Film award to ”Come, This is the Way”

Film award to ”Come, This is the Way”

Photo by Daniel Hansson © 2014 Daniel Hansson. All rights reserved.   “Come, This is the Way” won the international Indigenous Peoples Short Film Award 2014. Many thanks to all of you who voted for the film! I shot “Come, This is the Way” with a simple consumer-grade camcorder without any initial intention to make a film at the 2013 Tutxinmepu Powwow in Idaho. This annual intertribal gathering and traditional dance contest is arranged by University of Idaho’s Native American Student Center and hosted by the local Nez Perce Tribe to celebrate the rejuvenation of American Indian culture. This Powwow brings together indians from all over North America in the spirit of drum music and dance – the unifying pulse and life-blood of Native American culture. Behind the camera, I began to perceive the joy and the pain of this celebration of what was once lost and is now being reclaimed in fierce determination to survive after centuries of genocidal persecution and socioeconomic oppression. I became a witness to the respect and love between the generations – the preservation of civilization itself. The transmission of culture to the Indian children was so moving that I was brought to tears. And this is indeed the way for all of us to follow. The still near the end of the film of an old man smiling and looking at a baby held by its mother says it all. The man is my beloved friend Ernie Phillip, also know as Dancing Bear; a fullblood member of the Shuswap Nation of British Columbia in Canada. Dancing Bear is one of the great champions...
Film première for Come, this is the way

Film première for Come, this is the way

I have just finished the editing and sound design of my first “real” short film, Come, this is the way. I shot it at the 2013 Tutxinmepu Powwow – an annual culture event in Idaho honoring the drum music and traditional dances of the North American Indians. I shot the nature scenes in the majestic Clearwater wilderness of Idaho; the ancestral land of the Nez Perce tribe. The traditional music you hear in the film (which I also produced and recorded) is performed live by the Indian drum group Vandal Nation. Through the momentary impressions of an external observer, my film tells the story of some of the relationships that express the beauty, joy, sorrow and fury that still sustain the life and love of a people that have refused to be exterminated. Listen to the heartbeat that brings us all together inside the Great Mystery. The unbroken flow between generations of a people that still remember that the Earth is our Mother. If possible, listen through a pair of good earphones.     Join the dialogue! Comment below, get in touch to receive email news, and follow Daniel Hansson and Terra Religata on Twitter for immediate updates on #ReconnectionActivism and new blog...