Native American Filmmaker To Speak At University Of Washington Tacoma

Sandra Sunrising Osawa, whose prolific films and television productions tell the stories of contemporary Native Americans, will deliver the keynote speech at the Contemporary Native American Issues in Higher Education symposium Oct. 14 at the University of Washington Tacoma.

The symposium, which runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Phillip Hall, is now in its fourth year.

The purpose of the annual symposium is to encourage Native American youths to consider going to college. The event brings Native students, their teachers and families together for workshops on going to college, demonstrations of university classes, a campus tour and an inspirational speaker.

Osawa is known for producing and directing independent films, videos and television programs about modern Indian life. Her award-winning documentaries, broadcast on commercial and public television networks, and her many films show Native Americans in real life, not in the stereotypes prevalent in mainstream productions.

Maria Tallchief depicts the world-renowned American prima ballerina from an Osage Indian community. She was a member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the New York City Ballet, and later founded the Chicago City Ballet.

Among the many films Osawa has produced/directed, On and Off the Res’ with Charlie Hill, about Oneida-Mohawk-Cree stand-up comic Charlie Hill, and Pepper’s Pow Wow, about Creek/Kaw jazz saxophonist Jim Pepper, tell the stories of Native American artists. 

Osawa produced the award-winning Native American, a 10-part television series for NBC, as well as the first Native American programs on P.O.V. (Point of View), for national public television.

Osawa earned a bachelor’s degree at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. She and her husband, Yasu Osawa, met at a UCLA graduate film program. They founded a production company in Seattle called Upstream Productions (upstreamvideos.com) in 1980. Yasu does the camera work and editing on their productions; Sandra does all the writing and directing. She has taught script writing and video production at The Evergreen State College and Seattle Community College and actively works for Native American rights.