Our Story

We are looking to raise funds to complete an epic feature documentary, A Thunder-Being Nation which explores the life of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the poorest most oppressed place in the US. It covers the entire life of the reservation from before its inception through to the multitude of social problems today. Currently on Pine Ridge life expectancy for men is 48 and women 52, unemployment is over 80%.

Subjects covered:

Past

Origin story

Arrival of European

The Little Big Horn

Extermination of Buffalo

Wounded Knee

Confinement to reservation

Boarding Schools

The 71 day Wounded Knee occupation of 1973

(the government fired approx 500,000 bullets at activists and residents during occupation)

The Oglala Shootout (Leonard Peltier)

Present

Poverty

Housing

Education

Gangs

Alcoholism 

Diabetes

The BIA

Racism

No other documentary has ever looked to comprehensively at the life of a single reservation. The running time in approx. 90 mins. Unlike many indiegogo campaigns we're nearing the final stages so there will only be a short time to wait for the release of the goodies in return for your support.

There are many extraordinary testimonies including a woman's account of being sterilized at eleven years old by the IHS in the 50's without her knowing. Also the superintendent of the BIA on Pine Ridge admits that his agencies historical role was one of genocide. Four past and present tribal presidents, former AIM leader Russell Means, and a very broad section of the rest of the community are in the documentary with a strong balance between the male and female perspective. 

The main edit of the documentary is almost complete but for it to find the biggest audience we need to have it completed to the highest standards of sound design as well as pay for the rights to a lot of archive footage necessary to make elements like the Wounded Knee occupation come alive. This footage is not cheap but without it the documentary is a lot less likely to be broadcast on TV and it is essential that this vastly important documentary is seen by as many people as possible. 

Funds are also needed to cover the costs of submitting the film to as many film festivals in the world and cover entry fees. This greatly helps increase the documentaries audience and adds a huge marketing value. Also we'll be using some of the money to compile a massive amount of extra features for the Special Edition DVD including extended interviews, subjects that didn't make the final cut, historical documentaries, interviews etc.  

I have already previewed the rough cut of the documentary to the key subjects in the documentary from Pine Ridge including Russell Means and the praise for it's authenticity has been universal, which is the single most important thing for me. 

We expect the documentary to premiere around February/March 2012 at a major film-festival with the DVD release to follow. In the meantime all the documentaries supporters will receive regular updates and sneak peeks of elements of the doc.

The more funds we receive over the total then the more we expand the range of archive which shall help broaden the success of the documentary. 

Many thanks

Steven Lewis Simpson

The Impact

This project delves deeper into the heart of Pine Ridge and the cause and effect of policies more than any other comparable project.

What We Need & What You Get

There funds shall be spent on licensing crucial archive footage, final editing, sound design, music and mastering the film so it can be screened in theaters and broadcast.

Funds will also cover costs of authoring the DVD. We are also compiling extra material for the DVD so that we have many hours of extras to provide a great resource way beyond the documentary. Web campaign, streaming and conversion of video materials and online archiving. Viral campaigns and hosting.