RAIN
DIRECTOR
Rain's note: The term “gypsy” is a racial slur. It has been hurled at us to pejoratively define and dehumanize us. We now claim it to diminish and drain the hate it engenders. It’s ours now. We’ve taken ownership of this weapon and we are using it as a teaching tool, slowly draining it of malice. Like heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s embrace of being the “Gypsy King,” when I wear the g-word, it’s an overt statement, an intervention of a kind, to affirm that its centuries long use in the construct of white supremacy is beginning to end.
It’s on my chest now, not in the mouth of a bigot.
Somebody's Daughter and Say Her Name are not films that were made simply for 'awareness' or entertainment. Rain is about action, and getting the message to the people with the ability to make change.
On November 15, President Biden signed an Executive Order on “Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People.” Many of the recommendations were discussed by the President and film director Rain in 2020 and are highlighted in Somebody’s Daughter (1492-), which President Biden has supported.
Rain wrote several MMIWG/MMIP policy proposals for the Biden-Harris Indigenous Policy Justice Subcommittee which are reflected in the President’s Executive Order.
Says Rain, “ President Biden kept his word. He told me the MMIWG tragedy was one of his priorities. This is a positive step, but I agree with the President, ‘more work is needed to address the crisis.’ Much more,”
Rain is currently in pre-production for the final documentary in his MMIWG trilogy, Ni Una Mas (Not One More), that will highlight how MMIWG is an existential threat to tribal people worldwide.
Find a screening of Somebody's Daughter or Say Her Name
Learn about Somebody's Daughter Events, past and future
Filmography
Family
Somebody's Daughter
Not in Our Name
Say Her Name
Family was praised by Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos (The Cove/Racing Extinction) as being “beautifully shot”
This short film explains the way that indigenous people and wolves are inextricably connected, and asks Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, to overrule ex-President Trump's removal of Wolves from the Endangered Species List.
So far, Sec Haaland has not done so. As a result, it is likely that 90% of the wolf population could be exterminated in open hunts in some states.
The first cut of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) documentary,
Somebody’s Daughter, was attracting attention on the internet before the COVID-19 pandemic shut theatrical screenings down in 2020. Reviewed as “both hauntingly beautiful and
emotionally devastating,” Somebody’s Daughter has been described as “one of the most important documentaries created about not only MMIW, but also Indian Country in the twenty-first century.” The film has received support from some of the Indigenous community’s
luminaries including Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, Oscar-winner Wes Studi, and activist/author Winona LaDuke.
This short film appealed for public support for tribal nations in their ongoing struggle to get the Trump Administration to “honor the historic grizzly treaty signed by over 200 tribes.” It featured native actor Zahn McClarnon, last seen in HBO’s “Westworld” and who has become one of Native America’s most recognizable actors. “Hunting them is absolutely crazy. Why would you hunt a grizzly bear?” asks McClarnon. Not In Our Name became the most-watched film on Sierra Club’s social media platforms and also featuring House Natural Resources Committee Chairman, Congressman Raúl Grijalva Grijalva who provided valuable background and insights during the production of the film. Not In Our Name had the distinction of being entered into the Congressional record at a hearing in May 2019.
Says 23 year old presenter of Say Her Name, Juliet Hayes (Coushatta Nation),
“ The Missing and Miurdered Indigenous Women situation in Big Horn County cries out for US Attorney General Merrick Garland to initiate a thorough investigation. Hardin is the county seat of Bighorn County, with a population of about 3,500, and in Hardin, at least half of the MMIWG cases remain unsolved. In fact, 86% of MMIP cases in Montana remain unsolved. Not to mention, Big Horn county has the highest per capita rates of MMIWG cases in the U.S. This crisis has been ignored for far too long and we refuse to put up with the dismissal any longer. We’re not going to fall for the divide and conquer syndrome – indigenous women are a sisterhood. “
Rain
Rain pictured with three-time Poet Laureate of the United States, Joy Harjo as they spoke on many issues, including MMIW at the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana in May, 2021.
Gallup - Rain and the Red Willow Singers from Taos Pueblo at the El Morro Theatre
Delivering the Wolf Treaty signed by over 700 tribes to Washington DC. Rain is pictured here with Senator Cory Booker, and an official from the Buffalo Field Campaign.
On November 15, President Biden signed an Executive Order on “Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People.” Many of the recommendations were discussed by the President & Rain in 2020 and are highlighted in Somebody’s Daughter (1492-), which President Biden has supported.
Receiving the City of Albuquerque Outstanding Achievement in Film Award on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2021 –
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico calls Rain “an icon” at the same event