#rainbow dickerson

[natlacentral]

ianousley be careful with this post. it has jumpscares.

[imasradiantasthesun]

Women (and Girls) of Twelve – part 4

Alys Everdeen, Prim Everdeen, Hazelle Hawthorne, and Effie Trinket

[artfilmfan]

Beans (Tracey Deer, 2020)

cinematography: Marie Davignon

[avatar-news]

Joel Montgrand has been cast as Hakoda (Sokka and Katara's dad) in the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series!

He is an Indigenous Cree actor best known for Altered Carbon and Beans (2020).

Season 1 has already wrapped, so he has already finished filming his role for Season 1, which will most likely be flashbacks.

Above, you can also see our completed Southern Water Tribe family: Kiawentiio (Indigenous Mohawk; Katara), Ian Ousley (Indigenous Cherokee; Sokka), Joel Montgrand (Indigenous Cree; Hakoda), and Rainbow Dickerson (Indigenous Rappahannock; Kya). 💙

Believe it or not, in the film Beans (2020), Joel, Rainbow, and Kiawentiio already played father, mother, and daughter. How cool is that?!

[randomrichards]

BEANS:

Native girl witness

Racism over protest

Involved with wrong crowd

[caroleditosti]

'Manahatta,' Another View of The Lenape at the Public

'Manahatta' is an intriguing and striking play that is a must-see.

(L to R): Rainbow Dickerson, Sheila Tousey, Jeffrey King, David Kelly and Joe Tapper in the New York premiere of Manahatta (Joan Marcus) In Manahatta, written by Mary Kathryn Nagle and directed by Laurie Woolery, the myth of how Manhattan was purchased from the Lenape, and how the exploitation of Indigenous Peoples continues today, conjoins in a powerful message. Nagle’s play, currently at the…

[tepkunset]

Netflix's ATLA adaptation has:

Kiawentiio Tarbell as Katara

Amber Midthunder as Yue

Joel Oulette as Hahn

Casey Camp-Horinek as Gran Gran

Rainbow Dickerson as Kya

A Martinez as Pakku

Irene Bedard as Yagoda

Nathaniel Arcand as Chief Arnook

But somehow, miraculously, we're supposed to believe they just couldn't find an Indigenous actor to play Sokka.

Bull fucking shit.

[acervoculturaldorefugio]

Filme ´´A Pequena Guerreira´´

Ano de lançamento: 2020

Diretor: Tracey Deer

Elenco:  Kiawentiio Tarbell, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Rainbow Dickerson

A garota Beans está no limite: dividida entre a infância inocente e a adolescência imprudente é forçada a crescer rápido e se tornar a dura guerreira mohawk que ela precisa ser durante a Crise Oka, a turbulenta revolta indígena que separou Quebec e Canadá por 78 dias tensos no verão de 1990.

[natlacentral]

How Kiawentiio went from a ‘little arty kid’ to the star of Avatar: The Last Airbender

You know that classic actor’s arc, painstakingly building from bit parts to bigger roles, withstanding rejection and despair? Yeah, that’s not Kiawentiio’s story. The Mohawk Canadian actor was cast in the first thing she auditioned for, the hit CBC/Netflix series Anne with an E. Her next role was the title character in Tracey Deer’s wrenching, semi-autobiographical film Beans, followed by a gig on Rutherford Falls. And now she’s the second lead in a gigantic Netflix series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, a live-action reimagining of the beloved animated series (2005-08), shot mostly in British Columbia, arriving Feb. 22. And she’s only 17.

We meet via video call, and even on that flattening medium, Kiawentiio sparkles. (Professionally, she goes by that mononym, pronounced Guy-a-wen-di-jou.) She’s poised and friendly, without any child-actor posing. Now and again she glances over her shoulder into a corner I can’t see; turns out her mother is there for backup.

Her Anne with an E audition was a lark – or as Kiawentiio puts it, “It came out of nowhere and happened randomly.” Growing up on the Akwesasne reserve on Kawehno:ke (also known as Cornwall Island), which straddles the Ontario/New York State border, she was “the little arty kid in the corner, who stayed inside at recess to paint and draw,” and dreamed of going to art school. Her dad chanced upon an open casting call on Facebook, and they thought, might as well try it. She was the last audition of the day.

Landing Avatar: The Last Airbender, by contrast, required more of a campaign. As a kid, Kiawentiio loved the animated series – its environmental and spiritual themes, its thoughtful depictions of Asian and Indigenous cultures, the battle scenes of Benders wielding the four elements, “the character arcs, the sheer craftsmanship. It would fill me.”

So when she heard rumours a few years ago about a live-action reboot, she had a feeling she’d be right for Katara, 14, a novice Waterbender, the last in her Southern Water Tribe, traumatized by the world war being waged by the Fire Nation, yet undaunted and hopeful. Teaming up with Aang, the title character (played in the series by Gordon Cormier), she begins to realize her potential. Kiawentiio asked her agents to keep an eye out, “just in case the universe is listening.”

The audition, when it came, was veiled in secrecy – fake project and character names, disguised scenes, all via Zoom. After a month-long series of “adrenalin-pumping” chemistry reads with other actors, showrunner Albert Kim delivered the news: Yes, it was Airbender; yes, they’d been searching the world for their Katara; and yes, it was her. She and her family burst into tears.

With her co-stars, Kiawentiio spent six weeks at “bending boot camp,” where each learned the martial art their movements are based on: wushu for Firebending, tai chi for Waterbending, Hung Ga for Earthbending and Bagua for Airbending. They shot on a cutting-edge mix of green screens, practical sets – Kyoshi Village was built in a working quarry in Coquitlam, B.C.; Jet’s hideout was filmed at WildPlay, a ziplining park in Maple Ridge, B.C. – and volume stages, including the world’s largest LED video wall studio, a near-circle lined with 2,500 LED wall panels and 760 LED ceiling panels, at Canadian Motion Picture Park in Burnaby, B.C.

“That stage was warm,” Kiawentiio says, laughing. “Wearing Katara’s big blue parka, pretending to be in the Arctic while being in a microwave.” Watching the animated series come to life was “surreal,” she continues. “When you see Appa in front of you” – a flying beast that combines bison, hippo and manatee – “or even small things like my necklace – I remember being almost in tears.”

Canada’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience) plays Iroh, brother to Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim); the actors playing Katara’s parents, Rainbow Dickerson and Joel Montgrand, also played Kiawentiio’s parents in Beans. But she didn’t get to hang out much – “I was in high school at the time, just trying to get through 11th grade,” she says. “Fun fact, I’ve never been to a first day of high school with my classmates. Every year I was doing something, travelling somewhere.” Now graduated, with a five-year option for possible future seasons, “I’m saving my next few years for the show and whatever else may come from it. But I plan on going to school in the future.”

Each of the four Airbender nations has real-world roots, including Omashu, Himalayan, Indonesian and Indigenous Arctic cultures; cultural consultants advised on folklore, history and mythology, as well as costumes, calligraphy and artifacts; and the series’ four directors are of Asian descent. That mattered, Kiawentiio says: “It’s 100-per-cent important to me that I represent where I come from, my people and my language. That comes with me to every character I portray.”

Her opportunity to embody authentic Indigenous characters has never been higher, as a spate of recent series attest: Reservation Dogs, Little Bird, Echo, True Detective: Night Country, the Yellowstone franchise. Lily Gladstone could well become the first Indigenous woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, for Killers of the Flower Moon. And Deer, Kiawentiio’s Beans director was an excellent role model: “Being able to see her be the leader, be so strong, opened my eyes to other things I can explore – directing, producing.”

But she doesn’t want portraying Indigenous characters to become its own kind of limit. “Those roles will always be at my root; they are what I can see myself in and relate to. That doesn’t have to be the end of what we’re capable of, though. We don’t have to just play the Indian friend, the Native guy. We can be just that doctor or teacher or lawyer, those regular roles. The days of just getting a role, and not The Native role, are still ahead of us.”

Now that Kiawentiio’s accidental career is skyrocketing, “it’s funny how weirdly normal it gets,” she says. “I understand how people can lose their groundedness. You’re in the air so much, how do you stay grounded? It’s helpful to keep my real life separate, with my family and friends, and have my work self be almost a persona.”

She’s always had a readable face, she realizes. “I can’t hide anything; it’s all in my eyes. But to be able to be in control of that to portray someone else is so interesting. My dad told me he’s never seen me light up the way I do when I’m on a set. That’s when I knew I should stick with it.”

[bioeco]

Beans, dir. Tracey Deer, 2020

Beans follows the story of Tekehentahkhwa, a young Mohawk girl coming of age through the traumatic events of the 1990 Oka Crisis at Kanesatake, when the Canadian government approved the construction of a golf course and condominiums and destruction of pine forest and a Mohawk burial ground, resulting in a 77-day protest blockade that was ultimately successful in cancelling the construction. 

[avatar-news]

Rainbow Dickerson has been cast as Kya (Sokka and Katara’s mom) in the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series!

She will portray the character in flashbacks in two episodes of the eight-episode Season 1: episode 3 and episode 5.

After her casting was revealed without a character last week, she showed up on IMDb as Kya yesterday, and I can confirm it’s true!

This is really cool because Rainbow is best known for the film Beans (2020) where she portrayed Kiawentiio (Katara)’s mom. In ATLA, she renews this relationship across the multiverse, playing Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley (Sokka)’s mother. How amazing is that?

➡️ Rainbow Dickerson (Kya) and Kiawentiio (Katara) in Beans (2020); Ian Ousley (Sokka) and Kiawentiio (Katara) on the set of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1

Rainbow Dickerson is of Thai and Indigenous Rappahannock background. Season 1 has already wrapped, so she has already completed filming her scenes for Season 1.

[awesomefridayca]

Awesome Friday Podcast Relaunch Episode 3: 'Beans' and 'Jungle Cruise'

Awesome Friday Podcast Relaunch Episode 3: '#BeansTheFilm' and '#JungleCruise' @Disney @BeansTheFilm

Greetings programs! We’re back with another episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast! This week we’re once again talking about two movies: ‘Beans’, a Canadian coming of age story set against the 1990 Oka Crisis, currently in theatres, and ‘Jungle Cruise’, the latest Disney family adventure which is both in theatres and on Disney+ with premier access. You can read prior coverage of both movies…

[rickchung]

Beans (dir. Tracey Deer) x VIFF 2020.

Told through the lens of a twelve-year-old Mohawk girl, Deer artfully dramatizes the horrific 72-day Oka Crisis standoff (circa Quebec 1990) as a coming-of-age journey amidst a First Nations community under siege against the Canadian government over a land dispute involving the redevelopment of sacred traditional burial grounds into an expanded gold course.

Employing an initial childlike naivety to its narrative from the eponymous main character, the film’s raw and unnerving portrayal of real events relays a painfully embarrassing chapter in our nation’s history starkly and soberly. At its core, it’s a story of personal awakening and perspectives in discovering one’s identity and place in society by way of social unrest.

Screening virtually at the 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival online as part of the True North stream until October 7 (BC only).

[tepkunset]

Rating the three films I watched on my sleep deprived flight

Beans - 10/10

I was dying to see this film and so excited to find it on the flight entertainment screen menu. Of the three ones I watched, this was absolutely my favourite, unsurprisingly.

For those of you who don’t know, Beans is about a young girl growing up in Kahnawake during the Oka Crisis aka Kanesatake Resistance. In this way, it transcends the typical white girl “coming of age” story in a way rarely put to film.

I could really relate to the character of Tekehentahkhwa AKA Beans, and that absolutely contributed to me crying three times over the course of the film.

I cannot praise the acting skills of Kiawentiio as Beans and Rainbow Dickerson as her mother enough. There is one scene in particular, where the elderly, women and children are trying to evacuate the Reserve and are assaulted the entire drive with rocks destroying their vehicle, that absolutely wrecked me.

The way in which real life video and audio showcased the passage of time was really well used. It also cemented the fact that this film is a true story.

I highly, highly recommend this film, especially to Canadians. But I do warn you that it contains sensitive content, including violent racism, self harm, and sexual assault.

Spider-Man: No Way Home - 6/10

I haven’t seen the second MCU Spider-Man film lmfao so I’m glad this one begins with the ending of that one. I am also happy to inform you that I had no trouble following the plot, so you do not have to watch the second MCU Spider-Man film either to enjoy it.

Let’s get the biggest highlight out of the way first: Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as alternate universe Peter Parkers was awesome. I grew up with Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, and before leaving for my vacation decided to re-watch those films in what was pure nostalgic enjoyment. Seeing him appear through the portal in particular nearly brought a tear to my eye. I thought he and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man worked really well together as big brother figures to Tom Holland Spider-Man.

But I also was straight up insulted the way this film acts so superior to the older Spider-Man series. Fuck you bitch, you are easily the weakest Spider-man set of films. The fact that the only way to save this series is by doing a hard universe reset on it at the end of the movie to fix so much of its bullshit goes to prove that. Finally we can escape the constant Iron Man influence.

I also can’t stand Bandicoot Cucumberpatch Doctor Strange, who is sadly in this film too. Happy is also very annoying and needlessly shoved in here because we can’t have an MCU Spider-Man film without Iron Man influence. (Yet again this Spider-Man is unable to just stand on his own, because the writing for him is so weak.)

There’s so much crap weighing this film down that could have been cut. For example, everything with Flash Thompson is just time-wasting cringe. Everything with Happy is just time-wasting cringe. 90% of what is with Ganke—sorry, Ned, is just time-wasting cringe.

It’s also worth pointing out that I highly doubt this film would even exist if it wasn’t for the well-deserved success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And because of that, there’s no way to escape comparing the two. And the fact is, there just isn’t a comparison. Into the Spider-Verse is vastly superior and accomplishes all the good beats without any of the bad ones weighing it down.

Okay, back to some positives, though. I also really liked the way they brought back the villains from the previous Spider-Man series and what they did with them. The biggest highlights were unsurprisingly Doc Ock and Green Goblin.

Tom Holland Spider-Man and MJ have some believable chemistry.

The ending fight, despite having so many characters involved, was actually pretty easy to follow, so props for that.

This film is definitely the best MCU Spider-Man film to date.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 8/10

The Venom films are definitely not for everyone, and I totally get that. However, this film is fucking nuts and I had a blast with how unrestrained it is. I’m not even really sure how to talk about it though. It’s just... it’s an experience. Especially when your sleep deprived brain is running purely on red bull.

I’m not sure what Woody Harrelson was going for with Cletus, but it was very entertaining. The best comparison I have is Jack Nicholson’s Joker tbh asdkfjajdgj no I’m serious.

All the comments that this film is a rom-com more than a super-hero story are absolutely accurate. Yes, the rom part of the rom-com is between Venom and Eddie. The movie ends with Venom saying he loves Eddie while they sit on a beach together watching the sunset. Like, that happens.

There is a very sexy villain in this film called Frances. I liked her a lot.

No one prepared me for the scene in which Venom goes to a night club, gets hit on by a woman, rejects her and then literally says, I quote, “I am out of the closet”.

[filmpenance]

Day 27, 2022 - Beans

Beans (2020) Tracey Deer, 1h 32min [QC Thurs]

“My name is Tekehentahkhwa” - Beans

Tracey Deer’s Beans is a coming-of-age story of a Mohawk girl set in 1990 during the Oka Crisis.

Tekehentahkhwa (Kiawentiio) is 12 years old and she loves art and her younger Ruby, and really admires her mom. That’s why she’s interviewing to go to a private school, because she knows it will make her mom happy. She also kinda wants to go because of the art supplies she saw there, but it’s mostly because of her mom. Mostly.

After repeatedly saying her name to the white lady across the desk, Tekehentahkhwa reassuringly tells her it’s okay to call her “Beans” because everyone else does.

Bean’s aunt Hawi is part of a group protesting the expansion of a golf course in Oka that would destroy a sacred Mohawk site. Beans and family decide to visit Hawi to lift spirits and bring supplies. While on that visit, the local police force instigates a riot that leads to a months long blockade after the army arrives.

The people who were once protesting are now trapped alongside families without access to outside food or supplies. The community quickly pulls together to wait it out and survive this volatile situation. Beans and Ruby have to find a way to fit in, as they’re city kids. Most of the other kids there with them are teens. The worldly April takes a reluctant shine Beans and vows to toughen Beans up for the real world through physical injury and improved fashion.

We watch Beans as she grows, learning that the world is not as sympathetic as she thought; where people don’t act the way they’re supposed to act. People who never met you will hate you. People who are supposed to protect you will be indifferent or try and hurt you[i].

It’s a struggle to figure out what the right thing is to do; what is the right kind of Mohawk to be?

The film is beautifully shot, with lots of lovely wide angles to bring the audience into this world – a home thrown into crisis. Light streaming through trees and bright green grass as the girls play. Then fires flickering in the silence of the night that conveys the anxiety of the people on the front line as they await the inevitable racist violence from the locals and the police[ii].  

Kiawentiio who plays Beans captures both the character’s intelligence and naivety as the later changes from experience. Rainbow Dickerson is wonderful as Bean’s mom Lily, a practical yet loving woman.

An affecting and moving film. Recommended.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/MIlC3zT1gw4

NOTES:

[i] Content Warning: There is sexual assault and the revelation of assault in the film

[ii] Tracey Deer based much of the film on her own experience as a child during the Oka Crisis : https://variety.com/2020/film/spotlight/tracey-deer-beans-toronto-1234767591/

I also would direct you to Alanis Obomsawin’s documentaries Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) and Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000)