The
Harvard Film Archive is proud to honor actress Tantoo Cardinal with the
second Sun Hill Award forExcellence in Native American Filmmaking.
Tantoo Cardinal is one of North America’s most widely recognized native
actresses. Born in Fort McMurray, Canada, she has appeared in more than
fifty films, ranging from independents such as Smoke Signals which won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, to mainstream films like Black Robe and Legends of the Fall.
Tantoo Cardinal came of age in Canada during a time when native culture
was still viewed with suspicion and even contempt by the Canadian
government. In the 1960s, the Canadian Content Rule came into
effect. By strengthening the Canadian artistic community, this new law
led to an increased number of roles for native actors in Canadian film
and television. As a young actress, Tantoo Cardinal began her career
with a docu-drama for the CBC and in productions for the Alberta Native
Communications Society, she soon moved on to play larger roles in
feature films. In an interview this year she stated:
"We had no
TV where I grew up in my community in northern Canada, and the only
images of native people that I was exposed to, were my family and my
relatives, these were wonderful and strong individuals whom I looked up
to. It was only when I moved to Edmonton in Alberta in 1965, that I saw
a different kind of image that was prevalent in Canadian society at
that time, a negative image of native peoples as having no fixed
address, and of being somehow lesser than. Acting for me was a way to
redress this imbalance, acting allows me to present a different kind of
truth, to bring some light back into the stories of our history.”
The Sun Hill Award for Excellence in Native American Filmmaking is an annual award to honor an individual who has made a significant contribution as a director, actor, producer or writer to the legacy of Native American film. This program is jointly sponsored by the Sun Hill Foundation and the Harvard Film Archive. Special thanks to this year’s selection committee members: Lee Bitsoi, Jennifer Malloy Combs, Jackie Old Coyote, Steffen Pierce, and Lucien Taylor.
March 3 (Friday) 7 pm
Directed by Jay Craven
US 1994, color, 105 min.
With Tantoo Cardinal, Rip Torn, Michael J Fox
In this period piece set in Vermont in 1927, Tantoo Cardinal plays the feisty Bangor, who along with lumberman Noel Lord (Torn) is engaged in a battle with the Northern Power Company. Faced with the end of their way of life– when the building of a giant hydro dam threatens to move them off their land– Lord and Bangor try to stave off the inevitable by taking on the power company. Produced and directed by Vermont based independent filmmaker Jay Craven, this beautifully photographed film captures the flavor of a New England that has now vanished. Interview described Cardinal’s performance as one filled with “such astonishing grace that Oscars should rain from the heavens.”
March 3 (Friday) 9 pm
Directed by Thompson E. Clay
US 1999, color, 92 min.
With Tantoo Cardinal, Vincent Angelini, Randall Godwin
In this low-key drama, Tantoo Cardinal plays Reenie, a no-nonsense
barmaid working at the local tavern in Paradise Michigan. When Reenie
takes in a neglected Ukrainian mail order bride, the relationship
between these two unlikely roommates grows as they help one another
navigate the culture of backwoods Michigan. Director Thompson E. Clay
clearly enjoys pitting the hard-bitten character of Reenie against
Viktoria (Nazarova) and her homespun remedies, which are constantly
being put to use to treat the accident
prone males of Paradise. Postmark Paradise was a prizewinner at the
2000 East Lansing Film Festival.
March 4 (Saturday) 7 pm
Directed by Cedar Sherbert
US 2004, color, 15 min.
With Tantoo Cardinal
The heartache of memory is explored as an elderly alcoholic aunt (Cardinal) mysteriously returns to attend the memorial for a family's young son. Memory won the 2004 Best Live Action Short Award at the American Indian Film Festival.
Directed by Kent Monkman
Canada 2000, color, 23 min.
With Tantoo Cardinal, Jennifer Podemski, Brandon Oakes
In this contemporary drama, a Canadian teen struggles to find her way as she negotiates the realities of both her adopted family and her native origins. Tantoo Cardinal plays both the role of Rose’s adoptive mother as well as her born again Christian birth mother. At odds with her white adoptive mother, the conflicted daughter fantasizes about what her life might have been with her birth family. Her search for identity reveals a brother and a new understanding of the meaning of family. Blood River won the Best Film Award at the 2000 ImagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto.
Directed by Shelley Niro
Canada 1998, color, 47 min.
With Tantoo Cardinal , Florence Belmor, Billy Merasty
March 4 (Saturday) 9 pm
Directed by Bruce Beresford
US 1991, 35mm, color, 101 min.
With Tantoo Cardinal, Lothaire Bluteau, Aden Young
In the winter of 1634, a Jesuit missionary and his companion are escorted through the wilderness of Quebec by a band of Algonquin’s in hopes of finding a distant Jesuit mission. This unflinching portrayal of the colonization of French Quebec and the destruction of its native peoples takes a cynical view of both the Catholic religion and the treaties between the French and their native allies. At the time of its release the film caused some consternation with its portrayal of the French, the Algonquin and the Huron as equally violent. Bruce Beresford convincingly portrays the challenges that face the French and their native allies as they negotiate the political realities of the new colony.
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