Tribal College Journal (TCJ) is pleased to announce that it will again partner with the Pocahontas Reframed “Storytellers” Film Festival, a nationally acclaimed film event that brings Native filmmakers from across North America together for three days of panels and screenings of Indigenous films. The winner of the 2020 TCJ Student best film award will receive a $1,000 prize, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to the fourth annual Pocahontas Reframed “Storytellers” Film Festival, which will be held in Richmond, Virginia, November 20-22, 2020, at the historic Byrd Theatre.
TCJ Student has garnered national attention through its annual film competition, which has been held for the past five years and illuminates the growing creative film output at tribal colleges and universities. The partnership with Pocahontas Reframed offers tribal college student filmmakers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to showcase their work at an international film festival that has brought together filmmakers and stars like Michael Horse, Shelley Niro, Darlene Naponse, George Aguilar, and PuraFe.
Last year, Michael R.L. Begay (Santo Domingo Pueblo and Navajo) won the TCJ Student best film award for his short thriller Lightning Boy. Begay, a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University and currently a cinematic arts and technology student at the Institute of American Indian Arts, joined a cadre of Indigenous filmmakers from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico for the event in Richmond. Begay presented his work as part of the festival’s shorts program.
“The Pocahontas Reframed “Storytellers” Film Festival is proud to be a sponsor of the TCJ student Film Contest,” says Bradby Brown, the film festival’s organizer. “Storytelling and filmmaking have suffered from a lack of representation of important groups that influenced American democracy, notably Native Americans. Native culture is rich, steeped in history, and multifaceted, yet mainstream films do not often capture this nuance. With this partnership we hope to honor the contributions of Native student filmmakers and reinvigorate the conversations about telling stories of Indigenous life.”
Read the full Press Release for TCJ-Pocahontas Reframed Partnership 2020 to learn more