STG, SIFF, AMAZON VIDEO DIRECT AND LONGHOUSE MEDIA PRESENT RUMBLE + RE:DEFINITION

(Seattle, WA)—STG, SIFF, Amazon Video Direct and Longhouse Media join forces to present Rumble + Re:definition, an evening of free events at The Paramount Theatre on May 26, 2017. The evening will include a screening of the film Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, directed by Catherine Bainbridge; the opening of the latest Re:definition art exhibit as part of the Indigenous Centered Perspectives series; a talkback with artists and filmmakers; and a reception with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and a live DJ. Once again, curator Tracy Rector offers an art installation elevating the presence and availability of work created by Indigenous artists, with pieces by artists Bracken Hanuse Corlett, Margie Morris, and Amanda Spotted Fawn Strong. Doors open at 6pm for a public viewing of the gallery, and the film begins at 7pm with the talkback and reception to follow at 9:30pm. The exhibit will run through September 2017.

Recipient of a Sundance World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World is a feature documentary focusing on the role of Native Americans in popular music history. It tells the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. Featuring music icons Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, Randy Castillo, and others, this film shows how these talented Native musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives. Rumble will be available to stream (exclusively) on Amazon Prime Video later this year. The distributor opted-in to Amazon Video Direct's Film Festival Stars program, which is designed to establish an attractive distribution model for films screened at select film festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca and Toronto International Film Festival. For more information, including the trailer for the film, visit rezolutionpictures.com/portfolio_page/rumble/.

Re:definition was launched in 2016 with the goal of redefining historic cultural space and highlighting issues of race and social justice, both locally and globally. With this purpose in mind, STG transformed the Paramount Theatre's lobby bar into an art gallery, offering a different artistic mission annually to be expressed in rotating exhibits throughout the year. The 2017 series Indigenous Centered Perspectives focuses on elevating the presence and availability of work created by Indigenous artists, and is curated by Tracy Rector. The mission for 2016 was Illuminating Black Art in Seattle with exhibits curated by Tariqa Waters and Jonathan Moore. Featured artists included Jazz Brown, Jodi-Ann Burey, Ari Glass, Aramis O. Hamer, and Christopher Shaw.

About the Artists

Bracken Hanuse Corlett is a Northwest Coast multi-media artist hailing from the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. He dabbles in video, sound, painting, carving/sculpture, writing and performance. His work deals with themes of cultural reclamation and survival, identity politics, hybridity, and decolonization. Much of his work is relevant to his Northwest Coast Indigenous roots and he is spending much of his time these days exploring the stories, language, songs, and art of his people. He is also inspired by art movements like agit-pop, manga, the dadas, and other diverse forms of expression. He has exhibited and/or performed in Vancouver, the Okanagan, Chicago and Oregon. A recent graduate of the En'owkin Centre for Indigenous Art, he will be finishing his fine arts degree at UBC - Okanagan over the next couple of years.

Margie Morris is a Raven/Frog clan Tlingit from Alaska who is currently a resident in the Pacific Northwest. She has been hand making elk hide drums with her intricate and detailed form line designs for over 30 years. In addition, Ms. Morris has been studying with master artists and cultural leaders in the areas of song, dance, carving and regalia making. Her work is found in Native Artist Markets in Washington State including at Folklife Festival, Daybreak Star, Evergreen State Community College Longhouse, Duwamish Longhouse, Kirshner Museum, Celebration in Juneau, Alaska Federation of Native in Anchorage, and in New York and DC at the National Museum of the American Indian.

Amanda Spotted Fawn Strong is an Indigenous (Michif) filmmaker, media artist and stop motion artist currently based out of unceded Coast Salish territory also known as Vancouver. Amanda's work explores ideas of blood memory and Indigenous ideology. Her background in photography, illustration and media extend into her detailed award-winning works. Her films Indigo and Mia' have screened internationally, most notable at Cannes, TIFF, VIFF, and Ottawa International Animation Festival. Amanda has received numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the NFB. Amanda has received the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Film and Video, Vancouver Mayors Arts Awards for Emerging Film and Media Artist and The Clyde Gilmour Technicolor Award emerging artists, selected by Alanis Obomsawin. Her latest short animation Four Faces of the Moon will be premiering with CBC Short Docs and is being developed into a graphic novel. Amanda is currently developing Wheetago War and Sugar Bush, two new short animations as well as developing her works into interactive spaces.

About the Curator

Tracy Rector is a mixed race Choctaw/Seminole filmmaker, curator, community organizer, co-founder of Longhouse Media and a 2016 Stranger Genius. She has made over 400 short films, and is currently in production of her fifth feature documentary. As co-producer of the award-winning film Teachings of the Tree People, producer of March Point, co-director of Clearwater, and director of Ch'aak' S'aagi; Rector has developed an awareness and sensitivity to the power of media and film as a modern storytelling tool. Her work has been featured on Independent Lens, Cannes Film Festival, ImagineNative, National Geographic, Toronto International Film Festival, Folklife Festival, the Seattle Art Museum and in the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian.

After years of galvanizing community and working in a directorial role, Rector has begun to transfer her method of storytelling to gallery exhibitions including YOU ARE ON INDIGENOUS LAND at Core Gallery and Ciné Alter'natif in France, WOMEN ON THE BRINK at Vermillion Gallery, and BLOODLINES at Bridge Productions. As a Native Education specialist, Rector has facilitated work with over 3,000 youth, worked as a consultant with the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), served as a Native Naturalist for the Olympic Sculpture Park, and is involved with SAM's newly expanded Native American wing.
Tracy has received the National Association for Media Literacy award for outstanding contributions made in the field of media education, is a current Firelight Media Lab Fellow, WGBH Producer Fellow, Sundance Institute Lab Fellow, Tribeca All Access Grantee and is the recipient of the Horace Mann Award for her work in utilizing media for social justice. Raised in Seattle and Albuquerque, Tracy currently lives in Seattle and sits as a City of Seattle Arts Commissioner.

About STG

Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping three historic venues, The Paramount, Moore and Neptune, alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz, to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at these three iconic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound region and in Portland, Oregon.

For more information, visit STGPresents.org/redefinition.

About SIFF

Founded in 1976, SIFF creates experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world with the Seattle International Film Festival, SIFF Cinema, and SIFF Education. Recognized as one of the top film festivals in North America, the Seattle International Film Festival is the largest, most highly attended film festival in the United States, reaching more than 155,000 annually. The 25-day festival is renowned for its wide-ranging and eclectic programming, presenting over 400 features, short films, and documentaries from over 80 countries each year. SIFF Cinema exhibits premiere theatrical engagements, repertory, classic, and revival film showings 365 days a year on five screens at the SIFF Cinema Uptown, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, and SIFF Film Center, reaching more than 175,000 attendees annually. SIFF Education offers educational programs for all audiences serving more than 13,000 students and youth in the community with free programs each year.

For more information, visit SIFF.net.

About Longhouse Media

Since January 2005, the mission of Longhouse Media has been to catalyze Indigenous people and communities to use media as a tool for self-expression, cultural preservation, and social change.  They have served 3,000 students, 43 tribal communities and have made 400+ films, over the past twelve years, in order to build bridges of understanding between diverse people through media, education and collective gatherings. Longhouse Media has also been in partnership with Seattle International Film Festival for the past 12-years to bring SuperFly Filmmaking, 4th World Media Lab and Indigenous programming to the Pacific Northwest. In addition, their monthly film screening and events project, Indigenous Showcase, is now in its 10th year of community engagement at Northwest Film Forum.

For more information, visit longhousemedia.org.

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