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Sterlin Harjo

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Sterlin Brown Harjo, Jr.
Harjo at SXSW 2024
Born(1979-11-14)November 14, 1979(age 44)
Holdenville, Oklahoma,U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma(BA)

Sterlin Harjo(born November 14, 1979)[1][2]is aSeminolefilmmaker. He has directed three feature films, a feature documentary, and theFXcomedy drama seriesReservation Dogs,[2]all of them set in his home state ofOklahomaand concerned primarily with Native American people and content.

Early life and education

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Harjo, a citizen of theSeminole Nation of Oklahoma[1]who also hasMuscogeeheritage, was born and raised inHoldenville, Oklahoma.[1]He attended theUniversity of Oklahoma,where he studied art and film.[3][4]

Career

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In 2004, he received a fellowship from theSundance Institute.[5]His short film "Goodnight, Irene"[6]premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival[3]and received a special jury award at theAspen Shortsfest.[3]In 2006, he received a fellowship from the newly formed organizationUnited States Artists.[7][8]

Harjo's first feature film,Four Sheets to the Wind,tells the story of a young Seminole man who travels from his small home town toTulsato visit his sister after the death of their father.[9][10]The film premiered at the2007 Sundance Film Festival,where it was nominated for the grand jury prize. Harjo was named best director at the 2007American Indian Film Festival.[11]The film's co-starTamara Podemskiwon a Sundance special jury prize for her performance in the picture,[12]and she was later nominated for best supporting actress at the2007 Independent Spirit Awards.[10]

Harjo's second feature,Barking Water,premiered at the2009 Sundance festival.[11]It portrays a road trip by a dying man and his former lover across Oklahoma to see his daughter and granddaughter inWewoka,the capital of the Seminole Nation.[13][14]Barking Waterwas named best drama film at the 2009American Indian Film Festival.[15]

Harjo's first feature documentary,This May Be the Last Time,is based on the story of Harjo's grandfather, who disappeared in 1962 in theSeminole Countytown ofSasakwa.It explores the subject of Creek Nation hymns and their connection toScottish folk,gospelandrockmusic.[16][17][18]The film premiered at the2014 Sundance Film Festival[19]and its distribution rights were subsequently acquired byAMC/Sundance Channel Globalfor theSundance Channel.[20]His third feature film,Mekko,a thriller set in Tulsa,[21]premiered at theLos Angeles Film Festivalin June 2015.[22][23]

Harjo has also directed a number of short-form projects. His 2009 short filmCepanvkuce Tutcenen(Three Little Boys) was part of the Embargo Collective project commissioned by theimagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.[24]He has directed a series of shorts forThis Land Pressin Tulsa, where Harjo is the staff video director.[25]He was a member of the2010 Sundanceshorts competition jury.[26]

Harjo is a founding member of a five-member Native American comedy group, the1491s.[27]He is also one of the directors of theCherokee Nation's monthly television news magazine,Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People.[28]

In 2021FXreleased the first season of the groundbreaking Indigenous comedy seriesReservation Dogs.The series is executive produced, directed, and co-written by Harjo, withTaika Waititico-writing and executive producing.[29]On September 2, 2021, FX renewed the series for a second season.[30]More recently, he had signed a new overall deal at FX.[31]In 2022,Reservation Dogswas recognized at the 37th AnnualFilm Independent Spirit Awardsas Best New Scripted Series, and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series. The awards were presented to series co-creator Waititi.[32]At the Spirit Awards ceremony, actorDevery Jacobssaid: "This prize is so much bigger than ourselves, just ourselves. Each of us come from different nations acrossTurtle Islandwho survived 500 years of colonization. And in the 100 years of film and TV,Reservation Dogsnow marks the first project with all Indigenous creatives at the helm. "[33]

Awards

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Harjo was awarded the 2011 Tilghman Award from the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle[3]and theTulsa Library Trust's 2013American Indian Writers Award.[34]He was also awarded a 2021Peabody Awardfor his producing the TV seriesReservation Dogs.

References

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  1. ^abcSam Lewin,"Seminole Filmmaker Prepares to Hit the Silver Screen",Native Times News,reprinted inCanku Ota,May 24, 2004 (article gives his age as 24 in 2004).[dead link]
  2. ^ab"Watch Now: Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo talks about made-in-Oklahoma TV series 'Reservation Dogs'".Jimmie Tramel, Tulsa World, February 13, 2021.RetrievedFebruary 17,2021.
  3. ^abcd"Sterlin Harjo honored by Oklahoma Film Critics: The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle will present its 2011 Tilghman Award to state filmmaker Sterlin Harjo."The Oklahoman,November 4, 2011.
  4. ^Joanna Hearne and Zach Schlachter, "An Interview with Sterlin Harjo and Blackhorse Lowe",Native Americans on Film: Conversations, Teaching, and Theory(University Press of Kentucky,2013),ISBN978-0813140346,pp. 169ff.Excerpts availableatGoogle Books.
  5. ^Dana Harris,"Sundance picks five for Annenberg coin",Variety,May 27, 2004, viaHighBeam Research.
  6. ^Peter Hanson,"Goodnight, Irene",Film Threat,January 23, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  7. ^Patrick Cole,"Seminole Filmmaker, Guitarist Awarded $50,000 Grants" (Update1),Bloomberg,December 4, 2006.
  8. ^Sterlin Harjo,United States Artists.Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  9. ^John Anderson,"This Time, the Indians Tell Their Own Story",The New York Times,August 27, 2006.
  10. ^abAndrew Horton, Joanna E. Rapf, eds.,A Companion to Film Comedy(John Wiley & Sons,2012),ISBN978-1118327845,pp. 386ff.Excerpts availableatGoogle Books.
  11. ^abSterlin Harjo,National Museum of the American Indian,March 2011 (updated April 2014).
  12. ^Jeff Vice,"Sundance fest winners explore 'our global society'",Deseret News,January 28, 2007.
  13. ^Stephen Holden,"A Road Trip to the End of the Road",The New York Times,May 11, 2010.
  14. ^Ted Fry,"Final trip together sometimes clumsy, often touching."Seattle Times,April 16, 2010, viaHighBeam Research.
  15. ^Angelica Lawson, "American Indian Feature Filmmakers and Popular Culture", in Elizabeth Delaney Hoffman. ed.,American Indians and Popular Culture,(ABC-CLIO,2012),ISBN978-0313379918,pp. 98-99.Excerpts availableatGoogle Books.
  16. ^Guy Lodge,Film Review: 'This May Be the Last Time',Variety,January 21, 2014.
  17. ^Lauren Wissot,"Sterlin Harjo on This May Be the Last Time",Filmmaker,January 22, 2014.
  18. ^Sterlin Harjo and Dr. Hugh Foley – "This May Be the Last Time",The Tavis Smiley Show(audio) (accessed 2014-09-19).
  19. ^Brandy McDonnell,"American Indian music documentary" This May Be the Last Time "to premiere at Sundance Film Festival",The Oklahoman,December 30, 2013.
  20. ^John Hopewell,"Sundance: AMC/Sundance Channel Global Swoops on Six Sundance Titles",Variety,January 23, 2014.
  21. ^"Tulsan Sterlin Harjo starts on new film 'Mekko'",Tulsa World,April 9, 2014.
  22. ^Rebecca Keegen,"LAFF 2015 aimed for diverse film fest lineup and dug deep to find it",Los Angeles Times,June 9, 2015.
  23. ^Kevin O'Keefe,"A New Movie Tells the Gripping, Resonant Story of a Native American Homeless Community",Mic,June 23, 2015.
  24. ^Embargo Collective,imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival,October 17, 2009.
  25. ^"Meet Sterlin Harjo",This Land Press, January 21, 2012.
  26. ^"Sundance 2010 unveils juries, plus a peek at short-film lineup",Los Angeles Times,January 12, 2010.
  27. ^Karen Shade,"The 1491s",Oklahoma Magazine,April 21, 2014.
  28. ^"Osiyo",Oklahoma Magazine,March 26, 2015.
  29. ^Thorne, Will (2020-12-22)."Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo-Produced Comedy 'Reservation Dogs' Scores Series Order at FX".Variety.Retrieved2020-12-23.
  30. ^Iannucci, Rebecca (September 2, 2021)."Reservation Dogs Renewed for Season 2".TVLine.RetrievedSeptember 2,2021.
  31. ^Otterson, Joe (2021-12-13)."'Reservation Dogs' Co-Creator Sterlin Harjo Signs FX Overall Deal ".Variety.Retrieved2021-12-14.
  32. ^https://ew /awards/film-independent-spirit-awards-2022-winners-list/"Film Independent Spirit Awards: See the full list of winners"
  33. ^"Spirit Awards: Taika Waititi Presents Best Ensemble Cast Award to His 'Reservation Dogs' Stars".The Hollywood Reporter.7 March 2022.
  34. ^"Library to Honor Oklahoma Screenwriter and Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo",October 4, 2012.
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