When: August 1, 2024 @ 7:00 pm
Loren Waters and Robert L Hunter will screen their films MEET ME AT THE CREEK and MOTHERTOWN (directed by Anthony Sneed) at the LOFI Gallery in Sylva, NC on Thursday, August 1st at 7:00pm.
Cherokee elders, like Rebecca Jim, believe that what happens to the water happens to us. Without it, we cannot move culture forward and we cannot exist here.
ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ (Meet Me at the Creek) tells a story of interconnectedness and Cherokee values through the lifelong fight of Rebecca Jim, a Cherokee Nation citizen and Waterkeeper Warrior, as she leads the effort to restore Tar Creek located in Miami, Oklahoma. U.S. government officials have designated Tar Creek as “irreversibly damaged,” but Rebecca refuses to accept that.
The site of the original settlement of the Cherokee, the Kituwah mound, was thought lost for centuries. In her moving retelling of the efforts to reclaim the tribe’s land, former Chief Joyce Dugan and fellow tribe members foreground the spiritual, emotional, and social impact of Kituwah’s legacy. MOTHERTOWN is the story of how the Cherokee finally took their “land back.”
LOREN WATERS is an award-winning Cherokee and Kiowa filmmaker whose creative work spans several disciplines including Directing, Producing, and Casting. She’s worked on notable films and television shows including RESERVATION DOGS, FANCY DANCE, and KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Her short documentary “ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ (MEET ME AT THE CREEK)” is screening at several Academy Award-qualifying film festivals internationally in 2024. Loren continues to tell socially relevant stories rooted in cross-cultural Indigenous experiences and community collaboration.
ROBERT L HUNTER — Blackfeet, Shoshone-Paiute and Washoe — is a storyteller currently based in Tongva and Chumash territories, otherwise known as Los Angeles, CA. Born and raised in Montana, Hunter has navigated many paths in two worlds, which ultimately led him to possess a unique perspective in image making. Robert wholeheartedly believes our optics have the power to influence the culture and shape our societal narrative. His aim is to use that power in positive service to the community. Hunter’s 35mm short film “BLACK BOYS CAN’T CRY”, supported by Panavision, Kodak and Fotokem, recently won the Social Impact Award at the Oscar Qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival. His short film “HALLELUJAH” is an Official Selection at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. He is a recent Cinematography graduate of the American Film Institute. Phenomenally Indigenous.