Te Ata

Beautiful depiction of the life and Times of Te Ata, and the experience of her people in the early 1900's onward. At times it felt a little bit like a Hallmark movie but when she started singing in performance the tears started flowing -what a beautiful voice -what a beautiful message. Well done.

Te Ata (2016) was directed by Nathan Frankowski, The film follows the life of a remarkable woman, Te Ata Thompson Fisher of the Chickasaw Nation. It's worth checking Wikipedia to learn about Te Ata, who was a truly a unique woman.

Q'orianka Kilcher, who portrays Te Ata, is also a remarkable woman. Her father is of indigenous Peruvian descent. She spent many years in Hawaii, and she has absorbed the indigenous Hawaiian culture as well.

The film is historically accurate. The Chickasaw nation was unwillingly forced to become part of the state of Oklahoma. In the early 20th Century, prejudice against Native Americans was as strong in Oklahoma as it was throughout the United States.

What makes this movie so interesting was that Te Ata rose above these prejudices to present the stories of indigenous people to the rest of the world. She performed in the White House and before the King and Queen of England. She is the type of person whose life cries out for a film biography, and I believe this movie does her justice.

We saw Te Ata at the Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It was presented as part of the wonderful High Falls Film Festival: Celebrating Women in Film. This movie is both entertaining and important. It will work better in a theatre than on the small screen. However, even on a small screen, it will repay your effort to seek it out and see it.

Congratulations for the producers & backers of this film for bringing Te Ata's history to the screen.

The acting, directing, and videography were excellent.

And the story, of course, was compelling.

This is a must see movie. Talented performers and above average direction and production values. A movie that teaches us.

I was glad to learn about Te Ata, and I read more about her after the movie. She was an exquisitely beautiful, gifted woman, and the love story is as moving as is her own story. But she deserved a better film than this one. Both leads are good in their parts as is the cast. It's when Kilcher is on stage and supposed to be telling Te Ata's stories that the film falls apart. She is awkward and unconvincing, as though she didn't feel the scenes or didn't practice them. They stop short of anything like the dignity and magic that we're supposed to see reflected in the audiences' awed faces. It's disappointing and even jarring. Instead, try the short film about her on YouTube where you see her beauty and confident dignity, hear the Indian voice and music in the background that soars and moves the heart. I'm glad the makers gave us a film about Te Ata; now another company needs to release a film that does her justice.