The Narrative draws parallels to the culture and traditions associated with being Native and how it can be used to overcome all sorts of challenges. One of the sisters gets enrolled in a college, and the other partner on the other hand sides with a music career.
I tell stories about the struggle of Native people to identify with their traditional values within the context of modern society, said Fraher.
Fraher said she worked on a community-centered movie that completely stems from the community in terms of its plot, casting, and filming.
It means to me that it is a chance for people to witness a genuinely honest story, Shirin said. When we were working on this, we didn’t go through the normal casting directors. I went for the roles. I went looking for actors in the community. because that was important to me to try and get some talented people in. The mainstream approach of who is to be cast, this role was of through their glass, how other people know Natives and so this is an opportunity for us to self define which is quite rare.
Although the Osage characters enhance the storyline, many Cherokee actors were featured in the film including Nathalie Standingcloud who is a Cherokee Nation citizen. Her Aunt who is also an actress, Kimberly Guerrero urged Standingcloud to send an audition for this movie. Standingcloud plays the character Shannon Ki-he-kah-zhe, an Osage aspiring writer.
Just like me, Standingcloud points out that, she was also the eldest daughter in her family. Thus, we had a lot of things in common during the shooting which made it easy for me to relate to her character. She narrates, I remember like Shannon, I was exposed to Culture shock when I joined college for the very first time, and I dreaded the thought of leaving my home for fear of what will become of it when I was not there.
Speaking on the matter, Standingcloud further elaborated how she felt unable endowed together to bear the enormity of the task and the injustice of having to perform on television as a Native individual.
“In particular with professionals that acted Wendigo the actors Irene Bedard, Jon Proudstar, Casey Camp-Horinek, and Delanna Studi. I was able to gain growth as a Native American and as an artist, Standingcloud explained.
Writing and the development of the film started in 2014. To ensure the film captured Osage culture and its background adequately, Fraher incorporated some artistic aspects into the film.
The same realism caused the absence of fictional places in the Osage Nation part of the film, the lack of its franticness so that the pace of life of the Native peoples is more realistic, the delivery style that is influenced by the pronunciations of Native languages, and so on. The sub-themes were also several, the characters’ lives were interconnected.
According to Fraher, The Heart Stays was a collaboration between Native people in artistic leadership positions and experienced non-Native professionals. Their fellows abound wisdom. I value their insights and incorporate them into our work, also contributing as part of a peer hierarchy in the group.
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