By Rod Pocowatchit 

In the film world, it can pay off to be nice.

Take Kevin   Willmott, for instance. Film professor at the University of  Kansas. Award-winning director. Sundance Film Festival alum. And really nice guy.

I had previously met him during a Kansas Film Commission event (they make a presentation every year during Kansas Legislative session). Kevin had just returned from the Sundance screening of CSA: Confederate States of America,  so I had read about him and wanted to meet him.

So I introduced myself. I was immediately struck by how genuinely, well, genuine  this guy seemed. We chatted briefly. Not a very memorable exchange, but still, I was congratulatory and said it was great to finally meet him.

Fast forward a couple years later.

I get a phone call from Scott Richardson, one of the producers of an upcoming film to be shot in Wichita, where I live. He asked if I would help them set up a casting call for Native extras and if I would work on the film. All because I met Kevin briefly before, and he remembered me.

So, yeah, maybe it can pay off to be nice.

It certainly helped me get involved in this film.I met Kevin, Scott, co-producer Greg Hurd at the Old Cowtown Museum here in Wichita. Cowtown is one of our main tourist attractions, a living museum that looks every bit like an Old West-era town. It’s practically a ready-made set (and has been used as such many times).

Kevin’s crew was in town scouting the location, deciding which scenes would be shot where, and so on. I learned that the film would star Wes Studi, and that the film would be titled  The Only Good Indian, a play on the old, nasty expression, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.””I thought it had potential and had just an inkling of controversy to it—a good thing, I thought. If done right.

The Story

I was e-mailed a script. I was eager to read it, but also was secretly dreading that it just might be horrible, or show Native people in a stereotypical light. Or just be downright cheesy.

But it wasn’t. It was actually great. Written by co-producer Tom Carmody, the story shows what it was like to be forced to go to government-run Indian boarding schools in the early 1900s.

It follows a young boy, Charlie, as he is taken from his family and forced to go to Haskell Indian Boarding School in Lawrence (which has now become Haskell Indian Nations University). It shows the cruelty he and other children endured, how they were punished and beaten for speaking their tribal languages, and so on.

But Charlie is defiant, and refuses to assimilate. He escapes from the school and begins a dangerous journey home.  

The school hires a bounty hunter—an Indian man himself—to retrieve the boy. In contrast to Charlie’s plight, the bounty hunter, played by Wes Studi, is trying to get ahead in the white world. He’s trying to be a man of stature, to own his own business. But he finds that it’s hard to be taken seriously when you’re still considered a savage.

The Film

The Only Good Indian  is a sweeping tale, and is an important story that needs to be told.

From the early looks of things, it’s going  to be a very good film. It’s a drama, a Western, a road movie, an adventure, a mystery, an action film—all in one. It’s  a great role for Wes Studi with lots of range.  And newcomer Winter Fox, who plays the central character Charlie, is going to be big after this film. Deservedly so, he’s a really great guy.

Behind the scenes, I organized and ran two casting calls for the film, then worked on the assistant director crew as extras coordinator (a monumental, stressful but ultimately fun job).

I also acted in the film, as well, in a small role as military reservation officer Lone Wolf. Other Native actors also appear, including Delanna Studi, Thirza Defoe and David Midthunder. They’re all simply wonderful people and it was great to see them all in Kansas.

My bros Guy Ray Pocowatchit and Mark Wells also will appear in the film as extras in a scene that takes place at an insane asylum. Typecasting? Hmmmm…

I'm so glad I get to be a part of this film. It’s been a great experience. You might even say it's been nice.

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Rod includes more commentary and behind the scenes photos in his
Harmy Films blog.

KICKING OFF
FIRST DAY SHOOT
MORE PICS
LABOR DAY

Producers plan to premiere The Only Good Indian  at film festivals by late 2008. Updates will be posted on the film’s Web site, www.theonlygoodindian.com