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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (film)

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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Genre
Based onBury My Heart at Wounded Knee
by Dee Brown
Written byDaniel Giat
Directed byYves Simoneau
Starring
Music byGeorge S. Clinton
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
ProducerClara George
Production locationsCalgary, Alberta, Canada
CinematographyDavid Franco
Editors
  • Michael Brown
  • Michael D. Ornstein
Running time132 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseMay 27, 2007 (2007-05-27)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a 2007 American Western historical drama television film based on the 1970 non-fiction book of the same name by Dee Brown. It is directed by Yves Simoneau and was produced by Wolf Films for HBO. It stars Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Anna Paquin, Colm Feore, and Gordon Tootoosis.

The film dramatizes the history of Native Americans in the American West in the 1860s and 1870s, focusing upon the transition from traditional ways of living to living on reservations and their treatment during that period, through the lives of four main characters: Charles Eastman (Beach), Sitting Bull (Schellenberg), Henry L. Dawes (Quinn), and Red Cloud (Tootoosis). The title of the film and the book is taken from a line in the Stephen Vincent Benét poem "American Names."

The film premiered on HBO on May 27, 2007. It received positive reviews from critics, and won seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. It was also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards: Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film, Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for Beach, and Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for Paquin.

Plot

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The plot, which is based on events covered by several chapters of Brown's book, other sources, and on real events, revolves around four main characters:

  • Charles Eastman né Ohiyesa, a young, mixed-race Sioux doctor educated at Dartmouth and Boston University, who is held up as proof of the success of assimilation
  • Sitting Bull, the Sioux chief who refuses to submit to U.S. government policies designed to strip his people of their identity, their dignity and their sacred land, the gold-laden Black Hills of the Dakotas
  • U.S. Senator Henry L. Dawes, an architect of government policy for allotment of Indian lands to individual households to force adoption of subsistence farming
  • Red Cloud, whose decision to make peace with the American government and go to a reservation disturbed Sitting Bull.

While Eastman and his future wife Elaine Goodale, a reformer from New England and Superintendent of Indian Schools in the Dakotas, work to improve life for Native Americans on the reservation, Senator Dawes lobbies President Ulysses S. Grant for more humane treatment of the Native Americans. He opposes the adversarial stance of General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Dawes Commission (held from 1893 to 1914)[1] develops a proposal to break up the Great Sioux Reservation to allow for American demands for land while preserving enough land for the Sioux to live on. The Commission's plan is held up by Sitting Bull's opposition. He has risen to leadership among the Sioux as one of the last chiefs to fight for their independence. Dawes, in turn, urges Eastman to help him convince the recalcitrant tribal leaders. After witnessing conditions on the Sioux reservation, Eastman refuses.

The prophet Wovoka raised Western Native American hopes with his spiritual movement based on a revival of religious practice and the ritual Ghost Dance; it was a messianic movement that promised an end of their suffering under the white man. The assassination of Sitting Bull, and the massacre, by the 7th Cavalry, of nearly 200 Native American men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, ended such hopes.

Henry L. Dawes wanted to increase the cultural assimilation of Native Americans into American society by his Dawes Act (1887) and his later efforts as head of the Dawes Commission. During the 47 years of implementing the Act, Native Americans lost about 90 million acres (360,000 km2) of treaty land, or about two-thirds of their 1887 land base. About 90,000 Native Americans were made landless. The implementation of the Dawes Act disrupted Native American tribes' traditional communal life, culture, and unity.[2][3]

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Awards and nominations

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Award Year Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Artios Awards
2007
 Outstanding Achievement in Casting – TV Movie of the Week René Haynes Won [4]
Hollywood Post Alliance Awards Outstanding Color Grading – Television Kevin O’Connor Nominated [5]
Outstanding Editing – Television Michael Ornstein Won
Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Motion Picture Won [6]
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Aidan Quinn Nominated
August Schellenberg Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Anna Paquin Won
Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries Yves Simoneau Won
Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries Daniel Giat Nominated
Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Won
Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Won
Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Nominated
Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Won
Best Makeup/Hairstyling in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Nominated
Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Won
Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Won
Best Sound in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Made for Television Movie Dick Wolf, Tom Thayer, Yves Simoneau, and
Clara George 		Won [7]
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Aidan Quinn Nominated
August Schellenberg Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Anna Paquin Nominated
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special Yves Simoneau Nominated
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special Daniel Giat Nominated
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie Ian Thomas, D.A. Menchions, and Paul Healy Nominated
Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special René Haynes, Rhonda Fisekci, and
Candice Elzinga 		Nominated
Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special David Franco Won
Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Mario Davignon, Micheline Rouillard, and
Jill Blackie 		Nominated
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Iloe Flewelling, Chris Harrison, Heather Smith,
and Penny Thompson 		Nominated
Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Non-Prosthetic) Gail Kennedy, Rochelle Pomerleau, and
Joanne Preece 		Won
Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
(Original Dramatic Score) 		George S. Clinton Nominated
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie Michael Ornstein and Michael Brown Won
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Stephen Hunter Flick, Avram Gold,
Steffan Falesitch, Eric Hertsgaard,
Patricio Libenson, Denise Horta,
Adam Johnston, Paul Berolzheimer,
Dean Beville, Jeff Sawyer, Ken Young,
Mike Flicker, David Lee Fein, and Hilda Hodges 		Won
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie George Tarrant, Rick Ash, and
Edward C. Carr III 		Won
Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special David Goldberg, Chris Del Conte, Joseph Bell,
Justin Mitchell, Erik Bruhwiler, Tommy Tran,
Benoit Girard, Tammy Sutton, and
Andrew Roberts 		Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Motion Picture Made for Television Nominated [8]
Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Aidan Quinn Nominated
American Cinema Editors Awards
2008
 Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television Michael Ornstein and Michael Brown Nominated [9]
American Society of Cinematographers Awards Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Television Movie/Miniseries/Pilot David Franco Nominated [10]
Cinema Audio Society Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Miniseries George Tarrant, Rick Ash, and
Edward C. Carr III 		Won [11]
Costume Designers Guild Awards Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries Mario Davignon Won [12]
Critics' Choice Awards Best Picture Made for Television Won [13]
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television or Miniseries Yves Simoneau Won [14]
Golden Globe Awards Best Miniseries or Television Film Nominated [15]
Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Adam Beach Nominated
Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Anna Paquin Nominated
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR for Long Form Television Stephen Hunter Flick, Avram D. Gold,
Steffan Falesitch, Eric Hertsguaard, and
Patricio A. Libenson 		Won [16]
Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley for Long Form Television Stephen Hunter Flick, Avram D. Gold,
Paul Berolzheimer, Dean Beville,
Adam Johnston, Jeff Sawyer, Kenneth Young,
David Fine, and Hilda Hodges 		Won
Humanitas Prize 90 Minute or Longer Network or Syndicated Television Daniel Giat Won [17]
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated [18]
Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Adam Beach Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television Clara George, Tom Thayer, and Dick Wolf Won [19]
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Anna Paquin Nominated [20]
Visual Effects Society Awards Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program,
Commercial or Music Video 		Phi Tran, Matthew Lee, Martin Hilke, and
Justin Mitchell (for "002_05") 		Won [21]
Western Heritage Awards Television Feature Film Won [22]
Writers Guild of America Awards Long Form – Adaptation Daniel Giat – Based on the book by Dee Brown Nominated [23]
Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special – Leading Young Actor Chevez Ezaneh Won [24]

References

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  1. ^ [1] Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine|Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes (The Dawes Commission), 1893-1914
  2. ^ Case DS, Voluck DA (2002). Alaska Natives and American Laws (2nd ed.). Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press. pp. 104–5. ISBN 978-1-889963-08-2.
  3. ^ Gibson, Arrell M. Gibson. "Indian Land Transfers." Handbook of North American Indians: History of Indian-White Relations, Volume 4. Wilcomb E. Washburn & William C. Sturtevant, eds. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1988. pp. 226–29
  4. ^ "2007 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  5. ^ "2007 HPA Awards". Hollywood Professional Association. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  6. ^ "11th Annual TV Awards (2006-07)". Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  8. ^ "2007 Satellite Awards". International Press Academy. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "ACE Eddies announce nominations". Variety. January 11, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2008.
  10. ^ "Past Nominees & Winners". American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  11. ^ "The Winners and Nominees for the Cinema Audio Society Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for 2007". Cinema Audio Society Awards. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  12. ^ "10th Costume Designers Guild Awards". Costume Designers Guild. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  13. ^ "Critics' Choice Awards nominations". Penske Media Corporation. December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  14. ^ "60th Annual DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "2008 Golden Reel Award Nominees: Feature Films". Jason Ryder. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "Past Winners & Nominees". Humanitas Prize. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  18. ^ "The 39th NAACP Image Award Nominations". Variety. 8 January 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
  19. ^ DiOrio, Carl (January 21, 2008). "PGA unveils final producer lists". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  20. ^ "The 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  21. ^ "6th Annual VES Awards". Visual Effects Society. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
  22. ^ "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  23. ^ "Previous Nominees & Winners: 2007 Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  24. ^ "29th Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
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