JIM JARMUSCH PRESENTS THE CLOSING NIGHT CONCERT FOR THE 2011 NATIVE AMERICAN FILM + VIDEO FESTIVAL FEATURING FAMILY DYNAMICS, THE NEKID BANDIT, ELISAPIE ISAAC, MARTHA REDBONE AND SPECIAL GUESTS DREW NIX AND GARY FARMER

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(Click on poster above to RSVP and forward event invite on Facebook)

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New York, NY—The Smithsonian’s 15^th Native American Film + Video Festival Closing Night celebration concert is presented by indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and will feature over four indigenous artists, local bands Family Dynamics and Martha Redbone, Canadian siren—Elisapie Isaac, Oklahoma’s The Nekid Bandit and special guest musicians, Drew Nix and Gary Farmer on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at Brooklyn’s Southpaw music hall. The evening’s free event is made possible by Four Directions Productions, Quebec Government Office in New York and Dutch Boy Burger.

NY independent filmmaker who directed what has been considered one of the best Native American films ever made, Dead Man, Jim Jarmusch lends his name again to the Closing Night Celebration Concert for the 2011 Native American Film + Video Festival (NAFVF). The 2009 NAFVF Closing Night featured over five bands and filled the 5,000 sq foot venue, Southpaw, which TimeOutNY Magazine has named one of the top five venues in all of New York City. The NAFVF is honored by Jarmusch’s kind support.

This year’s line-up for the 2011 NAFVF concert includes a wide variety and musical styles chosen to compliment each other and appease the diverse tastes of the over 100 guest filmmakers at this year’s festival.

New York’s Family Dynamics features White Mountain Apache musician Laura Ortman and creates a textural improvisational sound using electronics, voice and orchestral instrumentation. Family Dynamics features four members from the band Stars Like Fleas. In addition to the arty gigs of Family Dynamics and Stars Like Fleas, members have also played with a variety of talents, including: Björk, Rhys Chatham, Vincent Moon, John Zorn, Sean Lennon, Deerhoof, TV on the Radio & Thurston Moore. Click on the band’s full bio HERE.

To hear new tracks from Family Dynamic’s upcoming album, please contact Robert Cangiano. Press Only.

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The Nekid Bandit features Jef Johnston who takes on an Irish-like folk-rock rhythm and places forward vocal experimentation and crafty guitar work with electronic accents. Johnston, a Cherokee/Choctaw from Oklahoma, scored the award-winning film from 2007 by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek), Four Sheets to the Wind. NY Texan transplant, Drew Nix, whose music is also featured on Four Sheets to the Wind guests on The Nekid Bandit. Nix blends contemporary folk and country, sometimes with an upbeat and humoristic approach. Read The Nekid Bandit Bio HERE.

Listen to The Nekid Bandit’s “Point of You”:

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Inuk singer/musician Elisapie Isaac is rising on the Montreal new music scene and already has one Juno award-winning album from her collaboration project Taima. Her music, called “Arctic electric new cool” and “Polar Pop,” pulls the listener in with her dreamy vocals and spritely whimsicalness. Read her bio HERE.

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Listen to Elisapie Isaac’s “Inuk”:

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Closing the night will be Brooklyn’s Martha Redbone whom TimeOutNY has said “In our opinion Redbone deserves Alicia Keys level success. She has the deep funk to back up her soul queen image and live she brings a groove-heavy powerhouse of a band”. Martha’ new indie soul music will be joined with guest musician and actor Gary Farmer (yes, the same Gary Farmer from Jarmusch’s Dead Man and Chris Eyre’s Smoke Signals), who also splits his time between community activism, acting and with his blues band, Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers singing and playing a masterful harmonica. Read Martha’s bio HERE.

Listen to Martha Redbone’s “Skin”:

ADDITIONAL NY CONCERTS:

Two of the bands, The Nekid Bandit and Elisapie Isaac will also appear in New York the same week. The Nekid Bandit w/ Drew Nix will perform at Williamsburg’s Pete’s Candy Store, Saturday, April 2, from 11:00 pm to 12:30 am. Elisapie Isaac will grace Manhattan’s Lower East Side’s The Living Room stage for three nights starting at 7pm on April 4, 5 and 6.

The Native American Film + Video Festival is dedicated to indigenous production from throughout the Americas, designed to be a welcoming place for Native filmmakers and other participants in indigenous film.  In this year’s Festival more than 100 participants in Native film will be here from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Suriname, and the United States. This provides the audience with an unparalleled opportunity to see great new films and to be part of conversations with creative people from so many Native communities.

The NAFVF11 Closing Night Concert will be held on Sunday, April 3, from 10 pm until closing at Southpaw, 125 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217. Tel: (718) 230-0236. www.spsounds.com. FREE ADMISSION. For more information on the festival, visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian Film + Video Center at www.nativenetworks.si.edu or call (212) 514-3731.

FOR PRESS ONLY: If you would like to hear more tracks by the featured artists, contact Robert Cangiano to send you the private Soundcloud link for the festival line-up.

For Band bios, click HERE.

WATCH & SHARE HBO DOCUMENTARY “SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO” BY SAVING IT TO YOUR NETFLIX QUEUE

(Image from ‘Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo.’ Photography by Shane Brown.)

If you haven’t seen this compelling documentary about Oklahoma’s female inmates partaking in a break from prison life for a chance to compete in the state’s Penitentiary Rodeo, or if you have seen it but want to see it again or share it with a friend, save “Sweethearts of  the Prison Rodeo” on your Netflix queue and bring it that much closer to convenient viewing.

From the filmmakers that brought you ‘Okie Noodling,’ ‘Fearlesss Freaks,’ ‘Summercamp!’ and “The Creek Runs Red’ comes another heart-gripping journey into Americana life—the subculture of the Oklahoma penitentiary system and the modern-day Wild West: ‘Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo.’

‘Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo’ goes behind prison walls to follow convict cowgirls on their journey to the 2007 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Rodeo. In 2006, female inmates were allowed to participate for the first time. In a state with the highest female incarceration rate in the country, these women share common experiences such as broken homes, drug abuse and alienation from their children. Since 1940, the Oklahoma State Penitentiary has held an annual ‘Prison Rodeo’. Part Wild West show and part coliseum-esque spectacle, it’s one of the last of its kind – a relic of the American penal system. Prisoners compete on wild-broncs and bucking bulls, risking life-long injuries. For inmates like Danny Liles, a 14-year veteran of the rodeo, the chance to battle livestock offers a brief respite from prison life. Within this strange arena the prisoners become the heroes while the public and guards applaud.

“Freedom, family, forgiveness—these are human needs. Without ever loudly announcing its statement of purpose, while focusing on bulls and broncos and adrenaline, “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo” makes a plea for human dignity and compassion.” –Filmmaker Magazine

“SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO, (is) a gorgeous, insightful, hilarious, emotional look at tradition, criminal justice, hope and regret.  It’s as pure a piece of movie-making that you will see in nonfiction in 2009, commercial as hell, and certainly one of the best films of the year.” – A.J. Schnack, All These Wonderful Things

‘‘Sweethearts…’ is a story of gladiatorial desperation and hope, tied up with one whole lot of Oklhahoman heart – Hell yeah!” – Time Out London

For more information on the film or to buy it directly, visit the film’s website at: www.sweetheartsoftheprisonrodeo.com

HOW TO ADD “SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO” TO NETFLIX:

• Login to Netflix http://www.netflix.com.
• Search for SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO
• Once on the film title page for SWEETHEARTS, click “SAVE”
• Once you get a confirmation that it’s been added to your Queue, SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO will be that much closer to becoming available as a rental on Netflix.

 

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: