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Billy Luther

Billy Luther is an Native American Independent film producer and director producing mainly cultural documentaries and short films. He currently belongs to the Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo Tribes. He is best well known for his famous Movie Miss Navajo which tells the story about woman competing in the beauty pageant of Miss Navajo.

Early Life

Billy Luther grew up in the small town of Winslow Arizona where he attended High School. He belongs to the Navajo, Hopi, and the Laguna Pueblo tribes. Luther began studying film work at Columbia College Chicago before moving east where he went to Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. There he studied filmography and produced many short films as part of his studies. As his first job out of school, Billy Worked as a programming assistant for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian- Native American Film and Video Festivals in New York City.

Career

Luther Began directing and making short films as a student at Hampshire College in Amherst Massachusetts. One of these films included was a documentary titled Face Value, which was a short documentary on racial profiling. In 2002, Billy moved to Los Angeles and was selected to be an honoree at IFP/LA’s Project:Involve. There Billy was mentored by Alex Smith co-writer/co-director of The Slaughter Rule. In 2007, Luther Produced his first Film Miss Navajo which made its premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. There, it won the Michael Moore's 2007 Special Founders Prize. Many of Luthers short films and documentaries are based on the views and his personal experience of growing up in the Pueblo tribes as he is interested in showing audiences the culture and lifestyle of his tribes

Films

Miss Navajo (2007)

File:20071112 newsA1missnavajo1113 Gallery.jpg

Billy Luther and Crystal Frazie on the set of Miss Navajo

Miss Navajo was Luther's documentary first film he directed. It was produced and distributed by Independent Lens, a series of the PBS channel He began writing the film based on his mother’s life growing up on the reservation and winning the Miss Navajo title in the 1960s. Luther describes the films plot about it being a woman's journey to victory in the pageant saying, "wanted to put a hold on the script and do this documentary. I knew it was going to be a film about the women who won the title, but also I wanted to tell the story of a young woman and her journey to win the title." The Film tells the story of woman who wants to compete in the Miss Navajo pageant and describes the journey to get there and what it takes to win. To produce the film Luther worked closely with his family and tribal groups to expose the culture of his heritage to the films audience around the world.

Grab (2011)

Grab was Luther's Second major documentary film which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Independent Film Festival. The film teaches and tells the story about the Laguna ceremonial practice of giving. Grab gives the audience views into the lives of the families who have pledged to gift and help the community. These families toss food, cultural items and other goodies from the roof of their house to the participants below to "grab". In an interview with the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Luther explains That Grab day is a community-wide prayer of abundance,thanks, and renewal. Grab Day exists at the intersection of traditional Native and contemporary western cultures. Luther’s film follows three families as they prepare for the annual event. Luther created the film based on his personal experiences of the holiday saying "“I remember Grab Days, things flying up in the air, hands up in the air and laughter...I remember the joys of that,”