OYATE
The Film
In the wake of the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, Indigenous People across the nation are using their newfound platform to shed light on the wide array of injustices committed against them for centuries in an effort to wake up the world and embark upon the process of decolonization.
In 2016, the world turned its eyes to the people of Standing Rock
as they formed a coalition of unprecedented magnitude to defend their land and water from the threat of the Dakota Access Pipeline. An inflection point for human rights and environmental justice, the #NoDAPL struggle became a rallying cry for Indigenous People everywhere to take a stand against the myriad injustices committed against them for centuries.
OYATE elevates the voices of Indigenous activists, organizers, and politicians as they offer their perspective on that complicated history, contextualize the #NoDAPL movement, illuminate the interconnectivity between the issues facing Indian Country today, and look towards a more sovereign and sustainable future for their people.
Featuring perspectives from Chase Iron Eyes, Phyllis Young, Secretary Deb Haaland, Tokata Iron Eyes, Stuart James, and more.
The Team
Brandon Jackson, Emil Benjamin, Sandra Evers-Manly, Jennifer Martel
Biographies
Brandon Jackson, Director/Producer/Story Producer
Brandon Jackson has traveled the world documenting oppression and human rights violations from refugee camps in Lebanon to the protests in Standing Rock.
His first film, This Is Honduras, sold out at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival in 2016. Since then he worked as a story consultant on White Boy, a crime documentary unveiling government coercion to keep a man in jail for life, and as the lead world tour producer on Black & White Stripes: The Juventus Story, a film marking one of the biggest sport come backs in history. Recently, Brandon worked as a film consultant and helped develop Junebug, a short which recently premiered at the American Black Film Festival.
Brandon has a degree in Theatre from Fordham University.
Emil Benjamin, Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor
Emil Benjamin is a filmmaker, theatre artist, and advocate based out of New York City. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Emil received his BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University and MFA in Film from Columbia University, where he also taught undergraduate screenwriting. Emil’s short films "White People" and "We Can Do It" have screened and earned prizes at over a dozen festivals around the world, including Bushwick, Glasgow, Sunscreen, and Oaxaca. His pilot, Hopeless, has been shortlisted by a number of screenwriting competitions, including Flickers’ RIIFF and the Shore Scripts Pilot Contest.
Emil is the founder and lead producer at Irrelevant Media, a production company whose short films "Darling" (2019) and "Entre Tú Y Milagros" (2020) won the Orizzonti Award at the Venice Film Festival two years in a row.
Sandra Evers-Manly, Executive Producer/Producer
Sandra Evers-Manly is a noted corporate executive, community activist and patron to African-American artists. She has been making a difference in diverse communities across the nation for more than 25 years. Through the founding of her nonprofit organization, Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC), Evers-Manly and her team advocates, educates, researches, develops and preserves the history and future of Blacks in film and television.
Evers-Manly was executive producer for five short films in 1990 about Gang Violence. She established the S.E. Manly Short Film Festival, and the Sista’s are Doin’ It For Themselves, Reel Black Men, and Youth Diversity showcases which take place annually in Los Angeles, CA.
Jennifer Martel, Producer/Community Liaison
Jennifer Martel is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and works as the Sitting Bull College Visitor Center Coordinator on the Standing Rock reservation. She was a key organizer during the Standing Rock protests, directing thousands of visitors in and out of the reservation and developing protocols for national media outlets.
She is a founding member of the Indigenous People’s Movement, a world-wide advocacy group for first nation sovereignty and rights, and was key in developing the Oceti Sakowin Treaty Conference, a revival of a 150 year old tribal leader tradition. Jen continues to teach cultural classes at Sitting Bull College and develops conferences around the world which empower Indigenous People.
