Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Wild Indian, Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr’s debut feature that had its world premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Michael Greyeyes, Chaske Spencer, Jesse Eisenberg, Kate Bosworth star in the pic, which will get a theatrical release later this year.
The plot of Corbine’s screenplay revolves around Makwa, a young Anishinaabe boy. He often appears at school with bruises he says he got falling down, but no one believes him. He and his only friend, Ted-o, like to escape by playing in the woods, until the day Makwa shockingly murders a schoolmate. After covering up the crime, the two go on to live very different lives. Now, as adult men, they must face the truth of what they have done and what they have become.
Greyeyes and Spencer star as the adult Makwa and Ted-o, respectively. Newcomers Phoenix Wilson and Julian Gopal play Makwa and Ted-o as boys.
Thomas Mahoney, Corbine and Eric Tavitian produced the pic, which was executive produced by Céline Dornier, Frédéric Fiore, Katy Drake Bettner, Niraj Bhatia, Joel Michaely, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Adam Margules, Lesli A. Masoner, Dan McClung, Adriana Banta, Jake Carter, Eisenberg, Heather Rae, and Brent Ryan Green. It hails from Logical Pictures, 30West, Om Films, Boulderlight Pictures, mm2 Entertainment and PurePlay Entertainment.
“When we first saw Wild Indian at Sundance this year, we were struck by first-time writer-director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr’s masterful handling of such an intimate story and the captivating performances from the entire cast,” said Rich Goldberg, co-president of Vertical Entertainment. “We are so proud to be partnering with the whole filmmaking team to bring this affecting film to audiences later this year.”
Vertical’s Peter Jarowey and Josh Spector negotiated the deal with 30West and Endeavor Content.
The plot of Corbine’s screenplay revolves around Makwa, a young Anishinaabe boy. He often appears at school with bruises he says he got falling down, but no one believes him. He and his only friend, Ted-o, like to escape by playing in the woods, until the day Makwa shockingly murders a schoolmate. After covering up the crime, the two go on to live very different lives. Now, as adult men, they must face the truth of what they have done and what they have become.
Greyeyes and Spencer star as the adult Makwa and Ted-o, respectively. Newcomers Phoenix Wilson and Julian Gopal play Makwa and Ted-o as boys.
Thomas Mahoney, Corbine and Eric Tavitian produced the pic, which was executive produced by Céline Dornier, Frédéric Fiore, Katy Drake Bettner, Niraj Bhatia, Joel Michaely, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Adam Margules, Lesli A. Masoner, Dan McClung, Adriana Banta, Jake Carter, Eisenberg, Heather Rae, and Brent Ryan Green. It hails from Logical Pictures, 30West, Om Films, Boulderlight Pictures, mm2 Entertainment and PurePlay Entertainment.
“When we first saw Wild Indian at Sundance this year, we were struck by first-time writer-director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr’s masterful handling of such an intimate story and the captivating performances from the entire cast,” said Rich Goldberg, co-president of Vertical Entertainment. “We are so proud to be partnering with the whole filmmaking team to bring this affecting film to audiences later this year.”
Vertical’s Peter Jarowey and Josh Spector negotiated the deal with 30West and Endeavor Content.
- 5/26/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Wild Indian is a bold, anger-wreaked character study, creating a deeply unsympathetic antihero who nevertheless inspires some pity and understanding. Although representation for indigenous American people in the arts is increasing, it’s still hard to recall a film quite like Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.’s debut, which moves its Native American characters from a cinematic periphery they’re most often found towards the center. Its story of an upwardly mobile Ojibwe man (Michael Greyeyes), haunted by a past crime, surprises us, its progression almost like an old-fashioned morality tale, and Corbine feels no pressure to skew to politically correct positive representations.
Many debut films proceed as if the director believes they will never make another one; any idea is fair game for inclusion. Wild Indian embodies this––but in the best possible sense. It shows a real mastery and confidence in achieving a certain cinematic language: a pre-title prologue...
Many debut films proceed as if the director believes they will never make another one; any idea is fair game for inclusion. Wild Indian embodies this––but in the best possible sense. It shows a real mastery and confidence in achieving a certain cinematic language: a pre-title prologue...
- 2/1/2021
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
“Wild Indian,” a psychological thriller about two men that have to live with a crime they committed as children, has left its star Michael Greyeyes “haunted.”
“Makwa was so very complicated — when I read the script, I was immediately attracted to the potential of playing a character like this — and this character challenged me on every level,” he told Beatrice Verhoeven at TheWrap’s Sundance Virtual Studio presented by Nfp and National Geographic. “I was attracted to it because Lyle (Mitchell Corbine Jr.)’s script placed an indigenous character inside the center of a frame, like the frame of narrative, and this is a space not usually reserved for indigenous actors, and I relished the opportunity to lead in that sense. But the darkness and the character’s inherent violence was really something challenging for me.”
He added: “I’m still haunted by [the character] — some of the things that Makwa says really struck me,...
“Makwa was so very complicated — when I read the script, I was immediately attracted to the potential of playing a character like this — and this character challenged me on every level,” he told Beatrice Verhoeven at TheWrap’s Sundance Virtual Studio presented by Nfp and National Geographic. “I was attracted to it because Lyle (Mitchell Corbine Jr.)’s script placed an indigenous character inside the center of a frame, like the frame of narrative, and this is a space not usually reserved for indigenous actors, and I relished the opportunity to lead in that sense. But the darkness and the character’s inherent violence was really something challenging for me.”
He added: “I’m still haunted by [the character] — some of the things that Makwa says really struck me,...
- 1/30/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Issues of identity, assimilation and the contemporary Native American experience run deep beneath Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.’s feature debut, “Wild Indian,” while the surface narrative is one that any filmmaker could have told, albeit in a less original context. Watching “Wild Indian,” I was reminded of “Moonlight,” with its three distinct time periods. “Wild Indian” has two, but is bookended by long-ago scenes of its lead actor, Michael Greyeyes, dressed in furs and brandishing a bow and arrow, his face scarred by smallpox. Corbine’s film is more conventional, and not nearly as well acted, but it explores a similar kind of inner turmoil and the personal journey to accept oneself.
In the first act, set on the reservation, Corbine introduces an orphan Ojibwe teen named Makwa (Phoenix Wilson), who is abused at home and bullied at school, which likely explains an unforgivable decision he can’t undo: While...
In the first act, set on the reservation, Corbine introduces an orphan Ojibwe teen named Makwa (Phoenix Wilson), who is abused at home and bullied at school, which likely explains an unforgivable decision he can’t undo: While...
- 1/30/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.’s feature debut represents indie cinema at its most stark and elemental. Depicting the fateful aftermath of a horrific act of senseless violence committed by a young Indigenous boy, Wild Indian has the feel of Greek tragedy infused with film-noir fatalism. Featuring superb performances by Michael Greyeyes and Chaske Spencer in the lead roles, the film, receiving its world premiere at Sundance, marks an auspicious feature debut for its writer/director.
The opening section, set in the 1980s, introduces us to two Anishinaabe youth: Makwa (Phoenix Wilson) and his best friend and cousin, Teddo (Julian Gopal), living ...
The opening section, set in the 1980s, introduces us to two Anishinaabe youth: Makwa (Phoenix Wilson) and his best friend and cousin, Teddo (Julian Gopal), living ...
- 1/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.’s feature debut represents indie cinema at its most stark and elemental. Depicting the fateful aftermath of a horrific act of senseless violence committed by a young Indigenous boy, Wild Indian has the feel of Greek tragedy infused with film-noir fatalism. Featuring superb performances by Michael Greyeyes and Chaske Spencer in the lead roles, the film, receiving its world premiere at Sundance, marks an auspicious feature debut for its writer/director.
The opening section, set in the 1980s, introduces us to two Anishinaabe youth: Makwa (Phoenix Wilson) and his best friend and cousin, Teddo (Julian Gopal), living ...
The opening section, set in the 1980s, introduces us to two Anishinaabe youth: Makwa (Phoenix Wilson) and his best friend and cousin, Teddo (Julian Gopal), living ...
- 1/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
I Was A Simple ManThe Sundance Institute has announced 72 feature films and 50 shorts selected for their 2021 Festival, including 66 world premieres and 38 films from first-time feature filmmakers. The first festival under new Festival Director Tabitha Jackson, Sundance 2021 is set to take place both digitally and in person across the entire United States at drive-ins and independent arthouses between January 28—February 3.U.S. Dramatic Competitioncoda (Siân Heder, USA) — As a Coda – Child of Deaf Adults – Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin. World Premiere.I Was a Simple Man (Christopher Makoto Yogi, USA) — As a family in Hawai'i faces the imminent death of their eldest, the ghosts of the past haunt the countryside.
- 12/15/2020
- MUBI
The directorial debuts of actress Robin Wright and musician Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and a documentary from Edgar Wright will be among the new films screening at the largely virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Sundance organizers announced on Tuesday.
Robin Wright’s “Land,” starring Wright, Demian Bichir and Kim Dickens and set in the Rocky Mountains, will premiere at Sundance in advance of its Feb. 12 release from Focus Features. Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” is a documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival, which drew 300,000 people in the summer of 1969. Edgar Wright’s “The Sparks Brothers” is about Ron and Russell Mael, the two brothers who founded the rock band Sparks.
The Sundance lineup, which was revealed in its entirety, will consist of 72 feature films, 50 shorts, four indie episodic series and 14 “new frontier” projects. The films will screen on Sundance’s online platform, with each one having a live online premiere, and also...
Robin Wright’s “Land,” starring Wright, Demian Bichir and Kim Dickens and set in the Rocky Mountains, will premiere at Sundance in advance of its Feb. 12 release from Focus Features. Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” is a documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival, which drew 300,000 people in the summer of 1969. Edgar Wright’s “The Sparks Brothers” is about Ron and Russell Mael, the two brothers who founded the rock band Sparks.
The Sundance lineup, which was revealed in its entirety, will consist of 72 feature films, 50 shorts, four indie episodic series and 14 “new frontier” projects. The films will screen on Sundance’s online platform, with each one having a live online premiere, and also...
- 12/15/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
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