Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock

press release: Madison Action for Mining Alternatives is hosting a screening of Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock on April 27, 2017 at Room 180, Science Hall, UW-Madison. Directed in 3 chapters and a coda, the feature length documentary is directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker and activist Josh Fox (Gasland, How To Let Go Of The World And Learn To Love Everything Climate Can’t Change), Academy Award nominated filmmaker James Spione (Incident In New Baghdad) and indigenous filmmaker and Digital Smoke Signals founder Myron Dewey. The film will be simultaneously launched online, audiences will be able to stream the film in exchange for a donation of a dollar or more to the Indigenous Media Fund founded by the film’s creators. 

After the film, Professor Leah Horowitz will speak briefly about the current situation at Standing Rock, which she visited in March 2017.

Thursday, April 27, 7:00pm - 8:45pm, 180 Science Hall, 550 N Park Street

The film tells the dramatic story of the historic #NODAPL native-led peaceful resistance at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, which captured the world’s attention as one of the biggest stories of 2016. Tens of thousands of activists travelled from all over to stand in solidarity with the water protectors (activists) protesting the construction of the 3.7 billion dollar Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which is purposed to transport fracked oil from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields through sovereign land, under the Missouri River, the water source for the Standing Rock reservation and 17 million people downstream.

The world watched in horror as militarized local police and private security teams confronted the water protectors and journalists with military grade sound cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, water hoses, and violent arrests and weaponized dogs. President Trump has approved DAPL, but the fight continues on. Standing Rock awakened the nation and has forever changed the way we fight for clean water, the environment and the future of our planet.

“The battle that began at Standing Rock is a battle for the soul of America itself, and it is far from over. This film is part of the rallying cry for indigenous sovereignty and clean water that has resonated across the globe. It has been a great honor and privilege to work with people from Standing Rock, like Floris White Bull and Douglas Good Feather, who have guided this project every step of the way,” says Fox the project creator.

Executive produced by Emmy Award winning filmmaker Amy Zeirling (The Invisible War, The Hunting Grounds), Golden Globe nominated actress/activist Shailene Woodley (Divergent, A Fault in Our Stars) and Lauren Taschen, the film’s score features music from indigenous musician/activists Nahko, (Nahko and the Medicine People) and Prolific the Rapper. Floris White Bull and Doug Good Feather serve as advisors, White Bull is also one of the film’s writers.