's disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax's father, the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki's mother in time for the powwow.
Preceded by the short film: BURROS
From Executive Producer, Eva Longoria, the award-winning "Burros" was shot on location at the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona. In southern Arizona, twenty miles from the Mexico border, a young Indigenous girl discovers a Latina migrant her age who has been separated from her father while traveling through the Tohono O’odham Nation into the United States.
Among the awards are:
Best Narrative Short – Santa Fe International Film Festival;
Best Dramatic Short – Arizona International Film Festival
Best in Show – Savannah Film Festival
Best Narrative Short – Anchorage International Film Festival
Best Live Action Short – Red Nation Film Festival
Tickets are $12 or $9 for SIFF and VVAC members, as well as members of Federally recognized and State recognized Tribal Nations and/or are affiliated with a Tribal community. VVAC members and Tribal members can receive the discounted price by calling the box office for tickets at (928) 282-1177, or at the box office door, and indicate your membership or affiliation.
