The Blessing – Feature Film Trailer
Feature Documentary – 74 Minutes
Broadcast Premiere - PBS | America Reframed
"A UNIQUE FILM, OPENING DOORS TO A WORLD AND CHARACTERS AUDIENCES DON’T EVER SEE.
IT’S POETIC AND EMOTIONAL AND BEAUTIFULLY SHOT." -Ramin Bahrani (Director of Fahrenheit 451, Man Push Cart, 99 Homes)
"AN EMOTIONAL POWDER KEG ... the film’s a nearly Shakespearean drama, one in which a deeply religious father is forced to choose between sacrilege (taking part in the destruction of his sacred tribal mountain) and feeding his family" -FILMMAKER MAGAZINE
“Evocative…breathtakingly gorgeous…captures the instability and yearning of working-class life…has all the visual poetry of the best movies about small-town America.” Nonfics
“Exquisite…brings a bright moral compass to a dark world.” Global Comment
“This is a story of resilience and perseverance, but ultimately a story of pain and loss of identity. It’s haunting and powerful.” Film Threat
“INSPIRING” -Santa Fe New Mexican
“WONDERFUL” -Inside Pulse
“POIGNANT” -Albuquerque Journal
WORLD PREMIERE: FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 7th 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION AND SCREENINGS: DOC NYC, FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, IAIA MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ARTS, ASHLAND INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, MOUNTAIN FILM, MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, DALLAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SANTA FE INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, PORTLAND FILM FESTIVAL, WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL, CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SANTA FE INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, BEND FILM FESTIVAL, DOCSMX INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL OF MEXICO CITY, CRESTED BUTTE FILM FESTIVAL, PLANET IN FOCUS FILM FESTIVAL TORONTO, RED NATION FILM FESTIVAL, WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL, BIG SKY DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, MOUNTAINFILM, SOUTHAMPTONS ARTS CENTER, MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM
AWARDS:
BEST COVERAGE OF NATIVE AMERICA / NATIONAL NATIVE MEDIA AWARDS (THE NATIVE AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION)
GRAND JURY PRIZE / DALLAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY / ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
BEST OF FEST / MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
BEST NATIVE FEATURE FILM / BEND FILM FESTIVAL
BIG SKY AWARD / BIG SKY DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Personal and crucial, The Blessing – follows a Navajo coal miner raising his secretive daughter as a single father, struggling with his part in the irreversible destruction of their sacred mountain at the hands of America's largest coal producer. The Blessing is a feature-length documentary film, co-directed by the award winning filmmaking team Jordan Fein and Hunter Robert Baker. Written and Edited by world renowned Academy Member Editor Ricardo Acosta, C.C.E. (Marmato, The Silence of Others, Herman's House), Original Score by Kevin Kevin (Netflix's Making A Murderer and AMC's Hell On Wheels), and Sound Design by Emmy Award Winner Joanna Fang (Cartel Land).
Made with support from the International Documentary Association and the Points North Institute, and captured over the course of five years, the filmmakers join a Navajo family for some of the most deeply personal and important moments in the character’s lives, from a miner enduring a life threatening injury and confronting the deep spiritual sacrifice he makes to provide for his family. To a young Navajo woman discovering her inner identity and managing the expectations of her traditional father, while playing on the men’s varsity football team and being crowned homecoming queen.
First and foremost a character-driven film, The Blessing brings the search for acceptance to broad audiences through the unprecedented and intimate access the filmmakers have been given to this underreported social and environmental story on the Navajo Nation.
Directors: Jordan Fein, Hunter Robert Baker
Executive Producer: Raoul Max Trujillo
Cinematographer: Hunter Robert Baker
Editors: Ricardo Acosta C.C.E., Brett Banks, Jordan Fein, Lance Edmands
Music: Kevin Kiner, David Russell
Colorist: Kath Raisch, Company3