LOS ANGELES — Filmmaker Sky Hopinka brings to the screen his new verité-style documentary “Powwow People” — showcasing the rhythms, relationships, and lived experience of contemporary Native powwow culture.
For “Powwow People,” Hopinka organized a powwow, inviting dancers, singers, vendors and community members to participate in the making of the film.
“It’s one of the more conventional films that I have made,” Hopinka told Spectrum News. “It’s a film that isn’t about trying to give you a history lesson about the powwow, but rather, it comes to be immersive and tries to share with you the experience of what it is like to attend [a powwow].”
The last 30 minutes of the film are an unbroken shot of a Northern Traditional dance special that allows the audience to experience the textures, movements, and collective presence of the powwow.
(Image courtesy of COUSIN Collective)
For Hopinka, who grew up dancing and attending powwows, they are not only “cinematic spaces,” but powwows also represent an opportunity to showcase different aspects of Native culture.
“I think they are really beautiful. They happen all over the United States, and oftentimes they are the one interaction that many people have, who are not Native, with the Native community,” he said.
“Powwow People” is a film that reflects a beloved community and is a gesture toward the continuities of Native life. Hopinka told Spectrum News that the filming of “Powwow People” was a way to get participants involved in the making of the film rather than parachuting into a powwow that was already happening or happens every year and asking to film.
“We wanted to give the audience and participants the agency to say ‘I want to be in this film, and I want to participate in this project,’” he said.
In doing so, Hopinka said he was given the freedom to move around the event and film everything. It also allowed the film crew to follow proper powwow protocol while at the same time making sure the film was about a powwow running rather than staging scenes.
The film is touring theatrically nationwide.
Click the video above to watch the full interview with Hopinka.
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
