For Northwest history geeks, the most anticipated film event of the season is a rare chance to see a rare film, the just-restored 1914 silent, In the Land of the Head Hunters by Seattle's photographic master Edward S. Curtis. Known most for his monumental work photographing North American Indians, Curtis is mainly remembered and widely collected as a still photographer. Yet he also worked in film (including a stint for Cecil B. DeMille) during cinema's infancy. The "shadowcatcher" caught moving pictures, and his feature will be on screen again in June.
The picture tells a tale of "forbidden love" among the pre-European contact Indians in the Pacific Northwest. It was based mostly on the Kwakwaka'wakw (formerly known as the Kwakiutl) of British Columbia. The title is a reference to the old practice of many Northwest coast tribes of taking heads in battle. Curtis also published a print copy of the story in 1915 illustrated with stills. It's not a documentary but a romance, however it was a pioneering effort featuring an all-indigenous cast and it is a unique filmed record of native culture of its time. Like many of Curtis' works, it may not be 100% historically accurate, but it is valuable nonetheless.
The picture was not a hit and no complete copy of it survived, but about two-thirds of the film has been restored from incomplete copies in collections, and its original score by John Braham has been rediscovered. Key players in the film's restoration and presentation are its executive producers, which include Aaron Glass, a post-doctoral fellow in anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Brad Evans, an associate professor of English at Rutgers with an interest in art and ethnography in the period in which Curtis worked, and Andrea Sanborn of the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, BC where she is charged with helping to "ensure the survival" of Kwakwaka'wakw culture. Many people have seen snippets of the silent film; they've often been used in museum exhibits of Northwest native artifacts.
The film shows first on June 5 at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, accompanied by a two-day symposium. It then shows in Seattle as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, at the Moore Theater on June 10, with a live orchestra performing the film score and Kwakwaka'wakw dancers. The film had a gala opening at the Moore in 1914. On June 22, it will be shown in Vancouver, BC, the weekend of National Aboriginal Day in Canada.
