Please join us for a special film screening followed by Q&A with
HOLLY CARTER
Founder and Executive Director, BYkids
DAUNNETTE REYOME
BYkids filmmaker, model and Native American activist
EVAN MASCAGNI
BYkids film mentor
CYNTHIA BENITEZ
Film Programming Manager
Smithsonian National Museum of American Indian
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. | Film screening
7:00 - 7:30 p.m. | Panel Discussion
With her debut film AGAINST THE CURRENT, Native American teen activist Daunnette Reyome shares her family’s journey to retain the sacred rituals and values of their culture in the wake of centuries of loss from disease, war, and government policies.
Before the first influx of European settlers in 1492, Native Americans inhabited North America for millennia, following the migration of animal herds with the seasons, farming and sharing the land and its bounty. The settlers introduced disease, alien concepts of property rights and land restrictions, and challenged the fabric of Native American life -- their social, matriarchal structures, communal property and living off the land; their languages and customs. Massacres and forcible transfers decimated the population. Those who survived were increasingly restricted to remote reservations. Native cultural practices, including religious rituals and language, were outlawed until 1978.
The effects of this cultural and physical devastation continue to reverberate through the lives of today’s Native Americans, especially young people, who grapple with oppression, poverty and racism.
One of the most important issues for young Native Americans is cultural preservation. Native cultural practices, including religious rituals and language, were once outlawed. As a result, the older generations are unable to pass down their cultural traditions and teach their language to the large youth population. It took an act of Congress through the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 before Native Americans could freely practice their cultural and traditional ceremonies. In 1990 Congress passed the Native American Languages Act (NALA), recognizing that “the status of the cultures and languages of Native Americans is unique and the United States has the responsibility to act together with Native Americans to ensure [their] survival.”
Daunnette Reyome (age 17), is a member of the Winnebago Ho-Chunk tribe of Nebraska and a senior at Walthill Public School, on the Omaha Reservation where she lives. A model since age 11, she has appeared in Teen Vogue, using her voice to bring light to Native American issues. In 2017, she was a guest speaker at the United Nations International Day of the Girl event.
Please join us for this special screening, one or four BYKids Season Two films airing on Public Television in 2019. Our guests this evening to discuss the film after the screening will include the young filmmaker himself, Michael Martin — as well as Holly Carter, founder and executive director of BYkids, and award-winning documentary director and producer Chiemi Karasawa. The discussion will be moderated by Matt Nink, the Executive Director of the Global Youth Leadership Institute.
In her film, AGAINST THE CURRENT, Daunnette documents life for herself, her family and her friends living in modern American society with Native American values and rituals. She is a fashion model, basketball player, track and field runner, and activist. She has appeared in Teen Vogue and spoken at the UN Day of the Girl summit.
Please join us for this Film Talk event, and watch the film at the scheduled time (6:30 pm EST) on Zoom (register using the link above), which will be followed by an online discussion, when our special guests will include: the young filmmaker herself, Daunnette Reyome, as well as BYkids founder and executive director Holly Carter, BYkids film mentor and director Evan Mascagni, and Cynthia Benitez, Film Programming Manager at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Indian.
This latest BYkids film will be broadcast on public television in 2021 and distributed with educational material by PBS LearningMedia, Discovery Education and PenPal Schools.
Panel Speakers
HOLLY CARTER
Holly Carter is the Founder and Executive Director of BYkids. Holly began her career as a writer and editor at The New York Times and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Since then she has lived in Korea as a Henry Luce scholar and print and television journalist; produced an award-winning documentary on Margaret Sanger; co-founded North Carolina's Full Frame Festival; served as a consultant for The After-School Corporation; produced the PBS series Media Matters; and most recently was the Executive Director of The Global Film Initiative.
DAUNNETTE REYOME
Daunnette Reyome (17 years old) is a member of the Winnebago Ho-Chunk Tribe of Nebraska and a senior at Walthill Public School. She has been modeling since she was 11, using her voice to bring light to Native American issues. In 2017, she was a guest speaker for the UN's International Day of the Girl event. Daunnette documents life for herself, her family and her friends, as they live in modern American society, with Native American values and rituals.
“We are a Sacred, resilient, powerful, strong group of people. It’s embedded in us,” she asserts. “I want to show people who we truly are, who we once were before the cycle of trauma began. I want people to gain an understanding of not just the culture itself, but also us as a nation. Who and what we represent. I want to inspire, encourage, and motivate my peers to take back pride in who we are as Native Americans.”
The message she intends with her film is that “we are not what the media portrays of us. Yes, we battle alcoholism, addiction and domestic violence just like any other nationality or poverty-stricken community, but that does not define the whole culture. We are Sacred, resilient, powerful, strong group of people. It’s embedded in us. I want to show people who we truly are, who we once were before the cycle of trauma began. I want people to gain an understanding of not just the culture itself, but also us as a nation. Who and what we represent.”
EVAN MASCAGNI
Evan Mascagni is a former attorney turned filmmaker from Louisville, Kentucky. He directed a feature length documentary Circle of Poison, which aired on Al Jazeera in 2016. The Hollywood Reporter called the film “an eye-opening and ire-raising doc” and it was the recipient of multiple awards and screened at film festivals across the world. Evan is a co-founder of Player Piano Productions, a boutique film production company based in New York City, where he produces non-fiction films and branded content for non-profit organizations and social impact companies. Evan also serves as the Policy Director of the Public Participation Project, a non-profit organization working to strengthen First Amendment rights for filmmakers, journalists and activists across the country.
Mascagni says that “working with Daunnette was an absolute honor. She is one of the most mature young people I've ever met. Her ability to quickly learn and adapt to on-camera situations was equally impressive as experienced filmmakers that I have worked with. Her on-camera interviews are perceptive and revealing; her thoughtfulness continues to inspire my storytelling. The power of her words will inspire other youth across the globe, and her message about the importance of understanding the past will help guide us all to a more equitable future.”
CYNTHIA BENITEZ
Cynthia Benitez is film curator and scholar specializing in Native and indigenous film. She is currently the Film Programming Manager at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Indian in New York City where she organizes Native Cinema Showcase as well as international screenings and hemispheric film showcases. She has worked as a publicist for international film festivals and Native media organizations, including the American Indian Film Institute, Sundance Film Festival’s Native Forum and World Competition, and the Native American Film and Video Festival. A graduate from Barry University, Cindy received her B.A. in Public Relations and has a M.S. in Media Studies at CUNY Brooklyn College.
ABOUT BYkids
Because kids tell honest and important stories, but often go unheard, the non-profit organization BYkids was created to pair master filmmakers, such Albert Maysles and Ric Burns, with youth (ages 8-21) from around the world, to create short documentaries that educate Americans about globally relevant issues.
By giving kids the tools and mentoring to make documentary films about their lives and packaging those films for a wide American audience, BYkids gives voice to youth from diverse cultures, and encourages international understanding and engagement by giving viewers concrete ways to respond.
In October 2011, Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for U.N. Peacekeeping Operations, became a core advisor for developing BYkids partnerships with United Nations agencies, extending the story sourcing, on-site logistics and strategic outreach for BYkids films. "Each BYkids youth storyteller mobilizes our conscience towards a larger sense of global solidarity. BYkids reminds us that we are one Humanity," said Mulet.
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