San Francisco, CA – The 33rd Annual American Indian
Film Festival will open at 7:30 p.m. on Friday,
November 7, at the Landmark Embarcadero Center
Cinema with the premier of River of Renewal, a film
describing the Klamath Basin tribes’ struggle to
establish fishing rights, restore river flows, and
remove dams.
River of Renewal follows Jack Kohler, a self
described ‘sidewalk Indian’ who grew up in San
Francisco. The audience follows Jack on a journey of
self discovery in the land of his Karuk and Yurok
ancestors. Jack learns not only about the ancient
cultural traditions of his people, but also their
modern day struggles to defend tribal rights and the
Klamath River.”
“The story moves from the fish wars of the 1970s to
the current fight to remove Klamath River dams,”
explains Kohler. “I hope audiences learn some of
what I learned on my journey. Native People are
still here performing their ceremonies, speaking
their languages, fighting for their rights and
making progress.”
Using interviews, archival sources, and contemporary
cinematography, River of Renewal documents acts of
protest and civil disobedience by Klamath Basin
stakeholders whose ways of life are jeopardized by
the decline of the region's wild salmon.
These dramatic scenes include "protest fishing" by
gillnetters in response to a federal ban on Indian
fishing in 1978, the Bucket Brigade by Klamath
Project farmers to protest a water cut-off complying
with the Endangered Species Act in 2001, a
commercial fisherman's demonstration in San
Francisco in response to the curtailment of the
salmon fishing season in 2006, and guerrilla theater
by tribal members who protested the refusal of a
Warren Buffet-owned company to agree to the removal
of Klamath River dams by crashing his shareholders'
party in Omaha this year.
Representing the Klamath Basin crisis in the
perspective of history, River of Renewal shows that
the canning industry, the Upper Basin farm economy,
and tribal, sports and commercial fisheries have all
paid a heavy price for the collapse of the region's
wild salmon species while the dams that cut salmon
off from hundreds of miles of spawning habitat
continue to function. If the current effort to
remove the Klamath dams owned by Warren Buffett
succeeds, it would bring about the largest river
restoration effort ever attempted.
As the nation's most prominent outlet for Native
American films, the American Indian Film Festival
will premiere over 80 new feature films, shorts,
public service, music videos and documentaries from
USA American Indian and Canada First Nation
communities. The festival will run Nov. 7-12 at the
Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema, One Embarcadero
Center, Promenade Level; and conclude Nov. 13-15 at
the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon Street. @ Bay
Street.
All programs are open to the general public and will
require tickets for admission. Advance Tickets are
available thru the American Indian Film Institute (AIFI)
by calling 415-554-0525. Visa and Mastercard are
accepted. Tickets will also be sold at the door. For
more information, go to
http://www.aifisf.com/home.php
November is National American Indian Heritage Month.
"AIFI welcomes all audiences, all colors, to
participate at festival screenings, seminars and
awards show," according to AIFI.