Documentary film Summer Sun Winter Moon captures the reality of celebrity composer Rob Kapilow’s mission to bridge the divide between his east coast world of upscale performing arts and that of Darrell Kipp’s Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
Reaching millions of people, THIRTEEN’S SundayArts show will air the powerfully compelling film with an introduction by Philippe de Montebello, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
NEW YORK – Summer Sun Winter Moon, a thought-provoking documentary film that exposes viewers to the reality of the American Indian perspective of Lewis and Clark’s legendary “Corps of Discovery” mission, is scheduled for broadcast on THIRTEEN’s celebrated SundayArts show at 1:45 p.m. on January 31, 2010. Sister station WLIW21 will follow with their fourth screening of the acclaimed film at 5:00 p.m. on February 6, 2010. Scores of primetime broadcasts of the film challenged audiences throughout the U.S. to “learn the one, controversial truth” during November’s National American Indian Heritage Month.
The flagship public television station of the New York City tri-state area and the most-watched public television channel in the nation, THIRTEEN reaches millions of people with programming that celebrates arts and culture, offering insightful commentary on the affairs of the day.
From landmark arts and culture institutions such as New York’s Lincoln Center and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, to Native tribal communities, and urban epicenters, the groundbreaking film continues to capture the attention of the American people. Ken Lingad (Isleta Pueblo), a specialist in American Indian arts and culture, proclaims, “Summer Sun Winter Moon shreds the pages of textbook history.”
Rob Kapilow, a celebrated classical music artist, is commissioned by the St. Louis and Kansas City Symphonies and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra to compose a symphonic work with a specific theme: a reflection of the enduring legacy of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Often referenced as a young Leonard Bernstein, the youthfully energetic Kapilow foregoes his original intent to set the journals of Lewis and Clark to music, choosing to actually re-trace the journey himself as a catalyst for fresh inspiration.
Upon engaging tribal representatives out West in active dialogue about how best to convey their stories, Kapilow finds himself overwhelmed at the crossroads of textbook history and the tangible perspective of the American Indian. Seeking to collaborate with Blackfeet tribal member Darrell Robes Kipp, the innovative artist delves into a sharply alternative – and controversial – avenue of perspective: that of the indigenous storyteller’s view “from the river bank, not the boat.”
“There’s nothing to celebrate here - not for Indian people,” says Darrell Robes Kipp, referencing the planned events for the celebration of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. The co-founder of the Nitzipuahsin Blackfeet Language Immersion School, Kipp is a poet and educator who has been laboring to salvage his native people’s language from the brink of near-extinction. Enlisted by Kapilow, Kipp agrees to author the libretto for the symphony project, offering his own hand to the composer who dared to reach across the divide.
Executive Producer Cynthia Newport and award-winning Director Hugo Perez bring to the national viewing audience Summer Sun Winter Moon’s inherent declarations of truth, proving to be important and timely in what it tells us about ourselves, about our place in time, and about the choices we have to make moving forward. While there are two sides to every story, viewers are left haunted by the words of two storytellers with one story that can only be interpreted by each individual.
Become a fan on Summer Sun Winter Moon’s facebook page and view additional HQ video footage not seen in the final cut, in addition to the video diary of Jesse DesRosier – an intimate look into the life of a teenage boy who resides on his native Blackfeet reservation. The videos capture the challenges DesRosier faces as a young American Indian who lives in two worlds: modern mid-America and that of his traditional heritage