LitFilm 2024: N. Scott Momaday: Words From a Bear Screening & Talkback with Jeff Palmer

Mon, Oct 14 2024
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Central Library, Dweck Center

BPL Presents film Indigenous Peoples Day litfilm


Documentary, dir. by Jeffrey Palmer
U.S., 2019, 85 min

American Masters examines the enigmatic life and mind of National Medal of Arts-winner Navarro Scott Momaday, the Kiowa novelist, short-story writer, essayist and poet. His Pulitzer Prize-winning novel House Made of Dawn led to the breakthrough of Native American literature into the mainstream. The documentary delves into the psyche behind the celebrated author and visually captures the essence of Momaday’s writings. Original animation, historical photos and aerial landscapes complement interviews with indigenous authors Rilla Askew and Joy Harjo, the first Native American United States Poet Laureate; actors Robert Redford, Jeff Bridges, Beau Bridges and James Earl Jones, to reveal Momaday’s creative core.

This film will be followed by a conversation with director Jeffrey Palmer.

Jeffrey PalmerJeffrey Palmer is an Associate Professor of Performing and Media Arts, a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, and is an award-winning filmmaker and media artist. He describes his work as a multimedia exploration of Indigenous people's lives in twenty-first century America. He recently completed the feature film, N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear, examining the life and mind of the first and only Native American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature. The film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on the PBS series, American Masters. In 2020, the film was nominated for an Emmy in support of American Masters' 33rd season, for Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series. The film also won the 2019 Ted Turner Award for the film that most encourages environmental stewardship. Of Palmer's numerous short films, Isabelle's Garden, was a winner of the Bill and Melinda Gates Short Film Challenge at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. His films screened at venues such as Hot Docs, The Seattle International Film Festival, The Berlinale European Market, and many others around the world. He received numerous awards, grants, and recognition from the Sundance Institute, ITVS, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and the Firelight Media Documentary Lab. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America, International Documentary Association, Television Academy, and in 2022 completed the short narrative film Ghosts, which is chronicles Native American boarding schools in Oklahoma. He is currently working on the feature narrative script for the film Ghosts.

All screenings are free but require reservations. Times subject to change. For the full LitFilm roster, go here.

LitFilm: A BPL Film Festival About Writers is made possible with support from BPL’s Fund for the Humanities. BPL Presents programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

LitFilm 2024: N. Scott Momaday: Words From a Bear
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238 Get Directions
Add to My Calendar 10/14/2024 07:00 pm 10/14/2024 08:30 pm America/New_York LitFilm 2024: N. Scott Momaday: Words From a Bear Screening & Talkback with Jeff Palmer <p><strong>Documentary, dir. by Jeffrey Palmer</strong><br><strong>U.S., 2019, 85 min</strong></p><p><em><strong>American Masters&nbsp;</strong></em>examines the enigmatic life and mind of National Medal of Arts-winner Navarro Scott Momaday, the Kiowa novelist, short-story writer, essayist and poet. His Pulitzer Prize-winning novel <em>House Made of</em> <em>Dawn</em> led to the breakthrough of Native American literature into the mainstream. The documentary delves into the psyche behind the celebrated author and visually captures the essence of Momaday’s writings. Original animation, historical photos and aerial landscapes complement interviews with indigenous authors Rilla Askew and Joy Harjo, the first Native American United States Poet Laureate; actors Robert Redford, Jeff Bridges, Beau Bridges and James Earl Jones, to reveal Momaday’s creative core.</p><p><em>This film will be followed by a conversation with director Jeffrey Palmer.</em></p><p><span><strong><img src="https://static.bklynlibrary.org/prod/public/inline-images/10.14.2024%20jeffrey-palmer.jpg" data-align="left" data-entity-uuid="77970750-dea8-48ef-b3e6-d5f101831682" data-entity-type="file" alt="Jeffrey Palmer"… Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library, Dweck Center MM/DD/YYYY 60

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