Last month, on April 7th, director Rita Davern and Ramona Kitto Stately, Dakota Educator held a LIVE virtual Q&A with 300 NYC middle and high school students. They watched Stories I Didn’t Know through a program called Movies That Matter put on by the Jewish Museum of NYC. The program invites middle and high school students to view award-winning documentaries that examine current social issues such as representation and identity, immigration, and civil rights followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers and Stories I Didn’t Know was one of those documentaries!
restorative justice
CreatEVE Event: Film Screening and Discussion, ‘Stories I Didn’t Know’ /
In recognition of National Women’s History Month in March, The Grand Center for Arts & Culture (New Ulm, MN) in cooperation with the New Ulm Film Society, will be screening our documentary, ‘Stories I Didn’t Know’ on Thursday, March 31 at 7pm.
Both director and producer Rita Davern and Dakota Educator Ramona Kitto Stately will be at the film screening and will hold a Q&A session following the film! This event is FREE and all are welcome.
Check out the article about us in The Journal.
Bringing Stories I Didn't Know to Louisiana /
At the beginning of March we were invited to screen Stories I Didn’t Know to the Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) - Department of New Media, Journalism, & Communications Arts students. Director Rita Davern, co-director Melody Gilbert, Dakota Educator, Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately were present for the Q&A. The screening was possible thanks to the Department of New Media Journalism and Communication Arts at NSULA in collaboration with The History We Stand On series organized by the Ethnic Studies and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Read more about the screening below:
Photo by Emily Zering (Purple Media Network)
FREE EVENT: Stories I Didn't Know at Lakeshore Players Theater /
Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at the Hanifl Performing Arts Center in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Oct. 11 at 7PM
The event is FREE and kindly sponsored by the Lakeshore Players Theatre company in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
Director Rita Davern, Dakota educator, activist and artist Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota and Ojibwe recording artist Reuben Kitto Stately, who both feature in film, will be there for a post-screening discussion.
We are looking forward to seeing you in person!
To book a FREE seat click on the button bellow:
NOTE: Masks and proof of vaccination or a negative Covid Test are required for indoor events at Lakeshore Players Theater.
Screening in Bulgaria at Sofia DocuMental /
We are going to Bulgaria! Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at Sofia DocuMental Film Festival on September 8, 4pm at the Czech Center in Sofia. Our film is part of a small retrospective of our co-director and producer Melody Gilbert who is teaching a workshop at the festival and showing her latest films.
She will be there in person to answer questions and meet the Bulgarian audience!
Recommended Articles Vol. 4 /
You probably know by now that we are big fans of such news!
“Native American Tribe in Maine Gets Back Sacred Island Taken 160 Years Ago"
“The Passamaquoddy Tribe reacquired 140 acres of their ancestral territory, thanks to help from The Nature Conservancy which granted them funds to purchase Pine Island, known to them as Kuwesuwi Monihq.”
““The Tribe felt this land loss was an injustice,” explains Indian Township’s Chief William Nicholas. Today with the island’s return, he continues, “There is no doubt that the Ancestors are jumping all over the place over there.””
Host a STORIES I DIDN'T KNOW community screening! /
We are thrilled to announce that now you can bring our documentary to your community! You can host a screening of Stories I Didn’t Know at your campus, theater, organization, or community venue. Also, you can book the co-directors Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert at your event.
We can wait to connect with you and your communties!
Recommended Article Vol.3 /
Great news for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community - Band of Mohican Indians! The Open Space Institute, a land conservation group in New York is returning to the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe the Papscanee island in New York, near Albany, a place of great historical value for the Mohican people.
“It’s a site that we have fought to protect before, now that it’s back in our ownership it’s very significant,” Stockbridge-Munsee community Director of Historical affairs Heather Bruegl said.
Read the whole article ( by Brennen Scarborough for 7 WSAU-TV) down below:
Webinar: "Reckoning with Two Paths: Histories and Futures in Mni Sota Makoce" - Center for Community and Civic Engagement at Carleton College /
On Monday May 3rd, Stories I Didn’t Know co-directors, Rita Davern & Melody Gilbert, Dakota educator Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately, who both feature in the film, were on a panel called “Reckoning with Two Paths: Histories and Futures in Mni Sota Makoce” alongside Minnesota filmmaker Keri Pickett (First Daughter and the Black Snake) at Carleton College. The Carleton Community had the chance to stream both films for free before the discussion.
“The ‘Prophecy of the 7th Fire’ says a ‘black snake’ will bring destruction to the earth. We will have a choice of two paths. One is scorched, and one is green.” So begins the story of environmentalist and Ojibwe White Earth Community leader Winona LaDuke’s fight against the Embridge Pipeline 3 Project in northern Minnesota chronicled by director Keri Pickett in the documentary First Daughter and the Black Snake. In LaDuke’s activism we see not only see how to stop and choose a different path but also to reclaim from the snake what has been lost to the fire. The peoples of Minnesota have followed the two paths with their contesting visions of life, land, and livelihood for generations. In a personal narrative, Stories I Didn’t Know, directed by Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert, Rita faces the consequences of her ancestors’ choices in settling on land taken from Dakota communities who had lived for generations on lands at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. As she researches methods of legal restitution, Rita meets activist and Bdote Educator Ramona Kitto Stately and musician Reuben Kitto Stately, from whom we learn the effects of the westward expansion through on the land on which we stand. ”
This event was sponsored by Center for Community and Civic Engagement, The Dean of Students, The Dean of the College, The Department of Political Science, The Department of History, American Studies, Environment Technology and Science, The Public Policy Program
Amplifying Indigenous Voices Panel at #AVFF2021 /
On Monday, April 26, 2021 co-director Rita Davern, Dakota educator Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately participated in a panel organised by Alexander Valley Film Society alongside filmmaker Shane Anderson ( Guardians of the River) and Sammy Gensaw, Yurok Native and Director of Ancestral Guard (Guardians of the River), filmmaker Daniel Byers (Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle) and José De Jesús Vargas González, Co-Director Panama Programs - The Peregrine Fund (Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle).
The AMPLIFYING INDIGENOUS VOICES panelist had a thoughtful conversation around how to create more seats at the table for indigenous folx to tell their own stories and what can they as creators and allies do when funding and access to resources can be an issue.
Watch the full conversation down below.
Credit: Alexander Valley Film Society
Official Selection: Alexander Valley Film Festival /
We are happy to announce that Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at the 2021 Alexander Valley Film Festival between April 23 and May 2. The festival will take place online and if you wish to learn more about it, buy a ticket or a pass for the festival click HERE.
Note: Ticket and pass holders will have access to the panel discussion: “Amplifying Indigenous Stories” on Monday, April 26th at 6PM featuring the filmmakers and subjects of all three films.
Stories I Didn't Know:Filmmaker Discussion /
Sunday, March 28 Stories I Didn’t Know co-directors Rita Davern & Melody Gilbert, Ramona Kitto Stately, Dakota educator & Reuben Kitto Stately, Dakota artist who are both featured in the documentary, participated in a discussion about the film and the many benefits of story sharing.
Thank you to everyone who attended the event and shared their thoughts about our film, participated in group discussion and sent lovely messages afterwards. We hope the film and the event has made you learn more about yourself and maybe even encouraged you to further explore or better understand a story in your family’s history.
If you attended the event and haven't yet filled in the feedback form, you can do so here: https://bit.ly/3fDDGKZ
A big thank you to Minnesota Humanities Center, TPT - Twin Cities PBS & Moving Lives Minnesota for organizing and moderating the event !
TWIN CITIES PBS -TPT BROADCAST /
We can finally share with you a secret we’ve been keeping for awhile! STORIES I DIDN’T KNOW will air on TWIN CITIES PBS - TPT on
Monday, March 22 at 9 pm on TPT 2
Sunday, March 28 at 4 pm on TPT 2
On March 28 right after the film (5pm CST) co-directors Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert, together with Dakota educator Ramona Kitto Stately will discuss the film and the ways one can create empathy and understanding through story sharing.
To RSVP for the discussion event on March 28, click the button bellow:
More news about other broadcasts around PBS stations around the country very soon. Stay tuned!
February News: Minnesota returns 114 acres to Lower Sioux Indian Community /
We are unbelievably happy to share this news with you: the Lower Sioux Indian Community got its ancestral land back from Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society.
“In an emotional ceremony this month, the Minnesota Historical Society officially returned 114 acres along the Minnesota River bluffs to the Lower Sioux Indian Community.
The land transfer, approved by the Legislature in 2017, became official Feb. 12, returning about half of the southern Minnesota property around the nonprofit’s historic site to the tribe.”
“This is a victory for the Lower Sioux Community ... it’s more than symbolic, it’s actionable,” said Kate Beane, director of Native American Initiatives at the Historical Society and a member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux in South Dakota. “What this specific incidence highlights is that there are actionable things that some agencies and organizations can do to help support the healing.”
Official Selection: Beloit International Film Festival /
After screening at BIFF Year ‘Round film series in November 2020, we have been invited to be part of the Beloit International Film Festival (February 19 - February 28, 2021) official program that kicks off on Friday, February 19.
We are very happy to be an official documentary program selection at BIFF and we can’t wait to share the film with everyone!
Film tickets go on sale Friday, February 19
