Movies, Race, and Ethnicity
The last time I taught the course Indigenous Images it was a two hour class which meant that there was no time to show movies. This time around I got a four hour slot, so there will be plenty of time to show a film every week and still have some good discussion. But that means I need to pick films and find good readings to go with them, so I was really happy to find this excellent resource: The UC Berkeley Media Resources Center has put up an extensive set of bibliographies and videographies relating to Movies, Race, and Ethnicity. For my course, I’m particularly interested in the material on Native Americans (books, videos), which has already given me some great ideas for my course.
P. Kerim Friedman is an assistant professor in the Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures at National Dong Hwa University, in Taiwan, where he teaches linguistic and visual anthropology. He is co-director of the film Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!, winner of the 2011 Jean Rouch Award from the Society of Visual Anthropology. Follow Kerim on Twitter.
Mickey Mouse Monopoly is good film about how gender and ethnicity is portrayed in Disney films. It isn’t specifically about Native Americans but it does have a brief section showing how Native Americans are portrayed by Disney in their cartoons.
Report this comment
http://www.atanarjuat.com/
Report this comment
Comet Jo: Yes, certainly. Fast Runner is already at the top of my list! More recent is Ten Canoes, although I haven’t seen it yet…
Report this comment
I would recommend the NFB film with anthropologist David Scheffel on the German, Czech and former eastern bloc countries obsession with American Native culture and dressing up in ‘genuine’ costume in Indianer Clubs. He and three Manitoba Cree go to Europe to meet them – the film is about their encounter. See a review: http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol2/no4/indian.html
Report this comment
Canuck: Thanks. That looks great!
Report this comment
You could consider Return of Navajo Boy, which begins and ends with the representation of Native Americans but actually touches on much more important topics, including cross-ethnic adoption, white guilt, tourism, and even uranium mining.
http://www.navajoboy.com/press.htm
Report this comment