Local men chasing film careers

Colville Tribes member Tony Louie is among a group of local tribal members working at carving out a niche in the California film scene.

Louie had his film, "HIStory," screened at the 15th Annual LA Skins Fest film festival at the famous TCL (The Creative Life) Chinese Theatres in Hollywood in November.

Louie's five-minute short "led the opening night screenings and set the tone for the entire festival," a press release from Louie's team reads.

The film "is a spoken word piece poetically displaying the historical traumas of Indigenous Peoples through the lens of a Native American."

In the film, Louie walks down a dark tunnel and performs a spoken word piece that addresses Native American issues and perspectives.

"With modern society distorting the lens in which Indigenous peoples are perceived," Louie's bio reads, "Tony believes it is every Native's responsibility to take control of his/her own narrative as the 'First Peoples' of this country and to bring justice to the traumas still lingering within Native communities universally. This mentality has led to the creation of 'HIStory,' which he wrote with this very principle in mind. Regardless of the medium used, Tony strives to bring honor to his Ancestors that came before him, in turn, bring healing to Native Americans still struggling today."

Louie's team includes fellow Colville Tribal members Director James Pakootas and Producer Ben-Alex Dupris, as well Supervising Sound Editor Devonte "T.S The Solution" Pearson, and Audio Engineer Kaylum Batis.

Dupris himself has clout in the film world, and his credits include the film "Sweetheart Dancers," which earned him the Railroad Pass Best Nevada Filmmaker award at the 2019 DAM Short Film Festival and the 2019 Grand Jury Award for best short film at Outfest L.A. which is an Oscar/Academy Award-qualifying LGBTQ+ film festival, and many more.

Louie, along with Pakootas and Daniel Nanamkin, won a Native American Music Award for "Best Rap/Hip Hop Video" with their first single, "Break These Chains," in 2019.

"Fast forward to 2021, Tony and James have continued their momentum despite a global pandemic by shifting their focus from music into film," the press release reads. 

Pakootas makes his directorial debut with "HIStory," and hopes the film has a successful run for the rest of the 2022 film festival season. ... The pair hope their film continues to reach new audiences as "HIStory" makes its way around the film festival circuit. 

"It's beyond my wildest dreams that my mug would be up on the big screen, and I'm blessed to experience such things," Louie said in a Facebook post announcing the film's selection for the film festival. "Nonetheless, it's an honor to represent my people through my art and a privilege to use any stage I find myself on to speak up for any/all indigenous peoples whose voices often feel unheard."

Pakootas, who admits to having had no interest in making films pre-pandemic, still feels a little uncomfortable calling himself a filmmaker at this early stage of learning the craft.

"What I am confident in saying is that I'm a storyteller," he said. "We just tell stories in a multitude of ways now, and through film we're gaining a whole new skill set. We're now able to translate these stories from our hearts and minds to recording studios and movie screens so that our existence becomes more visible, and that's massively important in today's world. Through these various art mediums, we're given an opportunity to stand up and say 'I'm Native and this is my story,' and for the most part, the world is responding in powerful ways. So, we're extremely grateful for that."

The film is not yet on YouTube, with the group still deciding whether to release it publicly soon - which may exclude them from certain film festivals - or to wait until the end of the year. 

Pakootas told The Star on Tuesday that he is involved in developing a NorthWest Native filmmaker night in Spokane in July or August, which is likely to be a drive-in movie event that starts when it gets dark. It would highlight upcoming and solidified Native American filmmakers, with other live performances preceding the film screenings.