The American Indian Film Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. That’s four decades of lifting up Native voices, stories, and storytellers. The festival’s director, Michael Smith, has been with the festival since its founding in Seattle in 1975.
And while there's reason to celebrate the anniversary, Smith says there's still work to do to make sure American Indian voices get heard. He sat down with KALW's Jen Chien to talk about the state of American Indian cinema, and why it’s still so important to highlight it.
Click the audio player above to listen to the complete interview.
For the full schedule of show times at the San Francisco AMC Metreon, click here.