SWEETHEART DANCERS
Directed by Ben-Alex Dupris
SHOWING: SUNDAY 11/17/2019
3pm
@ Made In NY Media Center by IFP
Sweetheart Dancers is a story about Sean and Adrian, a Two-Spirit couple determined to rewrite the rules of Native American culture through their participation in the "Sweetheart Dance." This celebratory contest is held at powwows across the country, primarily for men and women couples, until now.
FILMMAKER
Ben-Alex is an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes in Washington State, where he grew up. He is a current Artist-in-Residence at Concordia Studio, headed by Davis Guggenheim. He is also an Impact Producer Fellow for Firelight Media in the creative house of Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith.
He is an incoming instructor for a course in “Indigenous Mythology in Film & Television” at Duke University Center for Documentary Studies in the fall of 2019.
Over the years he has worked in commercial entertainment, tribal language preservation, and most recently by documenting the front lines of the Standing Rock occupation for five months. His directorial debut “Sweetheart Dancers” premiered at Big Sky Film Festival 2019. He also produced “Paulette,” which follows Gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan by Heather Rae for The Guardian films, and Sundance Institute. He is formerly a 2017 Sundance Institute “Rauschenberg” Producer’s Fellow, and a 2016 Redford Center Grantee.