Rising Indigenous talents Amber Midthunder, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, and Isabel DeRoy-Olson star as sisters on disparate paths in 1970s L.A. in Marie Clements’ Toronto premiere 'How We Stand' Writer-director Marie Clements, who premiered “Bones of Crows” in 2022, returns this weekend to the Toronto Film Festival for the world premiere of her latest feature, “How We Stand,” as her new three-part documentary series, “Reclaim My Skin,” waits in the wings for its premiere next month at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Both projects reveal stories of Indigenous women and the power of their actions and voices to bring about necessary change in the world, their communities, and their own lives. The series was commissioned by British Columbia’s Knowledge Network in 2024.
It’s produced by Marie Clements Media and Screen Siren Pictures. Myriad Pictures is handling international sales. Photon Films is the Canadian distributor.
Three young Oklahoma sisters and their single mother (Cara Jade Myers, “Killer of the Flower Moon”) travel to L.A. in a 1950s relocation program for Native Americans that promises jobs in big cities. But they were sold a bill of goods. After finding community in the city’s cemented riverways, a tragedy separates the sisters, whose lives take different paths on the shifting cultural landscape of 1970s L.A.
They are looking at the world and having a point of view that may or may not land, but are learning who they want to become.” That vibrancy is enhanced by casting of stellar screen stars in the roles of the adult sisters. Amber Midthunder (“Prey,” “Novocaine”) is a doctor who starts a new job at her white husband’s clinic, Alyssa Wapanatâh (“Peter Pan & Wendy”) plays an outspoken activist who starts auditioning for Native American roles in Hollywood movies, while Isabel DeRoy-Olson (AMC’s “Dark Winds”) has the role of a young women adrift and in distress after a traumatic experience she’s trying to figure out. The stage play was originally commissioned by the Native Voices series at the Autry National Center in L.A.
Clements spent time looking through the Autry’s collections in its museums. A colleague’s aunt, who had lived 30 years in the city, told her about the so-called tombs of the riverways where Indigenous people used to meet. The screen adaptation allowed Clement to more deeply explore the worlds suggested in her play.
And we’re witnessing that in our time right now. And that’s trying to be reversed as we speak, so it really does kind of hit you.
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