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Sterlin Brown Harjo, Jr.
Sterlin Harjo wearing a black shirt, brown neckerchief, white Stetson hat, and red-shaded glasses, holding a plastic cup in one hand and a microphone in the other, standing onstage
Harjo in 2024
Born (1979-11-14) November 14, 1979 (age 45)
Holdenville, Oklahoma, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma (BA)
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2004–present
Known forReservation Dogs
Websitesterlinharjo.com

Sterlin Harjo (born November 14, 1979)[1][2] is an American Seminole filmmaker. He has directed three feature films, a documentary, and the FX comedy drama series Reservation Dogs,[2] all of them set in his home state of Oklahoma and concerned primarily with Native American people and content.

Early life and education

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Harjo, a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma[1] who also has Muscogee heritage, was born and raised in Holdenville, Oklahoma.[1] He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he studied art and film.[3][4]

Career

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In 2004, he received a fellowship from the Sundance Institute.[5] His short film Goodnight, Irene[6] premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival [3] and received a special jury award at the Aspen Shortsfest.[3] In 2006, he received a fellowship from the newly formed organization United States Artists.[7][8]

Harjo's first feature film, Four Sheets to the Wind, tells the story of a young Seminole man who travels from his small hometown to Tulsa to visit his sister after the death of their father.[9][10] The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the grand jury prize. Harjo was named best director at the 2007 American Indian Film Festival.[11] The film's co-star Tamara Podemski won a Sundance special jury prize for her performance in the picture,[12] and she was later nominated for best supporting actress at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards.[10]

Harjo's second feature, Barking Water, premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[11] It portrays a road trip by a dying man and his former lover across Oklahoma to see his daughter and granddaughter in Wewoka, the capital of the Seminole Nation.[13][14] It was named best drama film at the 2009 American Indian Film Festival.[15]

Harjo's first feature documentary, This May Be the Last Time, is based on the story of his grandfather, who disappeared in 1962 in the Seminole County town of Sasakwa. It explores the subject of Creek Nation hymns and their connection to Scottish folk, gospel, and rock music.[16][17][18] The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival,[19] and its distribution rights were subsequently acquired by AMC/Sundance Channel Global for the Sundance Channel.[20] Harjo's third feature film, Mekko, a thriller set in Tulsa,[21] premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2015.[22][23]

Harjo has also directed a number of short-form projects. His 2009 short film Cepanvkuce Tutcenen ("three little boys") was part of the Embargo Collective project commissioned by the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.[24] He has directed a series of shorts for This Land Press in Tulsa, where Harjo is the staff video director.[25] He was a member of the 2010 Sundance shorts competition jury.[26]

Harjo is a founding member of a five-member Native American comedy group, the 1491s.[27] He is also one of the directors of the Cherokee Nation's monthly television news magazine, Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People.[28]

In 2021, FX released the first season of the Indigenous comedy series Reservation Dogs. It is executive-produced, directed, and co-written by Harjo, with Taika Waititi co-writing and executive-producing.[29] On September 2, 2021, FX renewed the series for a second season.[30] In 2022, Reservation Dogs was recognized at the 37th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards as Best New Scripted Series and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.[31] During the ceremony, actor Devery Jacobs said: "This prize is so much bigger than ourselves, just ourselves. Each of us come from different nations across Turtle Island who survived 500 years of colonization. And in the 100 years of film and TV, Reservation Dogs now marks the first project with all Indigenous creatives at the helm."[32]

In 2023, Harjo directed the music video for the song "Mean Old Sun" by the Oklahoma country rock band Turnpike Troubadours.[33]

In October 2024, Harjo created a pilot episode for a series titled The Sensitive Kind with Ethan Hawke, which subsequently received a series order by FX.[34][35]

Awards

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Harjo was awarded the 2011 Tilghman Award from the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle[3] and the Tulsa Library Trust's 2013 American Indian Writers Award.[36] He also received a 2021 Peabody Award for Reservation Dogs.[37] In 2024, Harjo was named a MacArthur Fellow, the only filmmaker in the group.[38]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Sam Lewin, "Seminole Filmmaker Prepares to Hit the Silver Screen", Native Times News, reprinted in Canku Ota, May 24, 2004 (article gives his age as 24 in 2004).[dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "Watch Now: Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo talks about made-in-Oklahoma TV series 'Reservation Dogs'". Jimmie Tramel, Tulsa World, February 13, 2021. February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sterlin Harjo honored by Oklahoma Film Critics: The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle will present its 2011 Tilghman Award to state filmmaker Sterlin Harjo." The Oklahoman, November 4, 2011.
  4. ^ Joanna Hearne and Zach Schlachter, "An Interview with Sterlin Harjo and Blackhorse Lowe", Native Americans on Film: Conversations, Teaching, and Theory (University Press of Kentucky, 2013), ISBN 978-0813140346, pp. 169ff. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  5. ^ Dana Harris, "Sundance picks five for Annenberg coin", Variety, May 27, 2004, via HighBeam Research.
  6. ^ Peter Hanson, "Goodnight, Irene", Film Threat, January 23, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  7. ^ Patrick Cole, "Seminole Filmmaker, Guitarist Awarded $50,000 Grants" (Update1), Bloomberg.com, December 4, 2006.
  8. ^ Sterlin Harjo, United States Artists. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  9. ^ John Anderson, "This Time, the Indians Tell Their Own Story", The New York Times, August 27, 2006.
  10. ^ a b Andrew Horton, Joanna E. Rapf, eds., A Companion to Film Comedy (John Wiley & Sons, 2012), ISBN 978-1118327845, pp. 386ff. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  11. ^ a b Sterlin Harjo, National Museum of the American Indian, March 2011 (updated April 2014).
  12. ^ Jeff Vice, "Sundance fest winners explore 'our global society'", Deseret News, January 28, 2007.
  13. ^ Stephen Holden, "A Road Trip to the End of the Road", The New York Times, May 11, 2010.
  14. ^ Ted Fry, "Final trip together sometimes clumsy, often touching." Seattle Times, April 16, 2010, via HighBeam Research.
  15. ^ Angelica Lawson, "American Indian Feature Filmmakers and Popular Culture", in Elizabeth Delaney Hoffman. ed., American Indians and Popular Culture, (ABC-CLIO, 2012), ISBN 978-0313379918, pp. 98-99. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  16. ^ Guy Lodge, Film Review: 'This May Be the Last Time', Variety, January 21, 2014.
  17. ^ Lauren Wissot, "Sterlin Harjo on This May Be the Last Time", Filmmaker, January 22, 2014.
  18. ^ Sterlin Harjo and Dr. Hugh Foley – "This May Be the Last Time", The Tavis Smiley Show (audio) (accessed September 19, 2014).
  19. ^ Brandy McDonnell, "American Indian music documentary "This May Be the Last Time" to premiere at Sundance Film Festival", The Oklahoman, December 30, 2013.
  20. ^ John Hopewell, "Sundance: AMC/Sundance Channel Global Swoops on Six Sundance Titles", Variety, January 23, 2014.
  21. ^ "Tulsan Sterlin Harjo starts on new film 'Mekko'", Tulsa World, April 9, 2014.
  22. ^ Rebecca Keegen, "LAFF 2015 aimed for diverse film fest lineup and dug deep to find it", Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2015.
  23. ^ Kevin O'Keefe, "A New Movie Tells the Gripping, Resonant Story of a Native American Homeless Community", Mic, June 23, 2015.
  24. ^ Embargo Collective, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, October 17, 2009.
  25. ^ "Meet Sterlin Harjo", This Land Press, January 21, 2012.
  26. ^ "Sundance 2010 unveils juries, plus a peek at short-film lineup", Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2010.
  27. ^ Karen Shade, "The 1491s", Oklahoma Magazine, April 21, 2014.
  28. ^ "Osiyo", Oklahoma Magazine, March 26, 2015.
  29. ^ Thorne, Will (December 22, 2020). "Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo-Produced Comedy 'Reservation Dogs' Scores Series Order at FX". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  30. ^ Iannucci, Rebecca (September 2, 2021). "Reservation Dogs Renewed for Season 2". TVLine. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  31. ^ "The Lost Daughter finds the spotlight at Film Independent Spirit Awards: See the full list of winners". ew.com. March 6, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  32. ^ "Spirit Awards: Taika Waititi Presents Best Ensemble Cast Award to His 'Reservation Dogs' Stars". The Hollywood Reporter. March 7, 2022.
  33. ^ Turnpike Troubadours. "Mean Old Sun". Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  34. ^ Otterson, Joe (October 1, 2024). "Ethan Hawke, Sterlin Harjo Drama Pilot Picked Up to Series at FX (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  35. ^ Cobb, Kayla (October 1, 2024). "Ethan Hawke and Sterlin Harjo Drama Picked Up to Series at FX". The Wrap. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  36. ^ "Library to Honor Oklahoma Screenwriter and Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo", October 4, 2012.
  37. ^ "Reservation Dogs". peabodyawards.com. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  38. ^ Blair, Elizabeth (October 1, 2024). "Here's who made the 2024 MacArthur Fellows list". NPR. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
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