Phil Lucas

Phil Lucas (1942 – February 4, 2007) was an American filmmaker of mostly Native American themes that did not buy into stereotypes. He acted, wrote, produced, directed or edited more than 100 films/documentaries or television programs starting as early as 1979 when he wrote/co-produced and co-directed "Images of Indians" for PBS - a five-part series exploring the problem of Indian stereotypes as portrayed and perpetuated by Hollywood Westerns.

Early life

Born in 1942 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States to the Choctaw Native American Nation, by his twenties Lucas was a musician in New York but giving up alcohol drove him to leave for Central America where he took up photography and work for advertising agencies. About 1969 Lucas also became a member of the Bahá'í Faith and contributed a song "Mount Your Steeds, O Heroes of God!" among other songs on an LP record re-released as a CD "Fire & Snow". [ [http://www.lysergia.com/AcidArchives/lamaArchiveF.htm Fire and Snow] reviewed] [ [http://www.geocities.com/badcatrecords/FIREsnow.htm private collection review] ] He also spoke at at least one Bahá'í Conference (see links below). Lucas returned to the American West and took up filmmaking after surviving the 1972 earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua.

Awards

Acclaimed as the "foremost (Native American) film documentarian" by Hanay Geiogamah, a professor of theater and American Indian studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003560250_lucasobit07e0.html Obituary - Phil Lucas' films told real stories of Native people] By Ashley Bach, Seattle Times Eastside bureau] Lucas won some 18 awards or nominations from 1980 to 2003.

* 1994 "The Native American Series", Emmy Award, Television Series
* 1999 "Allan Houser/Haozous: The Lifetime Works of an American Master"
** Best Documentary, Santa Fe Film Festival, Santa Fe, NM.
** Taos Mountain Award, Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival, Taos, NM.
** Official Selection, Native Forum, Sundance Film Festival.
* 2002 "Restoring the Sacred Circle" won the Best Public Service Award at American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.

As recently as 2003 Lucas won the CINE Eagle Award for "Vis à Vis: Native Tongues".

Films/television

Lucas worked on popular media as well as covering issues inside the Native American community. Lucas played characters and served as a technical advisor on cultural content in popular TV series "Northern Exposure" (1990-1991) and "MacGyver", as well as producing/writing/directing/editing many movies and documentaries. In 1987 he directed "Honor of All" about an Alkali Lake band of Indians in British Columbia who overcame decades of alcohol abuse. Lucas co-directed the 1993 American Indian Dance Theatre for PBS television series Great Performances/Dance in America. Also in 1993, Pierce Brosnan starred in The Broken Chain for TV and Lucas played a Mohawk character in a story about Iroquis' in the midst of the Revolutionary War. Again in 1993 Lucas produced, directed and wrote "Healing the Nation" a documentary on efforts of Nuu Chan-NuIth Nation on Vancouver Island to break the cycle of sexual abuse in their community. In 2003 in "Vis à Vis: Native Tongues" Lucas brought together an Australian Aboriginal artist and an American Indian performance artist.

Later life

Lucas eventually moved to Issaquah, Washington, and taught film at Bellevue Community College in Washington for the last eight years of his life. He began an American Indian Film Festival there in 2003. He died in Bellevue, Washington, and is survived by wife, Mary Lou, and five children.

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RDJdGwfH24 A talk he gave] taped at the 1990 Greenlake Wisconsin Bahá'í Conference.
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0524258/ Internet Movie Database Entry]
* [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003560250_lucasobit07e0.html Obituary - Phil Lucas' films told real stories of Native people] By Ashley Bach, Seattle Times Eastside bureau
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302643_obitlucas07.html Phil Lucas, 1942-2007: Native American 'a teacher in his films and classroom'] By Christine Frey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
* [http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/diversitycaucus/AIFF2006/PhilLucas.htm Phil Lucas Filmmaker and Founder] American Indian Film Festival
* [http://www.nativenetworks.si.edu/eng/rose/lucas_p.htm Phil Lucas] National Museum of the American Indian
* [http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=5178 News and Comment, Native filmmaker passes on at age 65] by Tehaliwaskenhas, Bob Kennedy, Oneida, Turtle Island Native Network