Hollywood has a long history of misrepresenting or omitting Indigenous communities on film. The annual LA Skins Fest wants to change that — by showcasing some of the best work by Indigenous filmmakers from North and South America.
The festival’s 17th season kicks off on November 14, and will feature more than 60 shorts, documentaries, animated features, and coming-of-age stories — all screening at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Current and aspiring filmmakers can also meet each other and build connections, including at an opening night mixer and a Hollywood PowWow.
Ian Skorodin founded the festival after making his own rounds on the film festival scene in the early 2000s. He says over the years, he’s seen Hollywood “ebb and flow” when it comes to interest in Indigenous stories.
“Right now, what we're seeing is people who don't properly represent our community, who maybe aren't even Indigenous, and want to represent our community,” he observes. “So we still have a long ways to go in terms of making sure that our community and our storytellers, our artists, our filmmakers … are actually leading the charge and making sure that their stories are the ones that are being told.”
He adds that he’s tired of seeing portrayals of victimhood and victimization of Native people onscreen. “The thing we need to be careful of is the portrayal of people being a victim and always having to be carried by somebody else, or saved by somebody else.”