Canadian film takes top honors at American Indian film festival

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A Canadian film won the 1993 American Indian Motion Picture Award for best picture at the 18th annual American Indian Film Festival & Video Exposition in San Francisco, California.

Medicine River, filmed in Alberta and starring Tom Jackson, Graham Greene and Sheila Tousey, took top honors at the nine-day festival.

Michael Smith, director of the American Indian Film Institute, presented the awards. Best actor went to Graham Greene, who was not there to pick up the award. Tom Jackson was awarded the best supporting actor for his role in Medicine River.

The best actress award went to Tantoo Cardinal, for her role as Bangor in Where The River Flows North.

"This is really an honor and it is exciting to receive this Eagle Spirit Award for a number of reasons. I admire the spirit of the people who put the festival on," said Tantoo. "It helps a lot, to receive recognition because it is hard work. You have to put your heart, your soul, your mind and your spirit into it and make it the best you feel it can be. A lot of time it doesn't feel like it's enough," Cardinal explained.

The best direction award went to Mel Lawrence for Paha Sapa. The best supporting actress award was given to Sheila Tousey for Silent Tongue, which will be released in February.

"I wasn't here for the showing of Silent Tongue and I missed the tribute to River (co-star the late River Phoenix) and I would like to dedicate this award to River. He was a friend of mine, he was one of the most generous people I have met. Thank you, very much," she said.

The best documentary feature film was awarded to director Alanis Obomsawin for Kanesatake: 270 Years of Resistance. The best documentary feature video went to the American Indian Dance Theatre: Dances for the New Generation.

An Eagle Spirit Award was also awarded to actor Wes Studi, who appeared in Last of the Mohicans and also stars in the upcoming Columbia Pictures' movie, Geronimo.

"This absolutely means more to me than, let's say, even an Oscar," he quipped before sharing a joke with the audience.

"So I went to see the doctor the other day. I said, 'Doctor, I got hurt in three places.' He said, 'Don't go to those places.'

Studi commented on his good luck over the past five years and he shared an inspirational story with the audience. He never used to take acting seriously, he said; to him it was like playing around. One day that changed.

"When I finally said to myself that I will pursue this career to the max, that's when things began to happen. It's a matter of commitment. I can't just play it anymore. I've got to really do it," he said.

The first category for the best slide short subject video went to writer/performer James Luna for the History of the Luiseno People: La Jolla Reservation Christmas 1990. Best feature short video was awarded to Joanne Peden for That Was A Happy Life. The best industrial film was the National Museum of the American Indian, by producer Dan Jones. Director Jay Craven was honored with an Eagle Spirit Award for his hard work on Where The Rivers Flow North.

"Receiving the award tonight is evidence of the fact that we have ridden her (Tantoo Cardinal) coattails this far," commented director Jay Craven upon receiving the Eagle Spirit Award. Where The River Flows North will be released in January.

The festival kicked off Nov. 11 with Sam Shepard's latest feature Silent Tongue. The feature stars Sheila Tousey, Tantoo Cardinal, Jeri Arredondo, Alan Bates, Richard Harris, and the late River Phoenix. It's a film about a ghost that haunts the prairie for revenge. The story revolves around the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Show, a wild west travelling theatre troupe. If the story sounds unconventional, that's because it is.

On Nov. 12, Medicine River by Stuart Margolin and based on the Thomas King novel, was screened before an appreciative audience.

Where The River Flows North, directed by Jay Craven, was screened Nov. 13. Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinald and Michael J. Fox werethe stars. This wonderful story takes place in the backwoods of Vermont during the 1920s. Noel Lord, an old Yankee log driver and Gangor, his Indian housekeeper, learn that a big hydroelectric dam is going to drown them out of the land they love. Knowing this is an upward battle against industrial technology, the two backwoods characters fight for their land.