Public Education
Rising Voices
is a documentary project
that spans television, the Internet and social media to tell people in the U.S. and anywhere that Native Americans are determined to speak their ancestral languages again in the 21st century. Communications technology blends past and future right in front of us every day – and Native peoples want the ethics and wisdom of their heritage to enrich their careers and families, by speaking the language.
Related Programs
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Short Films
The Language Conservancy will commission 30-minute short films from five Native American professional filmmakers, to document language revitalization in other tribes around the United States. These will allow regional public television stations to localize Rising Voices with a short film about a Native language from the audience’s home area.
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90-minute film
This is the anchor program of Rising Voices, produced by the Language Conservancy in association with Florentine Films / Hott Productions, a 30-year veteran of award-winning PBS television programs. This film will focus on ten young Lakota people who are determined to become fluent in their heritage language to realize compelling personal and professional dreams, only to find themselves challenged by forces within their own culture.
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New Media and Outreach
The overall Rising Voices project reaches far beyond public television broadcast of a documentary film, to become a national curriculum on Native American languages. A web portal will showcase images, stories, and short films produced by Native people themselves, for distribution through the Internet and social media.
What’s New
Rising Voices and Florentine Films/Hott Productions
Rising Voices is being produced now by Lawrence Hott of Florentine Films/Hott Productions. Mr. Hott has thirty years of experience crafting award-winning films and series for PBS and international distribution. His enthusiasm and expertise give us confidence that Rising Voices will be completed and delivered to a far-reaching audience.
