Forty Years, Forty Films, Forty Weeks: Trudell

This week’s featured Vision Maker Media film, “Trudell,” presents Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist John Trudell.

Trudell’s life and impact — from his role as the voice of Radio Free Alcatraz during the United Indians’ of All Tribes takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, to his work in the American Indian Movement throughout the 1970s, to his radically political music, poetry and film — holds a deep resonance today, as does his message of active, personal responsibility to the earth, all of its inhabitants and our descendants.

Combining images and archival footage with interviews and performances, this 2005 biographical film reveals the philosophy and motivations behind Trudell’s work and his impact on contemporary history and politics.

Watch “Trudell” on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting website.

Check back here every Tuesday, or follow us at @amarchivepub on Twitter to keep up with featured streaming films over the next 40 weeks. You can find the complete schedule here.

About Vision Maker Media

Vision Maker Media is the premier source for quality American Indian and Alaska Native educational and home videos. All aspects of Vision Maker Media programs encourage the involvement of young people to learn more about careers in the media – to be the next generation of storytellers. Vision Maker Media envisions a world changed and healed by understanding Native stories and the public conversations they generate.

With funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Vision Maker Media’s Public Media Content Fund awards support to projects with a Native American theme and significant Native involvement that ultimately benefits the entire public media community. Vision Maker Media, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) empowers and engages Native People to tell stories. For more information, www.visionmakermedia.org

Each week for the next forty weeks, a different film featuring Native voices from Native producers will be available to stream free online, in celebration of Vision Maker Media’s 40 years supporting American Indian and Alaska Native film projects.

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