Rising Voices / Hotȟaŋiŋpi: Revitalizing the Lakota Language | screening with director Lawrence Hott – Sept. 10

Rising Voices/Hotȟaŋiŋpi tells the story of a passionate, dedicated and diverse group of people – members of the Lakota community and linguists from outside of the community who are working together to save the Lakota language and restore it to its rightful place in Lakota, and American, culture. Told through the voices of a wide range of Lakota people who share their feelings about their language and the myriad challenges facing their community, the film also incorporates four short films created for Rising Voices by Lakota filmmakers and artists, each one giving a perspective on how finding one’s authentic “language” connects a person to a deeper sense of culture.

Rising Voices offers a snapshot into a day-to-day struggle of one of the biggest Native American nations, and illuminates the devastating problem of ancestral language loss to Native American people.

Rising Voices is presented and distributed nationally by American Public Television (APT) and will premiere on public television stations nationwide beginning November 1, 2015 (check local listings).

Rising Voices/Hótȟaŋiŋpi, a film by Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey, is a production of Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc. in association with The Language Conservancy. The project is funded by The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Administration for Native Americans, The Dakota Indian Foundation, the South Dakota Humanities Council, and the North Dakota Humanities Council and Vision Maker Media with major sponsorship provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Executive Producer for The Language Conservancy, Wilhelm Meya; Executive Producer for Vision Maker Media, Shirley K. Sneve. © 2015. The film is distributed through American Public Television (APT.)

The Language Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that works with Native American tribes to preserve their ancestral languages by providing educational materials, teacher trainings, dictionaries, and other materials that assist in language revitalization.  The primary service area for the Language Conservancy is in the American Northwest, including Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

To see five additional short videos about Lakota language, film credits, a study guide, and more press materials, including a full transcript of the film, visit www.risingvoicesfilm.com.