P.O.V. - Standing Silent Nation Filmmaker Interview
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Length: 07:20
Filmmakers Suree Towfighnia and Courtney Hermann talk with P.O.V. about making their film "Standing Silent Nation". The film follows Alex White Plume and his Lakota family as they try to grow hemp on their land after other crops had failed. When federal agents raided the White Plumes' fields, the Lakota Nation was swept into a Byzantine struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights and common sense.
More from P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
P.O.V. - Eve Ensler Interview
(15:02)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Activist Eve Ensler talks about violence against women in the Congo
P.O.V. - Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars Filmmaker Interview
(06:29)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmakers Zach Niles and Banker White talk with P.O.V. about making their film "Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars"
P.O.V. - Rain in a Dry Land Filmmaker Interview
(12:52)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmaker Anne Makepeace talks with P.O.V. about the making of her film "Rain in a Dry Land"
P.O.V. - Revolution '67 Filmmaker Interview
(06:52)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmaker Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno talks with P.O.V. about the making of her film "Revolution '67"
P.O.V. - Prisontown, USA Filmmaker Interview
(09:57)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmakers Katie Galloway and Po Kutchins talk about making their documentary film "Prisontown, USA"
P.O.V. - Arctic Son Filmmaker Interview
(10:38)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmaker Andrew Walton talks with P.O.V. about making his film "Arctic Son"
P.O.V. - A Family Undertaking Filmmaker Interview
(09:18)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmaker Elizabeth Westrate talks with P.O.V. about the making of her film "A Family Undertaking"
P.O.V. - The Chances of the World Changing Filmmaker Interview
(06:29)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar talks with P.O.V. about the making of his film "The Chances of the World Changing"
P.O.V. - Libby, Montana Filmmaker Interview
(10:22)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmakers Dru Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis talk about the making of their film "Libby, Montana"
P.O.V. - The Camden 28 Filmmaker Interview
(09:12)
From: P.O.V. / American Documentary, Inc.
Filmmaker Anthony Giacchino talks with P.O.V. about the making of his documentary film "The Camden 28"
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Filmmakers Suree Towfighnia and Courtney Hermann talk with P.O.V. about making their film "Standing Silent Nation". The film follows Alex White Plume and his Lakota family as they try to grow hemp on their land after other crops had failed. When federal agents raided the White Plumes' fields, the Lakota Nation was swept into a Byzantine struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights and common sense.
Broadcast History
Podcast
Transcript
{not exact}
Video
Podcast
Draft
CLIP ? Image of family and hemp
SSN Title
0:43:11.0
SUREE: STANDING SILENT NATION documents the story of the White Plume family as they try to grow hemp on their land. We follow them sort of from the hemp fields into the courtroom because the federal government won?t allow them to grow industrial hemp. STANDING SILENT NATION takes the viewer through the White Plume?s struggle to plant hemp on their land and harvest it. Meanwhile the federal government is trying to prevent them from doing it because they see hemp as an illegal crop.
Hermann:
0:03:05.9
As soon as we met the White Plume family on the Pine Ridge reservation which we had thought that was a piece of the puzzle because they were cultivating industrial hemp, that actually became the puzzle after that. It was the thing. Uh, hemp is an important issue in the documentary. But it?...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Suggested Intro: This week P.O.V. spoke with filmmakers Suree Towfighnia and Courtney Hermann about their documentary STANDING SILENT NATION. The film follows Alex White Plume and his Lakota family. In 2000, the White Plumes planted industrial hemp on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota after other crops had failed. Hemp is a non-psychoactive relative of marijuana and growing it is banned in the U.S. but Alex believed that tribal sovereignty would protect him. The film chronicles his fight to retain sovereignty and to find a sustainable livelihood for his family and the Lakota tribe.
Suggested Outro: To learn more about STANDING SILENT NATION log on to www.pbs.org/pov.
Additional Files
- Surviving hemp plant (01_standing.jpg)
- DEA agents confiscating crops (09_standing.jpg)
- Courtney Hermann, director (16_standing.jpg)
- Towfighnia with White Plumes (07_standing.jpg)
- Alex White Plume (01a_standing.jpg)
- Towfighnia with White Plumes (07_standing.jpg)
- Suree Towfighnia, director (15_standing.jpg)
Related Website
