Private Project

Censored Heritage

A Native American woman remembers a school experience she had as a 14-year old girl. During show-and-tell she found herself being silenced by the teacher and kicked out of the classroom for giving a presentation about her roots and the history of the Native American genocide. When the textbooks of the U.S. educational system barely mentioned the Native Americans, she learned her history from her grandmother. She refuses to apologize for sharing the knowledge and letting the history of the indigenous people fade into oblivion.

"Indigenous blood still walks this land. From generation to generation the truth will be spoken and marks left as a reminder - we are still here."

  • Britt Tully
    Director
  • Sara Braun
    Director
  • Britt Tully
    Producer
  • Sara Braun
    Producer
  • Sebastian Lasaosa Rogers
    Director of Photography
    Esquilas en la Montaña, Epilogues
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 2, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K UHD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No

  • United States
Director Biography - Britt Tully, Sara Braun

Sara Braun is a freelance dancer and artist originally from a small town in Finland. She has been living in Sweden, the U.S.A. and currently resides in Berlin, Germany. Through dance, film and music she experiments with different ways of story telling and her focus lies in themes around social justice and environmental protection.

Self-taught, freelance artist Britt Tully has been impacted by multiple mediums of art through the dynamic individuals around her. Raised in Savannah, Ga, she has moved freely along the east coast and currently resides in New York City where she continues to cultivate and educate indigenous culture by volunteering, activism and the arts. Better known for her illustrations and personal fine art works shown at various gallery group shows, this is her introduction to film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The short film, "Censored Heritage", came about when Britt Tully, Sara Braun and Sebastian Lasaosa Rogers wanted to create something meaningful in the midst of the 2017 U.S. presidential election. We all met randomly in New York, and separately talked about doing a collaboration of sorts. Sara, originally from Finland, learned more about the issues that Native Americans face through Britt, as well as following what was going on at the Standing Rock Protest Camp. Sebastian had worked on different social justice themed projects and he and Sara wanted to make a video in that direction.

With "Censored Heritage" we wanted to tell Britt’s personal story and show the ways she has been resisting and coping – through art, drawing and different forms of raising public awareness – with the whitewashed mainstream culture and false stereotypes of Native Americans. Sara and Sebastian were shocked to hear about Britt’s background and her being kicked out of her 7th grade class for talking about the Native American genocide. We thought that if we can visualize Britt’s childhood memory, we could touch on bigger issues and get more people aware of history’s and today’s society’s injustice against Native Americans. "Censored Heritage" also bears witness to how destructive and scarring a one-sided and false, so-called patriotic, education can be.

Wearing traditional moccasins handmade by her grandmother and with a Native American medicine bag around her neck, Britt is seen drawing a line of white chalk along the walls of a public playground. The chalk is underlining the words "Indigenous Land" and the drawing of the line can be interpreted in many ways – a timeline accompanying Britt’s words about the bloody history of the United States, a DIY-border to reclaim territory, white chalk embodying the voice and form of expression of the vulnerable child as well as the power of the educational system.

We are grateful for having met each other and together being able to create this short film in little time and with no budget. We are thankful for the powerful music and soundscape produced by Dorian Love, a close friend of Britt’s and an artist with a political voice. The four of us all come from very different backgrounds and we hope "Censored Heritage" reaches as many people as possible and inspires others to tell their stories of resistance and actions against injustice.

Sara Braun & Britt Tully