Powwow People leans into authenticity, offering a kaleidoscope of colorful regalia and mesmerizing music to capture a moment of life, but gets lost in the balance between glitz and authenticity.
Powwow People, playing at BlackStar Film Festival, presents an unvarnished look at a powwow and the various Indigenous cultures that come together to experience and participate in the events. Through different voiceovers, it unfolds throughout the day, highlighting the impacts and experiences of different Indigenous people. It paints a picture of community, tradition, and a wind of change. It’s a snapshot of living life—with the dull moments that come with it—and basks in that category. Powwow People leans into authenticity, offering a kaleidoscope of colorful regalia and mesmerizing music to capture a moment of life, but gets lost in the balance between glitz and authenticity.
Sky Hopinka directs the documentary, which opens with music and narration. Different people narrate while the various dancing, singing, and drumming competitions take place on screen. As Ruben Littlehead acts as MC for the event, other people, Gina Bluebird, Jacque Clark, Freddie Cozad, Shaandiin Tome, and Jamie John either appear onscreen or narrate their experiences. The film is a look at a specific part of Indigenous life, the life of people who travel to attend powwow events. While the film struggles with pacing, there’s a beauty to its unvarnished look at the exciting and uneventful moments that make up the entire experience.
Powwow People Feels Like a Day in the Life
Throughout the film, various narrators talk about their experiences attending powwows. Many connect it back to the families, as something passed on. For some, it’s a tradition stretching back before their time. For others, it’s a way to immerse themselves in who they are and feel acceptance. As the documentary navigates through different people’s lives in powwow culture, there is a familiarity of familial inheritance. Plus, there’s a beautiful look at trans acceptance within the powwow culture as a trans person competes in events. Powwow People pools all these voices, with different stories within the shared culture, and creates a world that feels akin to a slice-of-life.
Authenticity Mixes With Drag and Confusion
Sky Hopinka holds the camera in a way that captures the magical moments without steeping them in exoticism. The magic feels grounded in the richness and beauty of culture. Unfortunately, few edits cut away from the humdrum moments. So, there is an occasional dullness that hampers the documentary. There is a fine balance between a peek behind the curtain to build connection and engagement and an unedited look with tedious moments that the movie and director Sky Hopinka struggle to achieve. Those prolonged moments also lead to another issue: confusion between who is narrating and who is onscreen.
While some documentaries do not keep the narrator onscreen as they narrate, they do show glimpses of them. It helps to recenter audiences, achieving a “you are here.” Unfortunately, Powwow People struggles with it. So, it becomes a challenge to pinpoint if the person narrating is even on screen. Then, viewers can waste time trying to make sense of it and lose sight of the larger picture. With that, the movie has a disconnect that occasionally hinders it.
Powwow People is wondrous at times in its candidness, but can create a debilitating monotony that the movie struggles to escape. For those who fight through, there is a beauty. It shows the quiet moments when an MC struggles to engage the crowd. Plus, moments of familiarity and connection among the powwow people feel richer and more expressive. Ultimately, for audiences, there will be a mishmash of vibrancy and lengthy quiet. Powwow People struggles to balance the peaks and valleys of the powwow event and culture it seeks to capture, but mesmerizes all the same.
