Rez Bomb

Working on A Thunder-Being Nation (Pine Ridge Indian Rez doumentary)

StevenLewisSimpson — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 02:38:31 +0000

So I am pleased to say my epic doc about Pine Ridge is beginning to really take shape in the edit after such a long period of working on it. It is now down below 2 hours having been carved from about 70 hours of compelling footage of interviews and testimonies shot over 11 years.

It is very much the voice of the Oglala nation not some distant academic view of life there. The narrative spans through from the story of origin through to life today covering Wounded Knee 1890 & 1973 as well as boarding schools, education today, the social problems there today, and as many subjects as you can imagine in between including the march for justice.

Interviewees range across the reservation from activists like Russell Means to the BIA superintendent and various former tribal presidents. most importantly it is the voice of the Ogala, particularly elder women.

The documentary is scheduled for release in 2011 and to be put on the mailing list to be notified of its release email inyoentertainment@live.com with thunder in the subject line.

The trailer below just includes footage from our earliest shoots.

Russell Means talks about women/matriarchy (video clip)

StevenLewisSimpson — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:11:20 +0000

Taken from the 48 minute long exclusive interview only available on the special edition of the DVD of the movie Rez Bomb set on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation starring Tamara Feldman, Trent Ford, Russell Means, Chris Robinson, Tokala Clifford, Moses Brings Plenty, Arlette Loud Hawk

Just back from another trip to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (from director of Rez Bomb)

StevenLewisSimpson — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:42:35 +0000

I got back the other day from another fabulous three weeks in and around Pine Ridge. The highlight definitely was being Fire Keeper at Russell Means’s Sun Dance in Wind Cave in the Black Hills. It was an incredible honour to watch close up the dedication, courage and dignity the Sun Dancers held throughout the week. It really was one of the weeks of my life.

Went on a road trip around Rosebud, Pierre, Crow Creek, Lower Brule and Cheyenne River making sure the Rez Bomb DVD is available as widely there as possible so we’re not one of those companies to film in the area and never be heard of again. No other film is easier to access in certainly Pine Ridge and Rosebud.

Spent a wonderful afternoon visiting with Tom Poor Bear who updated me that there has still been no progress in the 11 year “investigation” into the murders of his family members Ron Hard Heart and Wally Black Elk. He’s a good guy and very dedicated for the search for justice.

Spent a night camping with the 100 mile horse race riders which was very cool and followed them for part of the race. Also hung out at the Oglala Lakota College graduation Powwow. So much happens on Pine Ridge during the summer and I have to say there is no-where else on earth that I get so welcomed and have so much fun. Sadly I heard today that Autumn Two Bulls who I hung out with at Red Shirt Table a couple of weeks ago is in jail now facing a $10,000 bond. (see the facebook page)

The last afternoon was a blast visiting with Leon Matthews at the Higher Ground coffee shop he owns with his wife. It’s a real classy place and Leon is always up for some witty banter.

So yet again an amazing time. It really is a wonderful place to visit.

My blog on going to Russell Means’s Sundance this week

StevenLewisSimpson — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 14:44:12 +0000

It’s a funny thing to say that Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota with its abject poverty, 80-85% unemployment, a life expectancy in the mid 40′s for men is actually probably my favourite place on earth and when I’m there I spend most of my time laughing my head off with the wonderful group of friends that I’ve gotten to know from all aspects of life on the reservation. But this is how it is for me. There is no denying that I’ve built a special connection with the reservation in the eleven years I’ve been going there on a regular basis after the repatriation of a Ghost Shirt from the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow first brought me there.

So I am heading back for three weeks and this time it is for a very special reason. Back in 1998 when I started to learn about Pine Ridge it had a lot to do with reading the remarkable autobiography of legendary American Indian Movement leader Russell Means. When I say legendary and many of you scratch your head in wonder of why you do not know the name is that racism is alive and well in the USA and you can see that most evidently in the reporting of current events and recent history. Russell instigated bigger civil rights actions than Malcolm X ever did. Some equalled the scale of activities of Martin Luther King and often exceeded the Black Civil Rights movement in terms of the violence thrown back at them by the US Government. Most famous is the Wounded Knee Occupation over 71 days in 1973 when members of AIM occupied the small village of Wounded Knee while residents still lived there and the Government with armoured personnel carrier and fighter planes flying overhead fired up to half a million bullets in on the activists. Amazingly only two AIM supporters were killed.

In the aftermath of 1974-76 Pine Ridge (where Wounded Knee is located) had a comparable rate of political murder and disappearance as Chile did under Pinochet. Of course this is not taught in Schools, the only thing that is remembered about the occupation today is that Marlon Brando turned down the Oscar for the Godfather in solidarity with AIM and began forging a close personal friendship with Russell. Amazingly I started to get to know Russell in 1999 and now we are very good friends and I am arriving to join him and others for his Sundance in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the most sacred of land for his people the Oglala Lakota. I dreamed about being at a Sundance in 1999 with Russell, their culture places great significance on dreams and it is truly a great honour to be invited by this great man to an event that was banned for many years by the US Government and thus for a non-Indian to be invited is a great gesture of trust and honour.

The Sundance starts on the 8th with the ceremonial Tree Day where the grounds are formally set for the dance and it finishes on the 13th with a feast and give away. Traditionally the leaders of the tribe had the least as it was considered a great honour to give away their goods. Something the Christian European settlers could never understand and tried to force the suppression of and enforce the ownership of land and property. But today give aways are still practised by the traditionals, horses, bison, etc. The final act of the Sundance is the host to give away to the participants. In spite of all the hardships people face purely to survive on the reservation to see such generosity still practised by some is a beautiful sight.

I am a bit in the dark over what to expect at the Sundance. We shall all be camping together for the time where Bison (often described as Buffalo on the Great Plains) roam freely. During the ceremony some of the men will pierce their flesh and have a sinew tied from their flesh to a Bison skull and then they’ll drag it around dancing till the flesh is torn free. Other similar offerings are made. For me I see a lot of Cultural Tourist from Europe with an idealised view of the traditional Lakota way of life for whom going to a Sundance would be their wet-dream. For me it is very different. For me my connection with the Lakota is not cultural but purely human and direct in an indescribably way but it’s a very clear thing that I and my Lakota friends feel. For me attending the Sundance is a great honour being bestowed by a great man upon me. But excitement I feel is spending a week in the wilderness disconnected from the insanity that has become modern life with all the fictions that we worry ourselves over. For me to shut my brain down from the fog of how many emails have come in since I last logged on and concern about a political situation in some far flung land. Just to commune with those around us and to get in tune with the natural world. The great beauty of the traditional Lakota is that they understand the different about what is real and what is an assumed reality. Of course the only downside is that I miss the kick off of the World Cup, but life is full of sacrifices .

What amazes me most is that thing most glorious in life, how things you could not have imagine arise into reality. Twelve years ago Russell Means became a hero of mine when I read his book in my home in Scotland. Now I am sharing another chapter in our friendship together. How magical life can be. Oh and by the way, Marlon Brando and I have something in common, we’ve both helped bail Russell Means out of jail. Pity it wasn’t his looks or his talent very cool all the same.

Somehow I feel that this experience is going to lead to a shift in my evolution. Stay posted to find out.

Rez Bomb directors guest blog for Reel Injun the movie about American Indian cinema

StevenLewisSimpson — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:41:26 +0000

[This is the guest blog I wrote for the site of Reel Injun the new documentary about cinema's depiction of the American Indian. All the blogs are available at http://www.reelinjunthemovie.com/site/blog/ other bloggers include, Russell Means, Wes Sudi, Chris Eyre and Adam Beach.]

Guest blog: Steven Lewis Simpson
by admin | Friday 05 February, 2010
It’s a great pleasure writing this blog for my friends behind Reel Injun as I think a documentary is the purest and most concise method of displaying the grotesque nature of Hollywood’s depiction of the indigenous peoples, cultures and nations of North America and the fact that historically they have so consistently been denied opportunities in Hollywood to the extreme of not even playing their own people with Caucasian actors taking the roles too often. Worse than just being disrespectful, Hollywood’s depiction has twisted the psyche of an entire Nation and helped spin and skew the history of a genocide into a triumphant march of progress and greatly helped build the racism that still perpetuates today.

The irony is that the Screen Actors Guild today have rules protecting against discrimination, bound by the equal opportunities laws of the land, that actually protects this discrimination. Now I would be breaking the law to maintain the authenticity I required when casting my movie Rez Bomb by asking the heritage of the actors and actresses submitting to the film and what nation they are from. But of course I received submissions from scores of actors and actresses who looked Native but weren’t. Should I audition them? All I can say is that I did the right thing.

Rez Bomb broke free of all the stereotypes with no leather, feathers or alcohol to be seen. Just people, Lakota and white negotiating a story of love and drama that was originally written for Scotland but rewritten for Pine Ridge. The decision to shoot on Pine Ridge was out of a love of the area and people and I wanted to prove that you can shoot a mainstream story there beyond Hollywood’s perceived necessity that it must be a “culturally Native story”.

But putting that all aside we are moving forward and I think that Hollywood’s despicable history with this has so impacted us that there are great arguments over where cinema in Indian Country should go. My answer is simple. That racism shall still exist until the point where all kinds of stories are being told in all communities and to get to that point we have to further expand the range of ideas being floated out there.

Where Hollywood isn’t so prejudice is towards making a profit and when films by American Indian film makers start to make money consistently then other production money shall start to flow. Ice Cube and Tyler Perry for example have been hugely successful playing in a larger cultural market that Hollywood was ignoring. Although the American Indian market is much smaller it is sustainable for low budget films in itself which can provide a safety net of revenue for investors hoping for something that will also break out and have international appeal.

What follows then is how to create a new distribution model to serve the audience out there waiting for quality American Indian stories. And this is where you all come in. If you’re reading this it is because you are engaged. But that is not enough if you want to see the expansion of American Indian cinema and artists. There are now some very powerful groupings of us on the social networks. We all have to take part in getting the word out about the work we like from these artists whether musicians, film makers, actors, photographers etc.

How many of you out there know about the Baker Twins? I imagine quite a few. Why? Because Shannon and Shauna have worked tirelessly not only on getting themselves established in the entertainment business but also building up their profiles hugely on social networks. I don’t live in Canada so can’t access APTN but could tell you when Tales of an Urban Indian premiered on that channel because of the social networks of the twins. We are all part of that chain but it is only a chain if we all link together and pass the word around.

I was having a debate with V. Blackhawk Aamodt the other night about this issue at a screening of his documentary The Ghost Riders about the Big Foot ride (I highly recommend checking it out) and he was listing a lot of the cultural problems of the depiction of natives in various films. I understand his sentiment. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is one where I imagine the producers were patting themselves on the back for their cultural sensitivity but all they did was create another version of Hollywood Indians. Where were the Lakota women? Their absence was culturally ridiculous. White women were oppressed in white culture in those days but Lakota women were not. And where was the laughter? No matter the hardships the Lakota know how to laugh. Because the film makers didn’t have a cultural understanding of the Lakota he well missed the mark.

Now for me I have a far greater problem with that because of the historical significance of the piece than say Shanghai Noon, which also wasn’t culturally accurate but the film didn’t pretend that anything was culturally accurate. The cowboys were goofballs, the Chinese were disciplined and obsessed with honor and the Indians were free and liberated in spirit while still caught in the action of the piece. So long as everyone is treated with the same broad brush for me that’s okay. Pathfinder is not by any means culturally accurate (the Vikings were nothing like that too) but it’s a comic book type movie and nothing in a comic book movie is real. I’ve been looking at a comic book called Scalped set in a mythical Rez and it is so over the top about reservation life it would be objectionable other than for the fact it’s a comic book. New York is nothing like the Gotham City of Batman. As we start to break down the storytelling barriers there will be some depictions where we will have to be a little less sensitive because they get lost in the drama of the mainstream.

I’ve had it said about why did I focus in on a lot of the negative side of reservation life in Rez Bomb? I didn’t. It was written originally to be done in a different country with the same level of drama. And at the end of the day most films are heightened realities to be entertaining. But no-one complained that there are a lot of great looking stars in my film and that’s not realistic to life either. What a world it would be if everyone wandering around looked like Tamara Feldman, Trent Ford, Tokala Clifford or Moses Brings Plenty or with the presence of Russell Means. But it’s a movie. My previous two movies were action films about hitmen in Scotland. That wasn’t realistic but made for exciting movies.

They great thing about creating these movies that are fundamentally entertaining is that we are providing something that is very valuable particularly on the poorer reservations where people have issues over self esteem. For them to watch entertaining movies with stars from their own culture starts to redress the remoteness of a lot of popular culture to their own world. But also powerful is that when these movies travel and are seen by other people it greatly alters their frame of reference to a culture and brings it much closer in wrapped in an empathy we build with our protagonists on screen. This is where popular culture can be more powerful than anything else in society. In a short time Bruce Lee did more to alter the perception of Chinese people in the west than anything else through creating characters people admired and empathized with. I fear that deep, culturally sensitive, more arty films for all their brilliance are too often just seen by like minded thinkers. Once we break through in our storytelling when we have American Indian actors and actresses filling leading roles in entertaining movies that reach out into the world then I think we’ll see a very powerful change in perceptions. It may take time but the most important thing is that we all link up and become parts of the chain to move it towards happening.

In fact with Rez Bomb almost all the film festivals we played internationally were not Native festivals but major mainstream ones and because our leads have mainstream followings we’re finding an audience with our film that are loving it because its an exciting love story and who know nothing about reservation life. So their introduction to it is one where they’re rooting for people who live there. A nice seed to plant.

On a final note, as a Scotsman, when I was young the typical depiction you saw of Scottish characters in mainstream British television was as a drunk or as a thug or invariably both, which was a bit tiresome. Now it was a fraction of the stereotype of the American Indian in media but I am pleased to say as the Scots controlled more of their storytelling and their media this depiction subsided. I say to storytellers be ambitious and bold with your storytelling and think out of the box. Where are the legal drama’s or the teen high school comedies or the love stories? Well they’re starting to happen. Imprint is a ghost story. Turquoise Rose a coming of age drama and Rez Bomb is a love story.

We have to be optimistic. But lets face it, it can’t get as bad as the bad old days of Hollywood.

Steven Lewis Simpson

Steven Lewis Simpson is director, producer, musician and editor who started his film career working for the legendary Roger Corman’s Concorde Pictures. He has directed the feature Ties (best film at the Cherbourg Festival of British Film), the documentary Timor Timor, the action feature The Ticking Man and its sequel Retribution. His latest feature, Rez Bomb, is the first universal story to be set on an American Indian reservation. His documentary, A Thunder-Being Nation, filmed over seven years on Pine Ridge Reservation, will be released soon.

A Thunder-Being Nation promo of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation documentary

StevenLewisSimpson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:18:19 +0000

This is a promo for our feature documentary project A Thunder-Being Nation about Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the words of the Lakota residents. It is in post-production.

A video on the harsh reality of White Clay, Nebraska on border with Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

StevenLewisSimpson — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:19:42 +0000

Why I think Larry King is a hack The Jerry Seinfeld clip

StevenLewisSimpson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:34:05 +0000

I have to be honest, I think Larry King is a hack, I am shocked he has the prestige he has and why his too often celebrity driven show belongs on a news channel. The clip below sums up this more than anything and how short of the mark he is.

Russell Means talking about “If I Were President of the USA”

StevenLewisSimpson — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:46:37 +0000

This is pretty funny, I just saw it for the first time.

Keith Olbermann plea to support disaster aid to Indian reservations

StevenLewisSimpson — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:15:10 +0000

I never had much of a view on Keith Olbermann some comments I like some I thought were overblown. Now I am a big fan for being a rare thing in journalism, someone who woke up for at least a few seconds to the plight of those in extreme hardship in Indian Country today. Lots of love and support to my friends on Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge and the whole region being pounded by the weather… AGAIN