News
Sundance, feature Four Sheets to the Wind, 2006
Oklahoma Film to Showcase at Sundance
Four Sheets to the Wind one of only 16 films selected for competition at prestigious festival
December 13, 2006 - Oklahoma filmmaker Sterlin Harjo's feature film debut, Four Sheets to the Wind, was recently selected by Sundance Film Festival for competition in the 2007 festival in Park City, Utah in January where it will make its world premiere. Four Sheets, shot in Tulsa and Holdenville last summer, was one of 16 films selected from a field of over 3,200 submissions from around the world. Tulsan Chad Burris and partner Ted Kroeber of Oklahoma-based Indion Entertainment Group produced the film.
Harjo, a descendent of the Seminole and Creek Indian tribes, feels it's important to tell stories that shed new light on Native Americans rather than depicting their stories in stereotypical period pieces or westerns.
Four Sheets to the Wind is the result of Harjo's work after being selected as one of the first five Annenberg Film Fellows at the Sundance Institute. Through the Annenberg fellowship, his participation in Sundance's Feature Film Program was supported for two years while he developed the script for Four Sheets to the Wind. During that time, Harjo worked under the guidance of industry veterans such as Robert Redford and Stanley Tucci.
"Making a film is a very scary thing. You just put your heart into it and hope that things go right. You also hope that special things happen during the process that you didn't expect. So much is out of your hands, but you have to make a film that you are proud of.hopefully other people will like it as well," said Harjo.
"Sterlin's work has a wonderful simplicity and purity about it," stated Jill Simpson, Director of the Oklahoma Film & Music Office, a state agency that provided Indion with production support. "His films are about the people and places he knows best. He's a great storyteller. My experience working with Sterlin and the Indion team on Four Sheets was nothing but positive. I'm very proud of their accomplishment."
In addition to Four Sheets to the Wind, Harjo's resume includes several short films including Goodnight Irene, a short film set in an Indian Health Service hospital, which premiered at Sundance in 2005 and screened internationally at festivals including Berlin International Film Festival and Aspen Shortsfest, where it was cited for Special Jury Recognition.
Now in its 25th year, the Sundance Institute was founded by Robert Redford in 1981 to support the visions of independent filmmakers. Each January, the film industry pays close attention to the annual Sundance Film Festival, considered the premier U.S. showcase for American and international independent film.
The Oklahoma Film & Music Office works to attract film, television, video, and music industries to Oklahoma and to promote and expand these industries within the state.
New York Times, Summer 2006
|
