As an ill-fitting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, around this time each year, I receive boxes and boxes of movie memorabilia, usually meant to sway and influence us to place these flicks on our top ten lists and, sadly, for many critics, it often works and works well.
This year, Netflix has been pitching like crazy, sending critics bottles of wine and so on, all in an effort to send their pre-paid films to the top of the pops. And while that’s fine—it’s wholly their prerogative—director Sterlin Harjo’s newest documentary premiered on the streamer December 3rd with--as of this writing--sadly, little to no promotion or fanfare.
Netflix either has no faith in the film or, perhaps more accurately, no faith in Indigenous people.