Native actor appearing in 2 Sundance premiers

LOS ANGELES – Native American veteran actor Patrick D. Shining Elk will make two world premiere film appearances at the Sundance Film Festival, January 15-25, 2009 in Park City Utah.  Sundance 2009 appearances for Shining Elk include his character as “Gary”  one of the “Mission Boyz” in Peter Bratt’s film La Mission starring Benjamin Bratt, and as “Martin Two Spirit” in Kevin Willmott’s The Only Good Indian starring Wes Studi.

La Mission

La Mission is a haunting story of healing and transformation: the healing of a broken man, of a father’s relationship with his son, and of a neighborhood struggling to break the chains of violence. As a recovering alcoholic and ex-con that gets by on intimidation, Che (Benjamin Bratt) is also a devoted father to teenage son Jesse who he violently rejects after discovering that Jesse is gay. Prompted in part by his headstrong neighbor Lena, Che must confront his long held prejudices to repair his parental relationship. A bus driver by day, Che lives for his son, lifelong friends, and his passion for lowrider cars. Che and the “Mission Boyz” salvage junked cars, transforming them into classics.

Sundance veteran Peter Bratt (Follow Me Home) returns with a powerful second feature. Propelled by commanding performances from Jeremy Ray Valdez as Jesse and Erika Alexander as Lena—and featuring an exceptional turn by Benjamin Bratt.

The Only Good Indian

In The Only Good Indian, Wes Studi portrays an early 1900’s Cherokee bounty hunter “Sam” hired to return an escapee from an Indian boarding school.  Winter Fox Frank plays the teenaged student “Charlie” who is trying to get back to his family on the Kickapoo of Kansas reservation and J. Kenneth Campbell plays a legendary “Indian fighter”-turned-sheriff who is after both of them.  Patrick Shining Elk portrays “Martin Two Spirit,” an articulate, if somewhat peculiar, patient at an “Indian Insane Asylum.” Sam comes across him while searching for a Native American woman wanted for murder.  Martin was friends with her and provides some intriguing insight into her character.

Kevin Willmott wrote and directed the highly acclaimed independent feature CSA: Confederate States of America, which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival, and Ninth Street, which starred Martin Sheen and Isaac Hayes.  He has written scripts for Oliver Stone, NBC, 20th Century Fox and Columbia Tri-Star.

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