Provocative Black Hills Doc Film ‘Lakota Nation vs United States’ Trailer
by Alex Billington
June 9, 2023
Source: YouTube
“As an Indigenous person, as someone who comes from this land, I’m just trying to exist.” IFC Films has revealed an official trailer for an acclaimed documentary film titled Lakota Nation vs. United States, arriving in theaters this July. It first premiered last year at the Tribeca Film Festival. A chronicle about how the Lakota Indians fight to reclaim control of the Black Hills in South Dakota. The doc investigates how the sacred land was stolen in violation of treaty agreements and feature interviews with Indigenous citizens. Using a treasure trove of rich archival material, electrifying on-the-ground footage and intimate interviews with veteran activists and young leaders, the film offers a “provocative, visually stunning testament to a land and a people who have survived removal, exploitation and genocide – and whose best days are yet to come.” Fight the power! Featuring Phyllis Young, Henry Red Cloud, Nick Tilsen. More films like this, please. The poster is also incredible, with a powerful minimal design (view below). Catch this film at your theater soon.
Full trailer (+ poster) for Tomaselli & Short Bull’s doc Lakota Nation vs. United States, on YouTube:
From Tribeca: “It is the most sacred place on earth, the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Očéti Šakówiŋ since time immemorial–the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Yet with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1492, the sacred land has been the site of conflict between the people it has nurtured and the settler state seeking to exploit and redefine it in its own image. Beginning with the Indian Wars, which saw the U.S. Army continually on the losing-end against Sioux and Arapaho warriors, and leading to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 — one of many broken treaties separating the Oyate from their land — the Black Hills have witnessed a greed-driven gold rush, the systematic erasure of its original inhabitants, and the creation of a most ironic shrine to white supremacy, Mount Rushmore.” Lakota Nation vs. United States is co-directed by filmmakers Jesse Short Bull & Laura Tomaselli, both making their feature directorial debut. This initially premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival last year. IFC Films will debut the doc in select US theaters starting July 14th, 2023 this summer. Who’s interested?
