BIG SKY — “I guess that’s kind of my North Star,” said Chase Hall. “I want to be able to just rewrite the narrative of Native Americans in film the best I can”
Hall is an aspiring filmmaker who’s from the Blackfeet tribe in Browning.
“From a young age, I was always, like, drawn to filmmaking,” said Hall.
Growing up, Hall watched his dad be a stunt double for Native Americans in movies, which he says sparked his interest in film.
“Stunts were always more so my dad’s thing, like doing horse falls and saddle falls,” said Hall. “I was always more paying attention to, like, I don’t know, like, the story, or the film making aspect of itself.”
Flash forward 20 years later, Hall graduated from film school at MSU and is now a Lone Peak Institute Fellow at the first ever Lone Peak Film Festival in Big Sky, which is focused on showing uplifting films.
“There’s so much tragedy in the world right now; we’re not trying to ignore that,” said Daniel Glick, the festival director. “But, we're just saying 'hey, that's going on but there's also a lot of people trying to help their communities, a lot of people trying to bring healing to their communities, to their families, to the world, and so we want to shine a light on that part of humanity too.”
Glick is a co-founder of Lone Peak Film Festival. He says the fellowship program is meant to mentor young filmmakers like Hall and help them make connections.
“In the film industry, it is so much who you know and so we wanted to break down the barriers for some early-stage filmmakers,” said Glick.
WATCH: This inspiration behind the very first Lone Peak Film Festival
For Hall, it’s a pathway to telling the stories he’s passionate about.
“We’re in a golden age of, like, these Native stories, and I feel like the industry needs us,” said Hall. “Now is, like, the perfect time for anyone who has a story to tell to step into that role.”
The Lone Peak Film Festival features 16 short films and six feature films. For more information, visit this link.
