FILM SCREENING
On April 18, the University of New Mexico Art Museum will host an all-day screening of select feature and short films that address decolonization of nature and Indigenous nations through environmental justice activism.
The film screening is curated by Axel Christopher Gonzalez and Elspeth Iralu.
10:30 am – 11:45 am Opening Feature Film
Project Chariot (Rachel Naninaaq Edwardson – 2012 – 1h, 13m)
In 1958, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission planned to detonate thermonuclear bombs near Point Hope, North America’s oldest continually inhabited settlement. “History of the Iñupiat: Project Chariot” tells the dramatic story of an Iñupiaq village that stopped the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the most powerful government agency of its time.
11:45 am – 12:30 pm Lunch Break
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Short Films
A collection of short documentary and narrative films about environmental justice and decolonization.
Distress Call (Lexi Justus, Brooklyn Goosby, Sean Fleetham – 2016 – 15m)
That Which Once Was (Kimi Takesue – 2011 – 21m)
1000 Gifts of Decolonial Love (JuPong Lin – 2017 – 12m)
Collection of films by Paper Rocket Productions
The Sixth World (Nanobah Becker – 2012 – 15m)
Synopsis: Navajo Astronaut Tazbah Redhouse is a pilot on the first spaceship sent to colonize Mars. But a mysterious dream the night before her departure indicates there may be more to her mission than she understands.
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm Q&A with Filmmakers Nanobah Becker, JuPong Lin and Paper Rocket Productions
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Closing Feature Film
Return of the River (John Gussman & Jessica Plumb – 2014 – 1h, 9m)
Return of the River tells the story of a remarkable campaign to set a river free, culminating in the largest dam removal in history. Return of the River follows a group of strong-minded committed people as they attempt the impossible: to change the public opinion of a town and eventually the nation to bring a dam down. The community comes to a consensus, setting the Elwha River free and showing the way to more sustainable future. Amid grim environmental news, Return of the River is a film infused with hope.