Smoke Signals

I flew up to Seattle on the '98 July 4th weekend to see the matinee premier on the Friday. Sherman Alexie is a, of course, a well known poetry and prose writer in the Northwest, but this was his first step into cinema with a screenplay based on his short story, 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven.'

The premiere was at an old, Egyptian-themed cinema in Seattle and the house was half full for the 4:30 matinee. The audience was predominately Native American.

On exit, Sherman stood on the sidewalk in the late afternoon Seattle light and waited nervously like a child, to see the reaction to the film (which had ended with unanimous applauds from the half house audience). A film crew was there for exit polling.

A diminutive Native American female elder slowly approached Sherman. She moved forward and extended her arms around him into a hug and spoke softly, "Thank you."

Sherman was mush.

Don't miss this film. He's not 'the Spike Lee of Native American film making' as the Time Magazine of that week put it. He's an independent, regional film maker, whose background is the 'Rez.'