Remaining Native
Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner living on the Yerington Paiute reservation in northwest Nevada, hopes that his dream school, the University of Oregon, will recognize his talent and recruit him. But as Ku trains, he confronts unreconciled emotions as he recalls his great-grandfather Frank “Togo’o” Quinn’s story. At only eight years old, Quinn ran 50 miles across desert to escape an Indian boarding school. That journey becomes interwoven with Ku’s own ambition to not only run a collegiate-qualifying time but to connect past, present, and future. Ku sets his sights on recreating his great-grandfather’s flight to freedom, as the young athlete embraces his Native identity and runs with it, reconnecting with his family history.
The film received both the Documentary Feature Special Jury Award and the Audience Award at this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival.
2023 DocPitch Finalist
Director/s
Paige Bethmann
Paige Bethmann
PAIGE BETHMANN is a Haudenosaunee woman and first-time feature filmmaker based in Reno, Nevada. Over the last 10 years, Paige has worked in non-fiction television for various digital and broadcast networks such as ESPN, PBS, Vox Media, Youtube Originals, USA, and NBC. She is a graduate of Ithaca College, with a bachelor’s degree in Film, Television, and Radio from the Park School of Communications.
Expected Guests
DAWN VALADEZ: Advisor
Tickets
BAVC