Description:

Celebrating its twelfth season,

Native FilmFest, presented by Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, is one of the most highly regarded events of its kind. The festival, which features the best in films by, about, and starring Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples from around the world, will be at Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs Wednesday, February 27 through Sunday, March 3.

Guest Programmer of the festival is Elizabeth Weatherford, Founder and Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Engaging, entertaining, and enlightening feature films, documentaries, and short films are followed by informative Q&A sessions. Visit www.accmuseum.org for screening schedule. Tickets are available February 1 at Camelot Theatres Box Office or www.camelottheatres.com.

Michelle H. Raheja, an Associate Professor in the English Department at UCR, will give a talk about Native American/Indigenous film on Tuesday night at the start of Native FilmFest. She has recently returned from Norway where she was a Fulbright Research Scholar studying Sami films. Her most recent book is Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans in Film.

Native FilmFest

Special guest filmmaker and educator Chris Eyre, a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations of Oklahoma, will be a festival participant. People magazine named him "the preeminent Native American filmmaker of his time." His debut film Smoke Signals was based on a series of short stories by Native American writer Sherman Alexie. It debuted in 1998 at the Sundance Festival winning the Filmmakers Award Dramatic and Audience Award Dramatic.

Since that debut, Chris Eyre has made a number of distinctive films such as Skinwalkers and the signature film for the National Museum of American Indian, A Thousand Roads. He newest film release is Hide Away, starring Josh Lucas, Ayelet Zuver and James Cromwell. Currently, he is the Chair of the Moving Image Arts Department of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

Mr. Eyre's Hide Away will be screened at the festival, and he will be an integral part of the Q&A that follows the screening. Also, he will conduct film lecture/workshops for high school students interested in film-drawing primarily from media classes at area high schools. Complimentary All Access Passes to Native FilmFest will be made available to students.

Every year, the late Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Richard M. Milanovich, attended Native FilmFest. He was a true lover of films of all genres. It is most fitting that we honor him with the good wishes of his family by establishing the Richard M. Milanovich Award for Distinguished Contributions to Indigenous Film. Although not an annual award, the Museum will present the first Award to Native filmmaker Chris Eyre at the 2013 festival.

Tickets to the festival will be affordably priced at $10 for Adults and $7 for Senior Adults (60+), Youth (16 and under), Students, and Active Military Personnel. All Access Passes are $70. Ticketholders may attend public receptions daily between the afternoon and evening screenings where they may purchase tasty meals and beverages at minimum cost, as well as visit with other filmgoers and the filmmakers, directors, and actors in attendance.

Native FilmFest

Date: Wednesday, February 27 through Sunday, March 3, 2013

Visit http://www.accmuseum.org for Screening Schedule

Location: Camelot Theatres, 2300 East Baristo Road, Palm Springs, CA 92262

Box Office: 760-325-6565

Free Parking

Tickets available for purchase at Camelot Theatres Box Office February 1 or online at www.camelottheatres.com.