National Geographic Society

By Francene Blythe

Xiaodan He's film, The Fall Of Womenland, is presentating a discussion of her work to National Geographic divisions on Friday, October 2, at 1 pm. Her film wil be a World Premier screening open to the public on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 2 p.m. in the Grosvenor Auditorium of the National Geographic Society.

Xiaodan He, a Canadian filmmaker from China, has studied film production at the Beijing Film Academy in China from 1993 to 1997. She then worked for the Yunnan Minority Film Studio as an assistant producer and an assistant director. Her first short film, Cairo Calling screened in over 50 festivals around the world winning awards and garnered television sales in both North America and Europe. The Fall of Womenland is Xiaodan's first long documentary.

Coming from the same ethnic background as the Mosuo, Xiaodan will discuss the topic of her film, the Musuo culture, offering insight on women's roles in one of the last remaining matriarchal societies of the world, the unique family structure of the Mosuo culture, the sexual equality between men and women known as the "walking marriage," and how modernity is impacting this custom and culture.

Her lecture and full version of the film, The Fall of Womenland screens publicly Saturday, October 3rd at 2 p.m. in Grosvenor Auditorium. To purchase tickets to the screening, go to http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/films/2009/10/03/all-roads-showcase-the-fall-of-womenland/

Congratulations Heather Rae!

She is one of the All Roads seed grant recipients. She received an All Roads Seed Grant for her documentary, Trudell, in 2005 which went on to PBS broadcasting in 2006. Now she has just been named one of ten top producers to watch by Variety Magazine.

By ANTHONY KAUFMAN

Heather Rae is known for producing "Frozen River," Courtney Hunt's 2008 Sundance winner, but she's now breaking out into more mainstream fare. Currently heading toward production and with financing coming together is "Ass Backwards," written by Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael ("Bride Wars"). Scribes will star along with Kate Hudson, Kristen Wiig, Amy Sedaris and David Cross.

"I call it a bitch-slap to the boy-buddy movie," she says. "It's not a big movie, but it's a big change," admits Rae, who ran the Sundance Institute's Native American program for several years. "I've been the social realism go-to girl; I've made heavy-handed documentaries and dark films like 'Frozen River.' It's a new frontier, but I'm really excited."

Despite her turn to broader comedy, Rae's steadfast commitment to her experimental and half-Cherokee roots remains. Five years ago, she moved from Los Angeles back to Idaho, and she continues to cultivate projects for Native American director Randy Redroad.

Former Sundance honcho Geoff Gilmore calls Rae a "groundbreaker."

"But despite the fact that she's a risk-taker, she gets things done," he says. "What's remarkable about her is she's creative and capable, passionate and has a rock-solid steadiness."

Rae recently completed soldier-coming-home drama "The Dry Land" for Maya Entertainment, starring Melissa Leo and America Ferrera. And she has several low-budget pics in development: first-timer Jaffe Zinn's "Buhl, Idaho"; Daniel Calparsoro's "The Cold"; a radical Western called "A Thousand Guns," starring Vera Fermiga; and Redroad's "Tearjerker."

"I'm trying to grow and do things in a bigger and better way," she says. "But I'll always have a strong commitment to these smaller gems, because I respect that type of filmmaking. I think the most important work is done on this smaller scale, where it's not encumbered by the budget it's shouldering or too many cooks in the kitchen."

Click Here, to read the full article.

Yesterday was another busy day for the AISI Students. They had lunch with speaker Eva Thomas, then attended a presentation from documentary filmmaker Yolanda Cruz, and ended the day with an evening panel titled "Sustainable Indigenous Storytelling in Film & TV," presented by the National Geographic All Roads Film Project.

Afternoon presenter Yolanda Cruz, an acclaimed filmmaker with seven award-winning documentaries under her belt, taught the students memorable lessons about filmmaking. Willie White recalls, "Yolanda Cruz said 'Film is like a gun'...that line struck me...you can't just shoot a gun when someone hands it to you, you have to learn and understand it before you can shoot it." Yolanda hails from the Chatino community of Oaxaca, Mexico.

The evening panel featured Jason Gavin, Tracey Rector, Steve Judd and Yolanda Cruz, and was moderated by Bird Runningwater. The students asked insightful questions and the panelists discussed their filmmaking backgrounds and how they got to where there are today. Panelist Jason Gavin (Blackfeet) is a screenwriter who has written for hit shows such as Royal Pains and Friday Night Lights. Stephen Judd (Kiowa, Choctaw) is a member of the WGAW (Writer's Guild of America, West) and has written for Disney XD and NBC.

Here's what the students had to say:

"Hearing from the [panelists] was the most interesting, insightful and funniest thing I have been to in a while. Too bad it is only a week long."
-Kyle Perron

"This evening's panel offered a lot of insight for the AISI participants and will allow us to continue to strive in the right direction as we look towards our bright future as indigenous people with big dreams...anything is possible!"
-Kelly McCabe

"Flawless"
-Nico Serneo

"Fabulous - I never want to leave!"
-Princilla Parker

The week will end with an amazing showcase of new International films hosted by the National Geographic All Roads Film Project. Buy your tickets today!

Check back daily for more updates on this exciting program!

Article by Claire Ensslin