SWAIA ANNOUNCES NEW CINEMA PARTNERSHIP

SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION FOR INDIAN ARTS ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH NMAI AND CCA FOR NATIVE CINEMA SHOWCASE
Experiencing Native arts and cultural expression in the twenty-first century
(SANTA FE, NM) - The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is entering a new partnership with the National Museum of the American Indian and Santa Fe's Center for Contemporary Arts, to expand the annual Native Cinema Showcase, adding an additional downtown venue directly accessible to Indian Market patrons and additional programming.

This will mark the eighth year of the Showcase, presenting new and classic films and videos introduced by the filmmakers, panel discussions, and media workshops for young people. The films celebrate the growing presence of Native cultures and indigenous media on the global stage, and explore issues of common concern to indigenous people worldwide.

Native Cinema Showcase will take place August 21-24, 2008 at the Center for Contemporary Arts and at a new state-of-the-art video venue, the Cinema at Cathedral Park, located just one block from Santa Fe's historic plaza. The Cathedral Park venue will feature family-friendly films that are free-of-charge to the public. Bringing the Native Cinema Showcase to a venue so close to Indian Market creates an opportunity for more people to experience Native culture(s) through a different lens.

Native Cinema Showcase Program partners also include WGBH, the Indigenous Language Institute, the New Mexico Film Office, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the Institute for American Indian Art. Native Cinema Showcase will screen more than 25 works from the Arctic Circle to Brazil, directed by filmmakers from more than two dozen tribes and Native nations.

The full program, in PDF form, will be available July 15 at www.nativenetworks.si.edu.

This information is provided by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its partner web sites at Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink, TribalWorks and ZuniLink. Proprietors Susanne and William Ernest Waites will be blogging from Indian Market again this year.