Sterlin Harjo – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Sydney Freeland’s REZ BALL looks to score on Netflix – Brandy McDonnell reports

September 25, 2024September 28, 2024 Brandy McDonnell basketball, Chuska, Ernest Tsosie III, Jessica Matten, Julia Jones, Kauchani Bratt, Kusem Goodwind, Michael Powell, Native American, Navajo Nation, netflix, New Mexico, Rez Ball, Sterlin Harjo, Sydney Freeland

Navaho filmmaker Sydney Freeland’s Native American basketball drama Rez Ball is tipping off Sept. 27 on Netflix. Rez Ball is a sports drama that follows the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico, that must band together after losing their star player if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive. It’s an all-American underdog story about Navajo kids and coaches told from an all-American perspective that has too often been overlooked.

Reviews

REZ BALL – Review by Ann Lewinson

September 19, 2024September 25, 2024 Ann Lewinson basketball, Chuska, Ernest Tsosie III, Jessica Matten, Julia Jones, Kauchani Bratt, Kusem Goodwind, Michael Powell, Native American, Navajo Nation, netflix, New Mexico, Rez Ball, Sterlin Harjo, Sydney Freeland

Much like Friday Night Lights, high school basketball is everything in sparsely populated, remote Chuska, New Mexico. But for the Chuska Warriors, expectations are lowered after the team loses its star player Nataanii Jackson (Kusem Goodwind). It falls on his best friend, Jimmy Holiday (Kauchani Bratt, a former high school basketball player making a solid acting debut) and the team’s coach, retired WNBA player Heather Hobbs (Jessica Matten) to rally the team. But the low morale Jimmy and his teammates struggle with isn’t just situational—it’s systemic. Movies like this aren’t called “inspirational” for nothing. So while Rez Ball may not be a slam dunk, it gets the job done.

Interviews

Danis Goulet talks RESERVATION DOG’s Final Season – Brandy McDonnell interviews

August 12, 2023August 13, 2023 Brandy McDonnell Cree-Métis, Dallas Goldtooth, Danis Goulet, Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo, Tazbah Rose Chavez

Danis Goulet knows that the word “groundbreaking” can get overused, but she also believes it’s the best word to describe the FX series “Reservation Dogs.” “How important this show has been to Native representation, there has been nothing else like this,” she said in a July phone interview. “It came as a part of a wave of some other shows like ‘Rutherford Falls’ and ‘Dark Winds’ that were coming up all around the same time, and for just regular Native American life to be depicted on screen in such an authentic way, that’s something that audiences haven’t had the chance to experience.”

Reviews

RESERVATION DOGS – Review by Diane Carson

September 22, 2022September 28, 2022 Diane Carson Dallas Goldtooth, Gary Farmer, hulu, series, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, Zahn McClarnon

Teenage driven narratives stretch back to earliest films and television dramas. But, to its immense credit, the two season series Reservation Dogs breaks new, extraordinary ground. Set on an Oklahoma Indian reservation, and there are many in Oklahoma, we’ll learn four young men and women face what they consider bleak futures on the rez and envision better lives elsewhere. Typical, eh? But several unique elements elevate and recommend Reservation Dogs above what certainly could be formulaic struggles.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Sydney Freeland to helm basketball drama REZ BALL – Brandy McDonnell reports

August 25, 2021August 29, 2021 Brandy McDonnell LeBron James, netflix, Rez Ball, sports, Sterlin Harjo, Sydney Freeland

Navajo director Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest) is helming the Native American basketball drama Rez Ball. The film follows the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico, that must band together after losing their star player if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive. It’s an all-American underdog story about Navajo kids and coaches told from the inside-out.