Native American Filmmaker to present workshop at UNM

March 27, 2003

Native American Filmmaker Masayesva to present workshop at UNM

Hopi photographer, video artist and filmmaker Victor Masayesva Jr. will present and discuss his work at the University of New Mexico April 8-10.

Masayesva has been at the forefront of experimental filmmaking that aims to create an indigenous aesthetic in film and photography. A widely recognized Hopi independent producer who has been making video and television for more than 12 years, he will present workshops and screenings of films for the students, faculty and other interested groups. These events provide an opportunity for students, faculty and filmmakers to interact with Masayesva and learn from his experiences. The events are as follows:

—Tuesday, April 8 (workshop) “ ‘Nine Years Later:’ Native American Portrayals in Film,” 2 – 4:30 p.m. in Humanities rm. 319.

The filmmaker will talk about his own work in the context of a discussion on a variety of videos produced by Native American directors featuring Native American actors, writers and musicians. Masayesva has selected films and videos made in 1994 that with the nativity, perceptiveness, resignation and optimism of Native American filmmakers.

—Wednesday, April 9 (Reception /Film Screening “Imagining Indians,”) 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in Dane Smith Hall rm.125.

Masayesva will screen “Imagining Indians” as a part of the American Studies Film Night Series. “Imagining Indians” contains a remarkable series of interviews, Masayesva recorded with an all-Indian crew in tribal communities in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Washington and the Amazon. Masayesva uses humor and irony to convey the voices of grassroots peoples and to convey their sense of betrayal. There will be a reception for the filmmaker prior to the screening of the film. These events are co-sponsored by American Studies and the Arts of the Americas Institute at UNM.

—Thursday, April 10 (Lecture) “Photography, Virtual Reality and Accountability in Native Communities.” For information on Thursday’s lecture contact Beverly Singer at 277-3027.

“I have yet to come across any tenets left by the creator to the indigenous tribes of this continent that we should conquer, destroy people and spill blood on this land which is even now surging with springtime,” Masayesva said. “Despite this absence, Native Americans continue to be represented in/through acts of war and sadly, tribes today have adopted that character as their own.”

Masayesva was raised in the Hopi village of Hotevilla, Ariz., on Third Mesa and was recruited in his teens to the Horace Mann School in New York. He studied Hopi ceremonies and English at Princeton University. Following graduate studies in English and photography at the University of Arizona, Masayesva became director of Hotevilla’s Ethnic Heritage Program and learned filmmaking to document Hopi culture. His images of the Hopi world combine photographs of natural objects and locations with drawing, hand-coloring and collaged objects. Masavyesva’s films and images concern the commercialization, appropriation, exploitation and repatriation of Native culture.

These events are free and open to all UNM students, faculty, staff and interested community.

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