THE SEVENTH GENERATION
4 min feature doc trailer-pitch CLIP WILL COME SOON!
Shooting format: DV
Director: Lucy Walker
Producer: Meg Thompson / George Duffield
Production Company: Arcane Pictures
Trailer was part of pitch at BRIT DOC 2007
Synopsis
THE SEVENTH GENERATION is a verite feature documentary about Native American teenagers today, seen through the prism of a high school shooting on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota in 2005 that left 10 dead. Cheriena Ben, Miss Choktaw Princess, told reporters "You'll never know what it's like to live in our shoes"; this film will seek to do just that.
16-year-old Jeff Weise's father committed suicide; his abusive mother drank herself into brain-damage, and Jeff was placed with a grandfather who hated him. At school he was bullied then expelled. Jeff tried to starve himself to death before finally killing his grandfather, stealing his weapons, and starting to shoot.
Native American teens are four times more likely to commit suicide than any other group. We follow the Reservations most compelling characters, and explore what inspires and oppresses them against the context of traditional rites of passage.
Director LUCY WALKER exploded on the scene at Sundance 2002 with her first feature documentary, THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, which explores the lives of Amish teenagers during the period of Rumspringa. It was commissioned by HBO and co-produced by Channel 4 and Winstar. It was nominated for an Emmy and premiered at Sundance 2002, garnering rave reviews. It has won acclaim and awards, including the Audience Award at Sarasota Film Fest, the Special Jury Prize at Karlovy-Vary Film Fest, and the Best Documentary Prize and overall Grand Prize at the AFI DV Film Fest.
Lucy’s most recent documentary, BLINDSIGHT, about blind teenagers climbing a mountain in Tibet, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival 2006, and continued the festival circuit at the London Film Festival, winning three consecutive Audience Awards at AFI, Palm Spring, and the acclaimed Berlin Film Festival. BLINDSIGHT has been nominated for a BIFA for Best Documentary and was short-listed for an Oscar.
