3 Questions

When last we caught up with filmmaker Erik Sanchez (Shoalwater Bay, Chinook and Chicano), his first major short film Sage Me Not was hitting the festival circuit with its deft mix of horror, comedy and colonialism send-up. Now entering his final year at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Sanchez is in the midst of pre-production for his big, final school project titled TYEE Messenger of the Void, and he’s hoping to garner producers through crowdfunding platform Indiegogo-dot-com. We loved Sanchez’s last film and wanted to learn more about how it’s been, how it’s going and what’s next. (Alex De Vore)

Sage Me Not came out swinging with the horror-comedy. What can you tell us about the new film you’re attempting to fund?

This one’s a dramedy. I haven’t done drama yet. I’ve been pushing that away because I want to make the world laugh, and there’s so much drama in life already, but it was time I took I chance to tell a story about something I really know about and show the world the highs and lows of life.

It’s about a spiritually and culturally lost Native man whose father just passed away, and he has to go back to the reservation. And he’s next in line to protect a sacred rattle. But there’s a lot of, ‘I don’t want to be Indian! I live in the city! I have a city life! My mind is colonized!’ that he’s battling. These are roots drawn from [my own life] that are dramatized, but it’s a story that’s relatable for a lot of folks who live off the Rez and even on the Rez, too. It’s this whole American cultural idea that we’re not supposed to be Indian. You never see it on MTV, you never see it being cool, and that’s what I grew up with, no representation, so I was trying to be this other person that I totally wasn’t. But that’s America for you; the ongoing colonization and attempts to make you forget who you are. They say, ‘We’ve got this new identity you can buy at the mall!’ The movie is a lot about identity, the loss of identity. Being Native is hard, and sometimes it doesn’t end well, but you just keep going. I don’t want to spoil it for people, but the film is open-ended. I think that’s the most realistic view of life.

Why did you decide to crowdfund?

Everything I’ve learned at school I’m putting into this one, and I’ trying to make it the best I can. With Sage Me Not, it was so up in the air because of [the pandemic], and it was just, ‘Alright, we have a camera and a story, I’m coming to your house to shoot.’ This new story I’ve been working on for over a year now, so I’ve had time to think about and cultivate it. It’s a coastal story, and I want to make it look like Washington, so where do I find this moss, where do I find those trees? In Jemez Springs, I’ve been driving around up there, and I can fake it, but that’s going to cost getting my crew up there, setting up; and there are certain props I want to get for this film, like a carved mask of a raven in the Chinook style, which is where I’m from. Plus actors. Gotta pay the actors.

I’m still casting the supporting role of an auntie. I haven’t found her yet, but she’s our guide, the one trying to convince my protagonist to move back to the Rez. My auntie is a mentor in my life...I wouldn’t be anywhere without the people I grew up with, the people who guide me though life, the people I tell my ideas to and who believe. With the help of my loved ones, my friends, my community—that’s how I know this will be successful.

With cameras, editing software and online film instruction becoming more commonplace, do you envision more filmmakers taking these less-traditional routes to achieving things on their own terms?

I love technology, and whatever comes out next, it would be fun to try that, but...I think it’s my role as a storyteller to keep telling stories, so if I do that, if I’m representing a few nations under who I am—like I said about the comedy, I want to make people feel good.

I’ve got to tell the stories that protect the earth and the people. This is my microphone to the world. I’ve been watching my whole life, but now people are handing over the microphone. I think if someone has the passion for anything and is committed... Look, I didn’t grow up with much. All I had was a camera and the sun, so I learned how to work with that. Money makes it easier, but if there are obstacles, that’s just when creative problem-solving comes in.