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REEL SOUTH DAKOTA STORIES

Made Possible by the South Dakota Arts Council.

Support is provided with funds from the State of South Dakota, through the Department of Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Featuring these South Dakota films:

From Wounded Knee To Standing Rock 

South Dakota, USA, Feature Documentary, 88 minutes

Produced and Directed by Kevin McKiernan

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A rookie NPR reporter on his first assignment, covering the armed occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota in 1973, is treated like the enemy and ultimately arrested by the FBI for defying a government news blackout and embedding with militant Indians. Forty years later, he meets a Yurok Indian fisherman in California, a man he unwittingly had photographed during the 10-week occupation. The two become friends, traveling back to the Dakotas and later to the pipeline protests on the Standing Rock Reservation, where they examine the legacy of 1970's activism in Indian Country. 

Blood Memory 

South Dakota, USA, Feature Documentary, 107 minutes

Produced and Directed by Drew Nicholas 

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Produced by Elizabeth Day, Megan Whitmer, and Olvia Vaugn 

Battles over blood quantum and 'best interests' resurface the untold history of America's Indian Adoption Era. An attorney puts heritage on trial to redress the Indian Child Welfare Act - a law he once fought to protect. A survivor of forced family separation helps welcome home adopted and fostered relatives of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe - the community from which she was removed over 60 years ago.

Our Tiospaye // Our Family

South Dakota, Short Documentary 9 minutes

Produced & Directed by Meg Griffiths

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South Dakota's reservations are too often defined by deficit narratives. Poverty, unemployment, substance abuse... these themes obscure the profound relationships and rich cultural legacies that are the heart of life in Indian country.  This is the story of three Pine Ridge-bound educators who arrived with radically disparate perspectives on the place. Shaped by the contours of the land, the support of their communities, and the strength of their students, each discovered a deeper purpose. Each in their own way found a tiospaye, a family.

Other Films with South Dakota Ties:

Angels in Our Midst produced and Directed by Robin Massee, featuring Marcella Ryan LeBeau from Eagle Butte, SD

Never Been to Graceland Written, Produced and Directed by first-time filmmaker from Hot Springs, Justin Gausman with South Dakota actors

One Shot One Kill Produced by Wade Everett, Directed by Jeremy Doyle, filmed on a ranch in north central South Dakota with Dakota Actors

Saving Throw Produced by Reed Ellefson, Ethan Grafton, Rapid City

This Land Produced/Directed by Alan Thompson features South Dakota scenes

What If? Produced/Directed by Allison Burmeister, Rapid City

Wifight Produced/Directed by Jay Warren, Shot/Edited by Ezekiel Richter, Sioux Falls

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