Red Fever – Hot Docs
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April 25 to May 5, 2024
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Cree photographer and filmmaker Neil Diamond traces the Indigenous influence on Western culture and identity in Red Fever. Neil Diamond is a Cree photographer and filmmaker, but he doesn’t meet people’s stereotypical expectations about Native people. Diamond explores the history of Indigenous culture has been appropriated into Western society, in areas such as fashion, sports, politics, and nature.
Red Fever Synopsis
Red Fever is a documentary co-directed by Neil Diamond (Reel Injun) and Catherine Bainbridge (Reel Injun, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World). As a spiritual successor to 2009’s Reel Injun, Neil Diamond leads the audience to explain how Western settlers have appropriated Indigenous culture. This includes fashion designers stealing native designs, Jim Thorpe developing modern American Football while at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy inventing modern democracy.
My Thoughts on Red Fever
One of the most interesting facts in Red Fever is how all the many Native-named sports teams were created in honour of Tim Thorpe and the Carlisle Football Team before their mascots and chants became insulting caricatures. Indeed, the point of Red Fever is how our stereotypical view of Indigenous people comes about from decades of cultural appropriation, with the most recognizable symbol – the headdress – being something only meant to be worn for ceremonial purposes. As such, Red Fever is a documentary that will get you thinking about how much Indigenous culture has influenced Western society.
