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Barking Water  (2009) / Johnny Tootall  (2005)

November 16, 2014 - 7:00 pm

Barking Water (2009)


Directed by
Sterlin Harjo  (Seminole/Creek).

Frankie, a Native American man with terminal cancer, enlists his former girlfriend, Irene, for a road trip across Oklahoma to see his estranged daughter and grandson.  As they travel from one set of friends and relatives to another, their reminiscences make them keenly aware of the passing of traditional Indian ways of life.  But director Sterlin Harjo’s film rarely sinks into sentimentality; rather, it’s a clear-eyed elegy characterized by melancholic acceptance.

Indion Film, Dirt Road Productions, Dolphin Bay Films.  Producer: Chad Burris.  Screenwriter: Sterlin Harjo.  Cinematographer: Frederick Schroeder.  Editor: David Michael Maurer.  Cast: Richard Ray Whitman, Casey Camp-Horinek, Jon Proudstar.

35mm, color, 85 min.

Johnny Tootall (Canada, 2005)


Directed by
Shirley Cheechoo (Cree).

Haunted by his wartime experiences, Johnny Tootall returns home after serving a tour of duty in Bosnia and finds his estranged younger brother in the midst of a struggle to save their people’s sacred land.  A brooding, poetic drama unfolds as Johnny grapples with his destiny and his obligations to the family and community he left behind.

Kitchen Sink Entertainment Inc., Brightlight Productions.  Producer: Cynthia Chapman, Danielle Prohom Olson.  Screenwriter: Shirley Cheechoo.  Editor: Lenka Svab.  Cast: Adam Beach, Nathaniel Arcand, Alex Rice, Sheila Marie Tousey. Ben Cotton.

DigiBeta, color, 93 min.

Preceded by

Walk-in-the-Forest (Canada, 2009)


Directed by
Diana Obomsawin (Abenaki).

Walk-In-The-Forest is a sublime work of animation illustrating a universal experience of healing by the simplest means imaginable.

National Film Board of Canada.  Producer: Michael Fukushima. 

HDCam, color, 3 min.