Chickasaw film chosen for California film festival
“First Encounter” was judged Best Short Documentary at the Trail Dance Film Festival in January; aired in March by the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), and was featured in June at Oklahoma City’s Dead CENTER Film Festival.
The approximately 30-minute documentary was produced and filmed entirely by the Chickasaw Nation. It is the first fi lm released as a Chickasaw Heritage Series project. Other films are planned for the future to complement “First Encounter.”
It chronicles the Chickasaw Nation’s initial contact with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in the winter of 1540 and the battle that crippled the conquistador’s mission in spring 1541. The American Indian Film Institute (AIFI) chose the documentary for its 40th annual fi lm festival November 6-14.
