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Phyllis Stone, left, and Chris Eyre speak after Eyre gave a presentation on his new movie, "Imprint," and Hollywood stereotypes of Native people to Stone's Lakota language class at the Indian Center in Lincoln, Neb., on Nov. 20. Kevin Abourezk

Eyre Talks of New Movie, Hollywood Stereotypes

By Kevin Abourezk

LINCOLN, Neb. - Chris Eyre, the prominent Native filmmaker, stopped by a Lakota language class here recently to debunk stereotypes, share his favorite Native movies and leave his audience in stitches.

The director and producer of "Smoke Signals," "Skins" and "Edge of America" spoke on a range of topics - from mainstream society's fixation on the dying Indian to his latest movie, "Imprint," a supernatural thriller set on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Eyre, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma, was in Lincoln Nov. 20 as part of the VisionMaker Film Festival, which was hosted by Native American Public Telecommunications.

As a filmmaker, he said, he has avoided creating movies that depict Native people as victims of manifest destiny, a theme too often explored by Hollywood.

"It's a literally romantic notion to see Native people dying," he said.

But he doesn't blame Hollywood, which he says is simply giving film-goers what they want - an unevolved vision of Native people.

"It's not about studios making changes," he said. "It's about people accepting us."

For his part, he has attempted to portray Native people in all his movies as honestly as possible, he said. That's his obligation as a filmmaker and an artist, he said.

And it's put him in the crosshairs of those who don't like to see negative portrayals of Native people.

For example, his movie "Skins" - about two Oglala Sioux brothers at odds because of one of the brother's alcoholism - raised the ire of some who didn't like seeing Native alcoholics on film.

"People were really upset about the portrayal of Native Americans in that movie," he said.

The difference between his portrayal of Rudy, the alcoholic brother, and other mainstream Hollywood portrayals of alcoholic Indians was that he showed Rudy as a human being, not just an alcoholic, he said.

To ignore the fact that Native people struggle with alcoholism is to ignore the true condition of Native people, he said.

Speaking about his new movie, "Imprint," Eyre said it cost him just $150,000 to produce, compared to $5 million to produce "Smoke Signals." The biggest difference between the two films' costs? He used digital video to shoot "Imprint," versus film to shoot "Smoke Signals."

"Imprint" is about an Oglala attorney prosecuting a Native teenager in a controversial murder trial who returns to the reservation to visit her dying father. While home, she begins having ghostly visions and embarks on a quest to discover their meaning.

Unlike his previous movies, Eyre said, he did very little directing on "Imprint," leaving most of that to director Michael Linn. He focused much of his effort on producing the film.

"I was more distant than all my other work," he said.

For his next film project, Eyre wants to tackle a comedy.

"I'd like to do a re-make of ‘Little Big Man,'" he said. "That was the best movie."

Kevin Abourezk, Oglala Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He is a reznet assignment editor and teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute.

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