https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm6acUPBBDl/?taken-by=creativemusicartsy https://goodnewseverybodycom.wordpress.com/2018/08/11/movie-reflection-wonder/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543472/fullcredits https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4207679/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t3
![The final two films are meditations on the recent pipeline protests at Standing Rock.<br />
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"Mni Waconi Life after NODAPL" was directed by Samuel Yuan with Justice Robinson and Andrea Wathanaphone.<br />
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"Desolation Blues" was produced and directed by Sky Hopinka.<br />
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The UMMYs<br />
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By Michael Small, Writer originally published in Issue 11, Volume 30 of The University Register on Friday, April 27, 2017<br /> <a href="http://www.urmorris.com/a-and-e/documentary-showcases-cultural-bridges-built-through-friendship">http://www.urmorris.com/a-and-e/documentary-showcases-cultural-bridges-built-through-friendship</a><br />
EDITOR'S NOTE: TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF HARM / CUTTING<br />
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The UMMys premiered on Friday, April 13 at 9:30 p.m. in Edson Auditorium. Film creators, following a long tradition of Morris student films, showed off their finished projects of all sorts. These projects ranged from a short horror piece filmed on Snapchat to a 20-minute documentary on activism. Six submissions in total were shown. The event was hosted by CAC Films and the CMR Department. All of the directors this year took time to answer questions before the showing about about their movies and what it took to make them. ...<br />
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Director Yicong (Samuel) Yuan’s “Mni Wiconi: Life After #NoDAPL” shifted. Produced and sound designed by Wathanaphone; edited, directed and filmed by Yuan, researched by Robinson and student Trey Goodsell, as a consultant “Mni Wiconi: Life After #NoDAPL” is a documentary about the lives of water protectors after they were physically removed from the No Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The piece was in progress for over a year because it required extensive traveling and coordination to meet with the water protectors.<br />
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The film started as a class project last March when the crew got their first interview in Standing Rock. They followed up with interviews in May, November, and Thanksgiving, located in Eagle Butte, Seattle, to Standing Rock.<br />
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“You can see the change of a person's mind after a huge movement like #NoDAPL. Seeing what the water protectors have been going through because of the government, because of their personal choice. The ultimate goal from my personal view is to let my audience think about ‘Is it worth it to be an activist?’ and trying to reveal the truth about a water protector.”<br />
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Yuan was drawn to the stories of the water protectors from the start. “For me personally, I wanted to turn it into a documentary film because I was so shocked the first time I met them, the stories they told me, the violence they saw at standing rock, the unfairness and treatment that they got from the government. So for me, it was a culture shock so personal that I wanted to learn more about what it takes to be an activist in America.”<br />
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The activists stories are varied. To just name one, Anthony Gozatti, who goes by “Rhino,” says the whole experience is a blur. He speaks about how people accused water protectors of hurting the land they camped on and even though not long after they left, the land had restored itself while the other land scarred by the pipeline remained scarred. For Rhino, just seeing a police car makes him want to drive off. He says that, after all this time, “it still hurts.” What matters to him is the bond between water protectors. The smallest interactions matter whether it is a look, an unspoken moment, or a hug. “[It is] water protector life. It’s the only way you can describe that.” ...<br />
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A panel of outside judges had already preselected the winners before the formal showing. They gave out awards for numerous categories, the prizes being a customized mini movie slate etched with the details of the winnings. Best short film went to “Studio Horror: The Darkening.” Best Actor/Actress was awarded to Madden and Bridgette Anderson. Best Supporting Animal Actors went to Madden’s “wormhole detector” dog, Gus and his hedgehog, Harvey. Best Director went to Madden for “Spirit Sleuth.” An award for creativity went to “Studio Horror: The Darkening.” Best Scripted Story went to “Beautiful.” Lastly, “Mni Wiconi: Life After #NoDAPL” took home Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Feature Film.<br />
<br /> <a href="https://salphotobiz.smugmug.com/People/North-Dakota-Standing-Rock/n-LggScZ/i-KQDkRFT">https://salphotobiz.smugmug.com/People/North-Dakota-Standing-Rock/n-LggScZ/i-KQDkRFT</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Movie-Archives/i-5cnr8nZ/0/13103332/Ti/IMG_2727-Ti.jpg)
