People in Oklahoma will always remember their first powwow. The food, the colorful regalia, the dancing, it’s a wave of nostalgia for anyone who grew up going to native congregations like this, especially for Emmy and Peabody-nominated Cowlitz filmmaker Joey Clift, who decided to make an animated short out of it.
What is Pow! about?
Pow! is a charming retelling of a native childhood memory, out of the very real-life experience of writer/director Clift himself. Pow! premiered at deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City in June.
“It’s based on, really my personal experiences being dragged by my mom to powwows when I was a kid,” he said. “Truly, so much of my youth was spent sitting in the bleachers playing Game Boy while my mom was on the dance floor.”
According to Clift, he assembled a ‘Dream team’ for this project and expresses his gratitude to many of his native collaborators.
The crew that worked on Pow!
“Behind the scenes, we had a largely indigenous team working on the short,” Clift said. “Morgan Thompson, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, did the character designs and helped out with some consulting, producing.”…