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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 13 June 2019
‘The Buffalo Hunt’ seeks to show tribe in a new light

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS re, the film lets the Lakota
Associated Press Sioux people of today
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) speak without narration as
— “The Buffalo Hunt,” a they work to save customs
new documentary on the passed down by the elders
homeland of the Oglala through the buffalo hunt
Lakota, attempts to shun — a sacred act which ex-
clichés around the Pine tends to all aspects of life.
Ridge Indian Reservation There, in the hunt, elders
in South Dakota involving share stories on how previ-
poverty and addiction and ous generations used the
instead focus on traditions animal’s gifts and prepared
around the Native Ameri- hunters for the world be-
can tribe. fore them. Young members
Directed by Philip Di Fio- watch and participate.

In this March 2018 photo, provided by The Buffalo Hunt LLC, amm Brewer, left, and Oglala Lakota
Chief Ricky Gray Grass look over a dead buffalo following a traditional buffalo hunt on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Associated Press
The year-long project on als? Pine Ridge has been preachy message or stamp
Pine Ridge began after pro- the subject of a number of our views on anything. We
ducer Phillip O’Leary took documentaries that have just let the story unfold.”
part in the 2016 protests centered on the reserva- Eventually, Di Fiore and his
at Standing Rock over the tion’s extreme poverty, crew turned their atten-
proposed Dakota Access chronic alcoholism or drug tion to traditional buffalo
Pipeline over concerns the addiction. Those films, like hunts where the Oglala
local drinking water would the 2008 “The Battle for Lakota worked on their
be polluted. O’Leary origi- Whiteclay” and the 2014 terms. Di Fiore conducted
nally wanted to dive into a “Sober Indian Dangerous no interviews. He didn’t
documentary around the Indian,” regularly juxtapose seek outside experts to ex-
Standing Rock protests until the breathtaking land- plain anything. Instead,
he met Pine Ridge mem- scape of the Great Plains he filmed detailed shots of
bers, Di Fiore said. The Lako- with human suffering in a hunters skinning a buffalo
ta Sioux men, like members place where unemploy- then delivering meat to el-
of other Native American ment hovers around 85 ders for stew. That became
tribes from New Mexico to percent. the window to larger stories
Oklahoma, had come to “As a white guy from New about community across
Standing Rock in solitary. York coming into their the sprawling 3,500 square-
“Phillip was captivated by world, I didn’t want to fall mile (9,064 square-kilome-
their stories so the focus of into these traps,” said Di Fio- ter) reservation.
the project changed,” Di re, a Brooklyn-based direc- Some shots go longer than
Fiore said. tor best known for shooting expected. An elder’s near-
But would it fall victim of music videos. “So we were ly five-minute speech is
other stereotypical portray- very careful not to insert a shown in its entirety.q

Tessa Thompson is OK with the

‘Men in Black’ title, for now

By JOHN CARUCCI series, as a voice of reason
Associated Press when it comes to gender
NEW YORK (AP) — The equality and representa-
“Men in Black” franchise tion. “She said something
has a new recruit who isn’t great, like ‘I’ve had the
a man, but actress Tessa conversation, it takes time.’
Thompson is fine with keep- I think what she’s speaking
ing the masculine-cen- to is the fact that sometimes
tered film title — for now. change happens quicker
Joined by co-star Chris than we have language
Hemsworth on a black car- to describe it,” Thompson
pet, Thompson shrugged said. “I pitched some ideas
off the gender issue at the like ‘People in Black,’ but
world premiere of “Men that would be ‘PiB,’ which Actors Chris Hemsworth, left,
in Black: International” on sounds like a sandwich. I and Tessa Thompson attend
Tuesday in New York. “No, pitched ‘Humans in Black,’ the world premiere of “Men
I don’t mind,” Thompson which would be ‘HiB,’ in Black: International,” at the
said. Thompson cited her which sounds like some- AMC Loews Lincoln Square,
Tuesday, June 11, 2019, in
co-star Emma Thompson, thing you don’t want to New York.
who reprises her role in the get,” Thompson said.q Associated Press