By Rob Schmidt

The setting was the Zanuck Theater on the Fox Studios lot in West Los Angeles.  The scene was the premiere of an independent Native-themed thriller, Imprint.  The mood was expectant. 

Writer/director Michael Linn was present along with his whole clan.  Other notables included producer Chris Eyre, Mark Reed of American Indians in Film and Television, and James Lujan of Intertribal Entertainment.  Also present were 40 or 50 students from the Sherman Indian School in Riverside, who had raised the money to travel to the screening. 

I settled in to watch the spooky show.  Eighty-eight minutes and one reel change later, I was impressed. 

Imprint  tells the story of Shayla Stonefeather (Tonantzin Carmelo), a young Lakota prosecutor working in Denver.  She’s just convicted Robbie White Shirt of murder, though his supporters insist he’s innocent.  Worn out, she returns to Pine Ridge for her father’s birthday.  A herd of buffalo welcomes her home. 

But things aren’t any better on the rez.  Her father (Charlie White Buffalo) is dying and won’t respond to her.  Her mother (Carla-Rae Holland) is giving up and selling the family herd.  Her drug-using brother has been missing for two years.  Her white boyfriend (Cory Brusseau) is pressuring her to come home.  And she’s seeing and hearing things that go bump in the night—things no one else notices. 

The tension slowly builds as Shayla tries to discern who, if anyone, is watching her.  Is it White Shirt’s brother Frank out for revenge?  Is it her long-lost brother?  Or is it only her imagination?  And does her blank-faced father know something he’s not saying? 

Variety’s  March 28 review summed it up well:  “A shrewdly moody attempt at an old-fashioned ghost story with a Native American twist, Imprint  generates a respectable amount of suspense without resorting to either cheap shocks or splashy f/x.” 

Imprint  doesn’t look or feel like an indie film.  Led by Carmelo, who is on-screen most of the time, the cast is generally topnotch.  The cinematography is often gorgeous, with stunning shots of Shayla riding on horseback across the stark plains.  The music and sound effects hit the right notes without resorting to flutes or drums. 

No Noble Savages 

Best of all, the movie seamlessly integrates a modern-day story with a traditional culture.  With her stylish car, laptop, and cellphone, Shayla is one of us.  Like many young adults, she’s a bit removed from her roots.  But she’s still one of “them” too.  She helps her mother care for her father, renews her acquaintance with the family steed, and recalls her Lakota tongue almost effortlessly. 

In other words, she’s not your typical angry Indian who scorns the people and places she’s left behind.  She has differences with the others, but none so serious that she can’t bridge them.  As her mother, officer Tom (Michael Spears), and a medicine man remind her of her Lakota heritage, she eventually gets the message. 

As Variety  put it, “Carmelo sustains sympathy and interest as she subtly shades a familiar stereotype—a disillusioned skeptic who re-embraces her ancestral culture—with enough specificity to resemble a flesh-and-blood human being.” 

But the eerie sights and sounds propel the story.  Again, this is a ghost story, not a rez-based social study.  There are no shots of broken-down trailers or drunks sprawled on doorsteps.  Pine Ridge’s problems lurk in the background, but they don’t intrude on Shayla’s growing apprehension. 

It’s the kind of storytelling Native movies should do more often.  Instead of spoonfeeding lessons like medicine, fill audiences with an irresistible story.  Let them learn about Indians in passing while they relish a mystery or romance or adventure. 

Only a few things marred this fine film: 

Throughout most of Imprint,  the pace was too leisurely.  As Variety  noted, “This low-key indie drama is likely too subdued and unspectacular to compete in the mainstream theatrical marketplace.”  I overheard one viewer say he had trouble keeping his eyes open. 

Two key plot points—White Shirt’s conviction and Shayla’s brother’s disappearance—are explained too obliquely.  We don’t realize how important they are until it’s almost too late.  Telling us more about the situations upfront would give the ensuing conflict more substance. 

Shayla’s boyfriend seemed manipulative from the beginning.  His insincerity is too evident, and you never believe he loves her.  I’m not sure it’s the actor’s fault; maybe he just happens to resemble a smug yuppie. 

These aren’t insurmountable problems, especially if the film isn’t completely wrapped.  Trim a few scenes here, bolster a few scenes there, and it would play that much better.  The present version could become the director’s cut while the revised version became the theatrical release. 

Family Affair 

Michael Linn, a non-Native, conceived, wrote, directed, edited, and scored Imprint  with the help of twin brother Marc, mother Carolyn, and other family members.  His old friend Chris Eyre acted as producer.  Watching the credits roll was almost incestuous, as a Linn seems to have done every job. 

After the screening, the ubiquitous Mark Reed led a discussion with Eyre, Linn and his mother, and Carmelo.  Perhaps the most surprising fact to surface was the film’s ultra-low budget.  Linn hinted that it wasn’t much more than the $50,000 an animal trainer wanted for handling wolves.  Yet Imprint  looked as polished as a film with 100 times the budget. 

Some tidbits from the Q&A: 

• Linn asked if anyone in the audience had anticipated the ending.  No one said yes.   
                 
• Linn said he first thought of doing the story with a rural white family, but realized how much better it would be with an Indian cast.      
              
• Imprint  was a “homemade production,” said Linn.  Eyre said he was “shocked” at how much Linn did with his limited budget.     
             
• Linn grew up in the Pine Ridge area so he knew people and had friends there.  That made it easier to get permission to film on the rez.  The townspeople were supportive—for instance, putting the crew up in a hotel before it officially opened.  
                  
• Linn filmed an exterior shot at the Wounded Knee cemetery but did the interior shots elsewhere out of respect for the dead.        
           
• Linn said he had no formal training for the score he composed.  He merely plays music as a hobby.  “You did a great job for a hobby,” a woman in the audience said.        
          
• Imprint  was “really emotional,” said someone in the audience.  It was really scary, said someone else.  “The hair was standing on the back of my neck.” 
  
• Someone from the local  Gabrieleno/Tongva  tribe said he liked how the Native spirituality was portrayed.  He agreed with the movie’s premise that there are worlds beyond the immediate one.      
             
• In answer to a question about distribution, Linn said he had no deals yet but hoped this screening and others would generate a buzz.      
             
• “Tonantzin Carmelo, you’re hot,” said one of the boys from Sherman.   
                  
• Carmelo said she learned Lakota for her breakthrough role as Thunder Woman in Into the West and remembered much of it.  The language coaches said she spoke it pretty well.          
       
• Linn said the buffalo in the movie came from the same ranch as the buffalo in Dances with Wolves.  The wolves came from the Bear Country U.S.A. wildlife park. 
  
• Reed the moderator said how refreshing it was to Indians in something other than a “leathers and feathers” movie.  Linn admitted his next project may involve “leathers and feathers” and a shapeshifter set in the late 1800s.       
            
• I hadn’t realized that Russell Means was in the audience.  He stood and delivered his verdict on Imprint:  “Great story and I loved the ending.”   
               
• In answer to another question, Linn said his production company is giving back to Pine Ridge by creating jobs and donating services.  He noted that the rez still has many problems.  For instance, one of Imprint’s actors was in jail for using meth.  
                    
• Reed thanked CBS, NBC, and ABC for sending representatives to the screening.  He said all three had asked for a package of information so they could consider Imprint  for their home entertainment divisions.   

Fans of Native-themed movies should definitely see Imprint.  Even with its flaws, it arguably surpasses Pow Wow Highway  and Smoke Signals and approaches Thunderheart  and Dances with Wolves  in quality.  Rob’s rating:  8.5 of 10. 

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 VUEtv  Presents…IMPRINT  Trailer

More photos from the Los Angeles premiere on the Linn Productions website: www.linnproductions.com/imprint