On April 7, Atlanta-based regional arts organization South Arts showcased the 2023 documentary “Dadiwonisi (We Will Speak)” at the Plaza Theatre.
The film, which explores the role of the Cherokee language in tribal identity and cultural preservation, is part of South Arts’ 2023-24 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. This annual tour connects screening partners like the Plaza with independent documentary filmmakers whose work relates to the American South. Each screening is followed by a Q&A that allows filmmakers to discuss the social themes of their work with local audiences.
The “We Will Speak” tour has featured first-time director Schon Duncan, a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and a Cherokee Language Teacher in Stilwell, Oklahoma. Producer and Cherokee visual artist Keli Gonzales, co-director Michael McDermit, and cinematographer Jacob Koestler have also attended. The tour kicked off in Clemson, South Carolina on April 1 and will now head to Roswell, Lawrenceville, and Rome, where screening partners include Berry College and the Rome International Film Festival.
Since it first launched nearly 50 years ago, South Arts’ Southern Circuit Tour has prioritized work by and for marginalized groups. The inclusion of “We Will Speak” demonstrates the circuit’s mission to widen audiences’ horizons on diversity, identity, and inequity in a rapidly evolving South. Shot in North Carolina and Oklahoma from 2019 to 2022, “We Will Speak” presents an intimate and nuanced portrait of the Cherokee People through a variety of mediums. Archival footage, interviews, and new captured footage combine to create a moving mosaic of an inspiring, persevering community.
In the film, Duncan and McDermit outline the decades of government-sponsored “Americanization” efforts that have stopped the Cherokee language from reaching younger generations; according to South Arts, under 1,600 native…
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