Alanis Obomsawin

Randolph Lewis is an associate professor of American Studies in the Honors College of the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America and the co-editor of Reflections on James Joyce: The Paris Journals of Stuart Gilbert.

• 1. Abenaki Beginnings; 2. Early Films; 3. A Gendered Gaze?; 4. Documentary on the Middle Ground; 5. Why Documentary?; 6. Cinema of Sovereignty; Conclusion

“Most Americans probably do not know that Canada has an oft-distinguished film industry. . . . Here Lewis goes some way toward redressing this oversight by discussing the career of a documentary filmmaker who is a double rarity: a member of a First Nations tribe (one of the Canadian indigenous peoples) and a woman. . . . Lewis relates the story of this remarkable woman in conventional chronological order, with ample biographical data and a detailed analysis of her oeuvre and its impact on Canadian society. . . . [T]his is a welcome addition to a long-neglected part of cinema literature.” -Library Journal "Lewis's writing is at all times clear, efficient, and accessible, and his nuanced understanding of Obomsawin's work is evident throughout. In addition to a masterful and informative narrative, Lewis provides useful filmographies of Obomsawin's work and of other noteworthy Native American documentaries."—T. Maxwell-Long, Choice