Today’s movies: Indian Market Classification X Winners and Empire of Dirt Native Cinema Showcase

11 am: Santa Fe Indian Market moving image Classification X winners

Total running time: 178 min.

This category is the 10th classification to be added to the SWAIA juried market. Awards for Narrative Short, Documentary Short, Animation Short, Experimental Short and Feature, and two Youth divisions recognize an artist’s dedication and skill in working with new media and innovative art forms while retaining a commitment to traditional creation and technique. Following the screening, a Q&A with attending winners will be moderated by Jhane Myers (Comanche/Blackfeet), Film Project Manager.

3 pm: Empire of Dirt

(Canada, 2013, 99 min.)

Director: Peter Stebbings Producers: Jennifer Podemski (Saulteaux), Geoff Ewart, Heather Dahlstrom; Writer: Shannon Masters (Cree)

A rich portrayal of three Anishinaabe women opens with Lena Mahikan (Cara Gee [Ojibwe]), a single motherstruggling to make ends meet in Toronto. When her headstrong daughter, played by Shay Eyre (Lakota/Cheyenne/Arapaho), attracts the attention of child services, they flee to Lena’s hometown in rural Ontario where her mother, played by Jennifer Podemski (Salteaux), reluctantly takes in the two. In the weeks that follow, each one must come to terms with her anger, her actions, and what it means to be family.

Peter Stebbings’ extensive career in film has spanned over 20 years. His first feature film, Defendor, debuted at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival where it was picked up by Sony Pictures. His current projects are two original screenplays, Le Boobytrap, written by Peter, and Torrence, written by Australian author Matt Nable, and a feature film adaption of Charlatan, based on the New York Times bestseller. Empire of Dirt is his second feature film.