Four Sheets to the Wind,  a feature by  Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/ Creek), will screen at the Smithsonian’s National  Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in New York on July 12 and 14. The award-winning film will be presented by the museum’s Film and Video Center (FVC) in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Renew Media, the prominent media artist fellowship organization.  Harjo will lead a discussion following each screening.

The July 14th screening will be preceded by a program featuring the works of previous Renew Media Fellows: Nanobah Becker (Navajo), Dante Cerano (P’urhepecha), Pedro Daniel López (Tzotzil), and Larry Blackhorse Lowe (Navajo). The screenings will be followed with an onstage discussion with director Sterlin Harjo and producer Chad Burris (Chickasaw). All screenings are free, but reservations are recommended. Call (212) 514-3737 or email fvc@si.edu for reservations. For more details, visit www.nativenetworks.si.edu or www.redesindigenas.si.edu. 

Described by the Hollywood Reporter  as an “enchanting and decidedly idiosyncratic…in the best tradition of coming-of-age films,” Four Sheets to the Wind  tells the story of Cufe Smallhill (Cody Lightning). When he finds his father dead beside a bottle of pills, Cufe fulfills his promise to sink the body in the family pond. A fake funeral, held for the community, brings together a family that has drifted apart. Wondering if there is more to life than what’s on offer in his small home town, Cufe heads for the city of Tulsa with his sister Miri (Tamara Podemski), and explores his new possibilities with Miri’s neighbor, the lovable Francie (Laura Bailey). 

Four Sheets to the Wind  premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, earning Podemski (Saulteaux) the coveted Special Jury Award for her role as Miri Smallhill. Harjo is a 2004 Sundance Institute Annenberg Fellow, a 2006 Renew Media Fellow, and the 2006 winner of the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award for Narrative Film. 

A not-for-profit organization established in 1990 by the Rockefeller Foundation, Renew Media fosters independent artistic expression by supporting the creation, dissemination and public awareness of independent media in all forms. More than 30 Renew Media Arts Fellows have screened their work at the National Museum of the American Indian. 

Located in New York City and Washington, D.C., the National Museum of the American Indian’s Film and Video Center is an international leader in the presentation of indigenous film and video productions. National and international programs include the biennial Native American Film and Video Festival, the annual Native Cinema Showcase in Santa Fe, and free screenings daily for children and for general audiences. FVC serves as an information resource for all types of Native media.  

For more information about the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, please visit their website at: www.americanindian.si.edu