Raven Chacon

Hacking at Leaves documents artist and hazmat-suit aficionado Johannes Grenzfurthner as he attempts to come to terms with the United States' colonial past, Navajo tribal history, and the hacker movement. The story hones in on a small tinker space in Durango, Colorado, that made significant contributions to worldwide COVID relief efforts. But things go awry when Uncle Sam interferes with the film's production.

In this series of three videos, American Indian women sing the history of a landscape, including its present, past, and future, where a conflict, displacement or massacre of their tribe took place. The songs reference the Navajo Long Walk, the Trail of Tears and resulting drownings in the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers, and the removal of the Seminole people from their homelands. Chacon describes: “These songs of resistance, with only a snare drum as accompaniment, become a sonic testimony, an acknowledgement of shared survival, and a healing call in their mother tongues.”

This Albuquerque music documentary was filmed during the Summer and Fall of 2022 and captures a sample of bands, venues, characters, and history that make up the DIY scene. Featuring Los Mocos, Cracks in the Sidewalk, Nomestomper, Crushed!?, Sabertooth Cavity, Raven Chacon, Manny Rettinger, Gordy Andersen, and many more.

Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo follows Native artists for a year as they navigate their careers in the US and abroad. The film explores the immense complexities each artist faces concerning their own identity as Native artists, as well as pushing further Native art into a post-colonial world.