TRUDELL
Heather Rae
USA, 2005, 80 minutes
In 1969, when John Trudell heard on the radio that Native American protestors were occupying Alcatraz and demanding indigenous peoples' land rights, he dropped everything, packed up his family and joined the encampment. While on the island, Trudell's articulate voice rose above the various speakers, and he became the protesters' principal representative. The press also embraced him for his clarity and presence. He refers to that time as his birth into activism. The eloquence that emerged would continue as he spoke out on indigenous issues all through the tumultuous 1970s as the National Spokesman of the American Indian Movement (AIM).
Shortly after Trudell burned an American flag during a protest in Washington DC, his wife and three children died in a house fire whose cause remains unknown. Trudell turned his heartache into poetry. True to his calling as a speaker, he began performing his poetry with Native American chants. Later, with help from Jesse Ed and Jackson Browne, Trudell crafted his spoken word poetry into musical compositions. His work again transformed, Trudell himself had evolved from activist to philosopher.
Heather Rae's biopic weaves archival imagery with interviews with Trudell's friends, such as Robert Redford, Bonnie Raitt and Wilma Mankiller. Rae also creates an impressionistic visual canvas for Trudell's poetry and music, infusing the whole with the spirit of the man and his influential work.
Agnes Varnum
Heather Rae was the Director of the Native American Program for the Sundance Institute for six years. She co-produced Shirley Cheechoo's films SILENT TEARS and BACKROADS. Prior to her six years at Sundance, Rae produced/directed on twelve 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 University in the Communications Department.
Print Source:
Heather Rae, Appaloosa Pictures
6420 W. Randolph Dr.
Boise, ID 83709
Tel: 208-376-3653
Email: heather@appaloosapictures.org
Sunday 6/19 at 5:30 p.m.
FILMS BY: TITLE | DATE | COUNTRY | INTEREST
| 
