Like last year's rediscovery, Killer of Sheep, The Exiles is a major event, a beautifully shot, cinema verite journey into a previously invisible culture in 1960s L.A. But here, the group is urbanized Native Americans, plains riders who now travel the streets near Bunker Hill, deprived of their land, deprived of their culture, yet resilient enough and inventive enough to reinvent their own world, albeit a less than perfect one. In July 1957, young independent filmmaker Kent Mackenzie began to hang around with some of the young Indians in downtown Los Angeles, starting in the bars close to Third and Main Streets. After a couple of months, he broached the subject of making a film that would present a realistic portrayal of Native American life in the community. After hearing his companions concerns about false stereotypes of Indians in films, Mackenzie said he wanted them to help write the script, do their own narration, and be partners in the production. Finally, The Exiles emerged, following one night in the life of Yvonne and Homer, their friends and family, shot amidst the tunnels and skyscrapers of a now lost L.A. Though premiering at the Venice Film festival to much acclaim in 1961, The Exiles has never received the audience it so clearly deserves. Its rediscovery and restoration is a small miracle, a door into a world almost unseen.

Sponsored by Beth Anne Pochopien, Occupational Therapist