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A Conversation with Billy Luther
Series: Art Works Podcast
From: National Endowment for the Arts
Length: 00:26:38
Billy Luther grew up celebrating GRAB day with his father's family in the Laguna Pueblo. Grab is a 300-year-old tradition; it involves throwing food and gifts from the rooftops to members of the community who gather below. Grab day is a time for families to come together and give thanks for abundance and pray for renewal. The GRAB begins with the sprinkling of water on the people gathered, following by the throwing of traditionally-baked bread. Then, basket upon basket of food, toys, paper goods, all manners of gifts are thrown from the roof. For families that throw, the preparation is intense, usually taking months. Enter Billy Luther. The filmmaker followed three families during the year-long preparation straight through to GRAB day itself. The result is not only the documenting of a little known festival, but it gives an intimate look into the lives of the contemporary Laguna. I saw Luther's documentary, titled, appropriately enough, GRAB at All Roads Film Festival which is a project of National Geographic. All Roads provides a platform for the work of indigineous and minority filmmakers from around the world.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Billy Luther grew up celebrating GRAB day with his father's family in the Laguna Pueblo. Grab is a 300-year-old tradition; it involves throwing food and gifts from the rooftops to members of the community who gather below. Grab day is a time for families to come together and give thanks for abundance and pray for renewal. The GRAB begins with the sprinkling of water on the people gathered, following by the throwing of traditionally-baked bread. Then, basket upon basket of food, toys, paper goods, all manners of gifts are thrown from the roof. For families that throw, the preparation is intense, usually taking months. Enter Billy Luther. The filmmaker followed three families during the year-long preparation straight through to GRAB day itself. The result is not only the documenting of a little known festival, but it gives an intimate look into the lives of the contemporary Laguna. I saw Luther's documentary, titled, appropriately enough, GRAB at All Roads Film Festival which is a project of National Geographic. All Roads provides a platform for the work of indigineous and minority filmmakers from around the world.
Transcript
Transcript of conversation with Billy Luther
Billy Luther: My father's Laguna and Hopi and my mother's full Navajo. They worked for the railroad so we moved around quite a lot growing up. I didn't grow up on a reservation but every summer I would split my summer at different res with my different grandparents and that, I think, was really unique. I loved that experience. I loved having those different cultural upbringing. So my first film, Miss Navajo, it's about a beauty pageant, a 50-year-old beauty pageant where contestants slaughter sheep instead of wear bathing suits. It's really about tradition and culture. This film is about an experience that I had remembered growing up with, the throw.
Jo Reed: That was Billy Luther, he is the director of the documentary film, GRAB
Welcome to Art works the program that goes behind the scenes with some of the nation's great artists to explor...
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Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excerpts from Grab soundtrack | DAVID BENJAMIN STEINBERG | Grab soundtrack . | Evolution Music Partners | 00:00 |
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