47th American Indian Film Festival: Opening Night

The American Indian Film Festival returns in-person to San Francisco and takes place November 4-12, 2022. For its 47th year, the festival presents a cultural exchange of Native American and Canada's First Nations cultures through films and other special events. It is the world’s oldest and most recognized international film exposition dedicated to Native American cinematic accomplishment.

Opening Night on Friday, November 4th, at 6pm takes place at the Letterman Digital Arts Center.
 
The program features the local film, INDIANLAND, where filmmaker Liz Irons regathers the group of occupants on Alcatraz Island who sought to negotiate treaty rights to the land. In 1969, a few years after Alcatraz closed down its prison, a group of young Indians took over the island for 19 months, despite the lack of heat, electricity, and water. The stories of this group, 50 years later, are told in INDIANLAND back on Alcatraz Island. 

UNLORD THE LAND, directed by Oakland-based filmmaker Yvan Iturriaga, will also be playing in the Opening Night program. It is an episode from Rosario Dawson's Normal Ain't Normal web series depicting stories of the Oakland working class after the pandemic. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs) plays a young Native American man caught in a family conflict over money with his older brother, played by Martin Sensmeier (Yellowstone).

Tickets for Opening Night and other AIFF47 programs are available online at aifisf.com. The festival schedule is presented in 17 different programs highlighting various themes such as music, social good, sci-fi, animation, and thrillers. Many of these film programs are also free to attend. Visit https://www.aifisf.com/ for tickets and more information.