In Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli’s nearly two-hour documentary, Lakota Nation vs. United States, the filmmaking duo captures the history, present and future hopes of the indigenous peoples of the Dakotas through a singular issue: land.
That issue, according to the film written and narrated by Layli Long Soldier, is at the core of practically every other Indigenous struggle since the beginnings of European, and then American, colonization. Facing down wave after wave of manifest destiny-fueled violence, the Lakota, other members of the Sioux Nation and various Native communities beyond the Black Hills have persisted, even when their cultural symbols have been carved up, their language stripped, their people assaulted, and the ever-shrinking land poisoned.
Respect for the land treaties that followed the Commerce Act of 1886, the film suggests, was tantamount to staving off the kind of extermination attempts that Indigenous communities — once recognized by the U.S.
That issue, according to the film written and narrated by Layli Long Soldier, is at the core of practically every other Indigenous struggle since the beginnings of European, and then American, colonization. Facing down wave after wave of manifest destiny-fueled violence, the Lakota, other members of the Sioux Nation and various Native communities beyond the Black Hills have persisted, even when their cultural symbols have been carved up, their language stripped, their people assaulted, and the ever-shrinking land poisoned.
Respect for the land treaties that followed the Commerce Act of 1886, the film suggests, was tantamount to staving off the kind of extermination attempts that Indigenous communities — once recognized by the U.S.
- 12/13/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Audiences who’ve attended film festivals or cultural events in the past few years have no doubt heard their share of land acknowledgements, in which the hosts make a point of recognizing the Indigenous tribes who served as the traditional custodians of the space on which they’ve gathered. Though intended to convey respect and awareness, these messages appear to have a kind of triggering effect on some people, who react as if witnessing the first step on a slippery slope to the more controversial idea of reparations.
In “Lakota Nation vs. United States,” land acknowledgements are the main attraction, and reparations may well be the end goal. Co-directed by Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, this essential and largely unprecedented Native-issues essay film takes a head-on approach, citing “white fragility” and America’s general unwillingness to confront its treatment of Indigenous peoples as obstacles to resolving decades of unfair treatment.
In “Lakota Nation vs. United States,” land acknowledgements are the main attraction, and reparations may well be the end goal. Co-directed by Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, this essential and largely unprecedented Native-issues essay film takes a head-on approach, citing “white fragility” and America’s general unwillingness to confront its treatment of Indigenous peoples as obstacles to resolving decades of unfair treatment.
- 7/22/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
On July 14, 2023, IFC Films released “Lakota Nation vs. United States” from directors Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli. The documentary has received rave reviews from critics, resulting in a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Featuring interviews with Indigenous citizens, the film chronicles how the Lakota Indians fight to reclaim control of the Black Hills, and investigates how the sacred land was stolen in violation of treaty agreements. Read our full review round-up below.
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David Ehrlich of IndieWire writes, “A furious yet resiliently hopeful documentary about white America’s long and ongoing history of colonizing the Očeti Šakówin (along with the rest of this land’s indigenous people), Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli’s vital ‘Lakota Nation vs. United States’ doesn’t waste any of its 121 minutes, but it also boasts a...
See Uninterrupted Film Festival: ‘Black Ice’ executive producer Maverick Carter on empowering athletes to tell their stories [Complete Interview Transcript]
David Ehrlich of IndieWire writes, “A furious yet resiliently hopeful documentary about white America’s long and ongoing history of colonizing the Očeti Šakówin (along with the rest of this land’s indigenous people), Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli’s vital ‘Lakota Nation vs. United States’ doesn’t waste any of its 121 minutes, but it also boasts a...
- 7/15/2023
- by Vincent Mandile
- Gold Derby
Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli’s documentary “Lakota Nation vs. United States” chronicles the Lakota Indians’ enduring quest to reclaim South Dakota’s Black Hills, sacred land stolen by the American government beginning in 1876.
Divided into three sections: extermination, assimilation and reparations, the two-hour docu is told from the point of the Lakota people and recounts how the Black Hills were taken in violation of various treaty agreements while the Indigenous community who lived there was simultaneously exploited and displaced. In addition to covering the ongoing fight to reclaim control of the Black Hills, the docu investigates the many ways that the U.S. has ignored, overlooked and failed to grapple with the historical wrongs done to Indigenous communities across the country.
“This is a story about enduring Lakota resistance and existence, but it’s also a conversation with the present,” says Tomaselli, who co-wrote “MLK/FBI.” “History repeats...
Divided into three sections: extermination, assimilation and reparations, the two-hour docu is told from the point of the Lakota people and recounts how the Black Hills were taken in violation of various treaty agreements while the Indigenous community who lived there was simultaneously exploited and displaced. In addition to covering the ongoing fight to reclaim control of the Black Hills, the docu investigates the many ways that the U.S. has ignored, overlooked and failed to grapple with the historical wrongs done to Indigenous communities across the country.
“This is a story about enduring Lakota resistance and existence, but it’s also a conversation with the present,” says Tomaselli, who co-wrote “MLK/FBI.” “History repeats...
- 7/14/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
A furious yet resiliently hopeful documentary about white America’s long and ongoing history of colonizing the Očeti Šakówin (along with the rest of this land’s indigenous people), Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli’s vital “Lakota Nation vs. United States” doesn’t waste any of its 121 minutes, but it also boasts a number of moments that effectively squeeze the film’s entire perspective into a single unforgettable image.
Chief among them: The shot of some Maga jackass at the foot of Mt. Rushmore as they greet anti-Trump protestors at the ex-president’s 2020 Independence Day event while dressed in an American flag t-shirt and holding a sign that simply reads “Fuck You.” After all, that succinct little phrase has essentially been the entire platform since America was first christened as such. At this rate, the Republican party will probably adopt it as its official slogan by 2028.
“Fuck You” was...
Chief among them: The shot of some Maga jackass at the foot of Mt. Rushmore as they greet anti-Trump protestors at the ex-president’s 2020 Independence Day event while dressed in an American flag t-shirt and holding a sign that simply reads “Fuck You.” After all, that succinct little phrase has essentially been the entire platform since America was first christened as such. At this rate, the Republican party will probably adopt it as its official slogan by 2028.
“Fuck You” was...
- 7/12/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Subject Matter, a recently-launched nonprofit organization that supports social issue documentary films and other nonprofits that work on its featured topics, announced their inaugural grantees, awarding a total of 120,000 to four feature-length documentaries and four of the films’ coinciding nonprofits. Subject Matter launched in July, spearheaded by former Tribeca Film Institute leaders Amy Hobby, David Earls, and Colleen Hammond.
The inaugural grantees were determined by a selection committee that included Subject Matter board members actor Jeffrey Wright, entrepreneur Lily Band, Picture Motion and Kinema founder Christie Marchese, documentary director and producer Ferne Pearlstein and social justice and public health grant maker Julia Greenberg, along with guest jurors filmmaker Shola Lynch and film programmer José Rodriguez.
“All of the films the jury considered were formidable,” Wright said. “But we were especially moved by the handling of the stories in the four selected projects and felt that they are intimate, powerful and...
The inaugural grantees were determined by a selection committee that included Subject Matter board members actor Jeffrey Wright, entrepreneur Lily Band, Picture Motion and Kinema founder Christie Marchese, documentary director and producer Ferne Pearlstein and social justice and public health grant maker Julia Greenberg, along with guest jurors filmmaker Shola Lynch and film programmer José Rodriguez.
“All of the films the jury considered were formidable,” Wright said. “But we were especially moved by the handling of the stories in the four selected projects and felt that they are intimate, powerful and...
- 11/28/2022
- by EJ Panaligan
- Variety Film + TV
IFC Films is acquiring North American rights to “Lakota Nation vs. United States,” a documentary about the Lakota Indians’ quest to reclaim the Black Hills. That sacred land was stolen in violation of treaty agreements, and the film, from directors Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, looks at the many ways that the U.S. has ignored, overlooked and failed to grapple with the historical wrongs done to Indigenous communities.
“Lakota Nation vs. United States” is narrated by and features the poetry of acclaimed Ogala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier, winner of the National Books Critics Circle award and finalist for the National Book Award. The score is composed by Raven Chacon, recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for “Voiceless Mass,” and director of photography is Kevin Phillips (“Super Dark Times”). The Lakota activists featured in the film include Nick Tilsen and Krystal Two Bulls, two organizers of today’s Landback movement,...
“Lakota Nation vs. United States” is narrated by and features the poetry of acclaimed Ogala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier, winner of the National Books Critics Circle award and finalist for the National Book Award. The score is composed by Raven Chacon, recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for “Voiceless Mass,” and director of photography is Kevin Phillips (“Super Dark Times”). The Lakota activists featured in the film include Nick Tilsen and Krystal Two Bulls, two organizers of today’s Landback movement,...
- 11/1/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Lakota Nation vs. United States is a visually dynamic documentary, and it’s also one that delves into the power of language and how we use it. There are the voices of interview subjects — sensitive, piercing, anguished, hopeful — relating a generations-long fight for justice that goes to the core of American history and yet is barely discussed in classrooms. (Have you ever heard of the Dakota 38?) There’s the legalese of treaties the U.S. government signed with the tribes of the Great Plains and violated before the ink was dry — or as soon as gold was discovered in designated Indian territory.
The filmmakers’ interest in language pervades Lakota Nation, most exquisitely in its use of poetry as narration, with an extraordinary poet, Layli Long Soldier, reading excerpts from her work onscreen and in voiceover. She and a strong chorus of interviewees explore the...
Lakota Nation vs. United States is a visually dynamic documentary, and it’s also one that delves into the power of language and how we use it. There are the voices of interview subjects — sensitive, piercing, anguished, hopeful — relating a generations-long fight for justice that goes to the core of American history and yet is barely discussed in classrooms. (Have you ever heard of the Dakota 38?) There’s the legalese of treaties the U.S. government signed with the tribes of the Great Plains and violated before the ink was dry — or as soon as gold was discovered in designated Indian territory.
The filmmakers’ interest in language pervades Lakota Nation, most exquisitely in its use of poetry as narration, with an extraordinary poet, Layli Long Soldier, reading excerpts from her work onscreen and in voiceover. She and a strong chorus of interviewees explore the...
- 6/22/2022
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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