October 20, 2004

Boise State Cultural Center Hosts 'An Evening With Trudell" Nov. 22

The Boise State University Cultural Center will present “An evening with Trudell” at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov 22, in the Special Events Center. The evening includes a screening of “Trudell,” a documentary that follows the life work of Native American poet/activist John Trudell. Tickets are $5 general and $1 with student identification through Select-A Seat. For more information contact the Cultural Center at 426-5950 “Trudell” is directed by filmmaker Heather Rae; both Rae and Trudell will be on hand to speak at the event. Rae spent more than a decade chronicling Trudell’s  travels, spoken word and politics in a poetic and naturally stylized manner. The film combines archival, concert and interview footage with abstract imagery mirroring the coyote nature of Trudell himself. “Trudell” begins in the late ’60s when Trudell and a community group, Indians of All Tribes, occupied Alcatraz Island for 21 months, creating international recognition of the American Indian cause and birthing the contemporary Indian people’s movement. From Alcatraz the film follows Turdell’s political journey as the national spokesman of the American Indian Movement (AIM) — a work that made him one of the most highly volatile political “subversives” of the ’70s, with one of the longest FBI files in history (more than 17,000 pages). In 1979, while protesting the U.S. government’s policy on American Indians, Trudell burned an American flag on the steps of the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C.  Within a matter of hours his pregnant wife, three children and mother-in-law were killed in a suspicious arson fire on a Nevada reservation. This ended his involvement in organizational politics. Trudell spent the next four years driving America in a car given to him by his friend and fellow activist Jackson Browne. It was during this period that Trudell’s voice as a poet began to surface. His musical and film career have led him to work with artists such as Robert Redford (“Incident at Oglala”), Sam Shepard and Val Kilmer (“Thunderheart”), Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Browne, Amy Ray and more recently Angelina Jolie, who produced his current album, “Bone Days.” “Trudell” combines interviews with his allies from the entertainment community, the “movement” days, and his friends and family with archival footage, concert footage from all over the world and abstract imagery. “Trudell” is intended to be a film that steps outside of traditional forms, even for Native films, and explores a figure of contemporary history in a way that fairly represents the evocative nature of his work and significance Rae recently produced a feature film titled “American Monster” in Stanley, Idaho, starring Adam Beach, Udo Kier and Gary Farmer. She also a co-produced “A Thousand Guns,” a feature film being produced by Harvey Keitel and Michael Robinson. Additionally, she is producing “The Space Between All Things” with director Randy Redroad (“The Doe Boy”). Rae was director of the Native American program for the Sundance Institute and a programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. She co-produced “Backroads,” which premiered at Sundance in 2000 and also helped produce Cheechoo’s first film, “Silent Tears,” for the CBC and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Prior to her six years at Sundance, Rae produced or directed 12 documentary films (both independent and for television) including CBS’s “500 Nations,” Turner Broadcasting’s “The Native Americans,” and PBS’s “Storytellers of the Pacific.” She is currently an adjunct professor at Boise State in the Communication Department and sits on the board of directors for Treasure Valley Television, Boise’s community TV affiliate. -30- Contact: Ro Parker, Cultural Center, (208) 426-4317, roparker@boisestate.edu                                                                Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, communications and marketing, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu