 Current Productions |
Emmy winning filmmakers to produce American Indian Movement documentary.
Documentary filmmakers Jay Rosenstein and James M. Fortier recently launched a new documentary project chronicling the controversial history of the American Indian Movement.
  
Drawing on their experience and success with previous national PBS programs In Whose Honor (Rosenstein) and Alcatraz Is Not An Island (Fortier), the Emmy Award winning filmmakers will Co-Write, Co-Produce, and Co-Direct the new project.
  
Set against the backdrop of the "Red Power" movement, Never Ignored: The Story of AIM, the American Indian Movement will explore the roots of the group's formation, the early years in Minneapolis, their rise on the national political protest scene, the tumultuous period of the early 1970s, and the systematic campaign of the U.S. Government and the FBI to "neutralize" AIM leaders and suppress the red power movement.
Press Release: Emmy Winning Filmmakers Produce American Indian Movement Documentary: "Never Ignored"
Turtle Island Productions Completes Work on National PBS Series.
Turtle Island Productions's James Fortier was tapped to produce and direct program five, "Bad Sugar," which explores connections between the staggering rates of Type II Diabetes among two Native American tribes in Arizona and the political, social, economic, and environmental structures which have drastically changes their lives over the past century.
Turtle Island Productions completes second documentary for the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of Auburn, WA selected Turtle Island Productions Producer/Director James M. Fortier to produce a sequel to their 2003 documentary "Pulling Together."
Fortier, who produced "Pulling Together" for the tribe, has been in post-production for the sequel, "Gathering Together," since September and is set to be completed by April of 2007.
The new documentary, "Gathering Together" chronicles the behind the scenes activities and preparations for the Hosting, and follows the Muckleshoot Canoe Family and community members as they fulfill this honored and historic achievement.
Press Release: Turtle Island Productions shoots sequel, "Gathering Together"
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A member of the Pimicikakmak Cree Nation explains the unnatural impact the Manitoba Hydro dam has had on water levels, shorelines, and fisheries. |
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Turtle Island Productions to co-produce indigenous environmental documentary "Green Green Water"
Turtle Island Productions has been tapped by Aquaries Media of Minneapolis to co-produce the independent documentary Green Green Water. TIP owner James M. Fortier (Métis-Ojibway) will also provide Director of Photography services and will come equipped with a complete Panasonic AG DVX-100A camera package. Aquaries Media Producer/Director Dawn Mikkleson initially approached Fortier because of his extensive background working in American Indian and First Nation communities as well as his abilities as an award-winning filmmaker and DP.
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Fortier and Co-Producer Dawn Mikkelson set up an interview with an elder from the Pimicikamak Cree Nation. |
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Green Green Water is about power. In a time when battles over energy consumption get fierce and rolling blackouts happen with more frequency, American consumers demand environmentally friendly or "green" energy. But what makes energy "green"? Xcel Energy, a U.S. based utilities company says they have the answer: hydroelectric dams in northern Manitoba run by Manitoba Hydro.
The problem: This type of "green" energy (as opposed to solar or wind power) comes with a controversial history. Many Cree say that Manitoba Hydro has not kept its promises, misleading Aboriginal leaders, and irreversibly ending a way of life for thousands of Cree people.
Manitoba Hydro states that "local people were advised about the potential effects of the project and consulted bout the mitigation measures required . . . while the standards for community consultation and involvement then in place are not the same as today, those standards of the time were met or exceeded".
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Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation member Carol Kobliski, who heads the grassroots group Justice Seekers at Nelson House, explains the forced relocation of her family from their former island home after a Manitoba Hydro dam was built in the 1970s." |
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Filmmaker Dawn Mikkelson, journeys to the subzero forests of northern Manitoba to witness firsthand the impact of her electricity-dependent life. There she is introduced to the people of the Pimicikamak and Nisichawayasihk Cree Nations who share their struggle to survive after their communities were flooded by large- scale hydroelectric dams owned by Manitoba Hydro. Now the Nisichawayasihk Cree are being asked to join Manitoba Hydro in a new dam project, which some say is the start of an effort to double Manitoba Hydro's current dam capacity.
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Professor Peter Kulchyski, University of Manitoba, Native Studies Dept. discusses the tragic history and impacts of past and proposed Manitoba Hydro dams on the Northern Manitoba Cree people. |
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Shooting on Location at the recent Choctaw Nation Festival Fast-Pitch Indian Softball Tournament in Tushka Homa, Oklahoma, the original capitol of the Choctaw Nation. |
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Turtle Island Productions begins new documentary chronicling the little known world of All-Indian Fast-Pitch Softball
PLAYING PASTTIME: American Indians, Softball, and Survival
(Working title)
A Documentary by James M. Fortier, Producer/Director (Métis-Ojibway) & LeAnne Howe, Producer/Writer (Choctaw)
This verité style documentary will chronicle the story of American Indians and their long history of playing Indian fast-pitch softball. When most people think of baseball or fast-pitch softball, the last thing that comes to mind are American Indians. And when most people think of American Indians they imagine the whoop 'em up, war bonnet-wearing, hatchet-wielding stereotypes popular for generations in movies, and on television. Contrasting these misperceptions, this film is an insightful and entertaining look at Native American families playing "America's favorite pastime" sport.
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A pitcher winds up fast-pitch style before releasing the ball, sometimes clocking as fast as 100 MPH." |
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As a verité style documentary, and due to the fact that most of the events we want to capture are compressed into two summer weekends, we intend to spend the summer of 2005 (depending on our success with fund-raising) traveling throughout Oklahoma conducting interviews and shooting scenes depicting the lives of players and the generations of family members involved with the Indian fast-pitch summer tournaments. However, for the short duration of weekend tournaments such as the one in Red Warrior Park in Tuskahoma, we will employ up to 4 Panasonic DVX-100A Mini DV camera/sound crews (James Fortier, DP, will determine the overall look of the film) shooting games, verité style interviews of the players, and slice of life scenes with players and family members preparing and playing in the tournaments.
Director and Producer James Fortier (Métis-Ojibway) has significant experience shooting with this camera in the 30p and 24p Progressive Scan modes in order to obtain a look that is rich in detail, accurate in color reproduction, and more consistent with a robust film look. He has numerous documentary credits and is winner of numerous awards including 3 past Emmy awards for Alcatraz is Not an Island, and the PBS 6-hour documentary series Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look In All Directions (about the 19 Ojibwe bands in the great lakes region).
He was also the director, and director of photography for Native Americans In the Twenty-First Century for PBS, set to air nationally in 2005, and he recently completed the documentary feature Pulling Together, about the Muckleshoot Tribe's participation in the 2003 annual Tribal Canoe Journey in the Puget Sound area.
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Writer and Producer LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) learns about the game from one of the few female coaches of a women's fast-pitch team. |
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Co-Producer and writer LeAnne Howe is an enrolled citizen in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She is an author, professor at the University of Minnesota, Department of American Indian Studies and filmmaker. Her film credits include: creator and producer for Life in the USA, as Told To My Video Camera; producer, writer, and director for a three-part series, Handfuls of Earth, and producer, writer, and director of A Look at Minorities in Education in Iowa for Iowa Public Television, as well as writer and on-camera narrator for the PBS documentary Native Americans In the Twenty-First Century. Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, she brings a vast amount of knowledge, experience, and personal relationships to this production. Nothing will be scripted; rather, we will rely on the games and the players to tell their stories.
Press Release: Turtle Island Productions begins new documentary chronicling the little known world of All-Indian Fast-Pitch Softball
Native Americans In The 21st Century
Métis-Ojibway filmmaker tapped to Direct and DP 90 minute National PBS documentary.
James M. Fortier, owner of Turtle Island Productions, recently returned from Cherokee, NC after directing and shooting a 90-minute episode of the National PBS documentary series tentatively titled "Native Americans in the 21st Century."
The series is being produced by Native American Public Telecommunications, a member of the minority consortia of CPB, with support from PBS.
The series is the first in-depth look at the contemporary American Indian experience from the perspective of diverse American Indian communities across the country.
This episode focuses on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians between the Smokey Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains National Parks.
The EBCI are the descendents of little more than 1000 Cherokees who refused to remove to Indian Territory in Oklahoma on the infamous Trail of Tears, whereby thousands died during the forced march. The EBCI literally hid out in the mountains of south-western North Carolina and eventually obtained Federal and State legal status and a land base of their own.
The production is also the first of it's kind to be produced, written, directed, and in this case, shot by an entirely American Indian crew of filmmakers.
Fortier, who has spent nearly 15 years as a Lighting Director, Gaffer, and DP in the Bay Area before writing, producing, and directing documentaries, is Métis-Ojibway (mixed French-Canadian and Ojibway descent) with strong ties to his Ojibway family in Ontario Canada.
Fortier has worked on numerous Native American productions in the US and Canada, and his documentary "Alcatraz Is Not An Island" screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, and is premiering on National PBS in November, 2002 (KQED, Nov. 5 at 9 PM).
For more info contact James Fortier at 650-219-9105 or e-mail at jfortier@turtle-island.com.
NAPT Vision Seeker Newsletter on this project
Press Release: Native Americans in the 21st Century
Native American Public Telecommunications
http://www.nativetelecom.org/
NA21 Production Profile
http://www.nativetelecom.org/news/nlv7i2/nlv7i2.html
"American Lynching: Strange and Bitter Fruit"
James Fortier is currently the Co-Producer and Director of Photography for the documentary feature American Lynching: Strange And Bitter Fruit, produced and directed by Gode Davis.
For more information go to www.americanlynching.com.
"Great Museums"
Turtle Island Productions owner and DP James Fortier has shot two episodes of the PBS series "Great Museums" on HDTV for Echo Pictures Executive Producer Marc Doyle. Additional location shooting is planned for the coming spring and summer.
Turtle Island Productions Launches New Community Website
Native Nations Network (NNN) is the first Native American and Canadian First Nations global, on-line tribal village featuring the robust Post Nuke PHP Content Management System.
Our goal is to put the power of the internet to positive use. Our mission is to provide an on-line, interactive gathering of Indigenous peoples, to come together and share ideas, debate issues, exchange information, and celebrate all Native cultures without borders and unencumbered by distance.
Native Nations Network will feature news, editorials, essays, internet sources, and specialty sections focusing on issues of sovereignty, treaty rights and activism. In short this site is about self-determination, from Indian identity to sacred sites, from Indian child welfare to repatriation, and from AIM to the National Congress of the American Indian.
For more information go to www.nativenationsnet.net.
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