Red Nation Film Festival is the “Home to Native Documentary Voice”
“The Documentary genre is the place where our native voices can be heard in all its wonder, beauty, and truth,” – Joanelle Romero, Founder and President Joanelle Romero the Winner of Armin T.
Wegner Humanitarian Award in 2005 for the vision to see the truth… and the courage to speak it.
Romero is the only American Indian director, producer, music composer, writer to be this close to OSCAR nomination; With over one million hits on youtube to date!
This film was entered into the OSCARS for consideration in 2000. 22 short films were entered that year. “9 were chosen for consideration” We are proud that American Holocaust: When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian was part of that 9 chosen.
Then five were nominated. American Holocaust is very powerful and honest. It is probably more than most non-Indian people, and unfortunately, most Indian-people, want to acknowledge or hear. it is a laboring and sad truth that anyone who is truly Indian understands and lives with to some degree everyday. as polarizing as this movie is, it’s existence is critical for the hundreds of thousands of people that come to understand more about the real-story and for those that need to reflect and heal as they walk their own red-road. thanks for sharing these voices with me keep it up… – Chris Eyre (Director of Smoke Signals, Skins, A Thousand Roads, Edge of America)
Joanelle Romero was acknowledged by Ellen Snortland in 2007, former President of United Nations Association, Pasadena Chapter in the Pasadena Weekly, 2006:
“American Indians have every right to despise white folks and curse us, rather than bless us. And yet, there are leaders like Romero who boggle the typical pedestrian mind. Like Nelson Mandela, she is a prime example of forgiveness in action. Mandela had every right to call for a bloodbath when he was finally released from prison in South Africa. Mandela-like, Romero stands on his mighty global shoulders and calls for oneness, love and what she describes as female energy.” –partial quote
THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY FILM TO DATE THAT ADDRESSES THE INDIAN AND JEWISH HOLOCAUSTS *Considered for OSCAR Nomination* Director: Joanelle Romero Narrated by Edward Asner American Holocaust: When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian
This powerful, hard-hitting documentary reveals the link between Adolf Hitler’s treatment of German Jews and the U.S. government’s treatment of American Indians depicts disturbing parallels between these two Holocausts and explores the historical, social and religious roots of America’s own “ethnic cleansing.” The film also examines, through the words and experiences of contemporary Indian people, the long term lasting effects of this on-going destructive process and the possible ramifications for the future of American Indian people in the 21st century.
This film is Supported by: Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev, Rabbi Debra Orenstein, Shoah Foundation, Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles & American Indian Communities. Executive Producers: Joanelle Romero, Elizabeth Sage Galesi, Phillip M. Haozous, Teddy Parker, Kathleen Jones, David Aurbey, Windhollow Foundation.
ALL MEDIA CONTACT: RED NATION MEDIA PRESS OFFICE Phone:818.665.5753, Email: media@rednation.com
AWARDS 2005 Joanelle Romero received the Armin T. Wegner “Humanitarian” Award for the vision to see the truth… and the courage to speak it.
2003 The Fargo Film Festival
2000 The American Indian Film Festival
2000 This film was entered into the OSCARS for consideration in 2000. 22 short films were entered that year. 9 were chosen for consideration. We are proud that American Holocaust When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian was part of that 9 chosen. Then five were nominated Additional Materials:
This week Bill speaks with legal expert Robert A. Williams Jr. about how stereotypes of American Indians have been codified into laws and government policies, with devastating consequences.
In this web extra, Bill speaks with Williams about why none of the Supreme Court justices “wants Indian cases,” Hollywood’s use of “savage” imagery, the Redskins controversy and much more. Williams also talks to Bill about the difference between racist attitudes toward African-Americans and American Indians historically.
“Much of the thrust of federal Indian policy, really until the 1960s, was forcibly assimilating Indians into white models of civilization,” Williams says. “African-Americans were continually asking to be integrated, to be accepted on equal terms. What Indians have consistently asked for is what we call a degree of measured separatism. They want that ability to live on their reservation, to perpetuate their culture, to speak their language.”
That’s something, Williams says, American society was not willing to give them, until recently.
Producer: Candace White. Editor: Rob Kuhns. Associate Producer: Alexis Pancrazi.
Why American Indians Are Still Not Fairly Represented
American Indian law expert Robert A. Williams, Jr. discusses the legacy of US government-American Indian relations on this week’s show. Williams explains how modern concepts of American Indian rights continue to stem from outdated models of thought. In both popular culture and the US legal system, he talks about lingering views of natives as “wards of the state,” as well as deference to the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the idea that Europeans’ “discovery” and conquest extinguished American Indian rights to the land.
Click through the timeline below to view some of the most influential court cases and political decisions that continue to define policies for the 5.2 million people who identify as American Indian and Alaska Native, either alone or in combination with one or more other races.
