Research Catalog

Title

Smoke signals : native cinema rising / Joanna Hearne.

Author

Hearne, Joanna

Publication

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2012.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxxiv, 242 p. : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

• "Smoke Signals is a historical milestone in Native American filmmaking. Released in 1998 and based on a short-story collection by Sherman Alexie, it was the first wide-release feature film written, directed, coproduced, and acted by Native Americans. The most popular Native American film of all time, Smoke Signals is also an innovative work of cinematic storytelling that demands sustained critical attention in its own right. Embedded in Smoke Signals's universal story of familial loss and renewal are uniquely Indigenous perspectives about political sovereignty, Hollywood's long history of misrepresentation, and the rise of Indigenous cinema across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Joanna Hearne's work foregrounds the voices of the filmmakers and performers--in interviews with Alexie and director Chris Eyre, among others--to explore the film's audiovisual and narrative strategies for speaking to multiple audiences. In particular, Hearne examines the filmmakers' appropriation of mainstream American popular culture forms to tell a Native story. Focusing in turn on the production and reception of the film and issues of performance, authenticity, social justice, and environmental history within the film's text and context, this in-depth introduction and analysis expands our understanding and deepens our enjoyment of a Native cinema landmark. "--
• "An introduction to and analysis of "Smoke Signals," the most popular Native American film of all time"--

Series Statement

Indigenous films

Uniform Title

• Project Muse UPCC books
• Indigenous films.

Subject

• Smoke signals (Motion picture)
• Indians in motion pictures
• Indigenous films > United States
• PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction. "A way to sit at the same table": indigenizing popular culture -- 1 "Indians watching Indians": speaking to and from cinema history -- 2 "The storyteller is part of the story": making Smoke Signals -- 3 "Dances with salmon": reading Smoke Signals -- 4 "Take your dad's pickup": Smoke Signals's reception -- Conclusion. "Be a crazy horse of filmmaking": Smoke Signals and the ongoing production and reception of native cinema -- Appendix. Remembering Smoke Signals: interviews with Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie.

ISBN

• 9780803219274 (pbk.)
• 080321927X (pbk.)

LCCN

^^2012026247

OCLC

• 785862652
• SCSB-12524441

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library