imagineNATIVE 26 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW! An entire language is saved from extinction in the modernized folktale short The Woman Who Married A Bear, written by Kaa, Laa Mary Goddard, and directed by Goddard and Dave Fedorski. Narrated by X’unei Lance Twitchell, it tells the tale in current times, where a woman (Gavi Stroemer) and her friend (Nancy Neel) are foraging in the woods during the winter. The woman strays from the path and gets lost. She runs into a man (Lucas Goddard) in the woods, who takes her to where he lives for the night.
The woman does not know the man she has met is a bear who has changed his shape for her. The two fall in love and get married that night, consummating the marriage in the warmth of the lair. The next morning, the woman steps outside while her new husband sleeps. She hears her friend crying in the woods, looking for her. She finds out she has been missing for several weeks. Then the bear wakes up…
“The Woman Who Married A Bear has a great purpose and a never-ending importance.”
The Woman Who Married A Bear is instantly one of the most important films ever made. Let me tell you why. In the opening of the film, it is explained that the narration is done in the lost language of the Tlingit tribe. They were a tribe located in southwest Alaska and the connecting Northern territory in Canada that had almost been completely wiped out. There are only about six speakers of the language left, so The Woman Who Married A Bear is a brilliant way to preserve it forever. So right from the get-go, this short has worth beyond measurement on a cultural preservation level. It also happens to be a fantastically well-made film as well.
There is this genius visual motif Fedorski uses when shooting, keeping areas of the frame out of focus on purpose. Someone is always in a blur, even if they are supposed to be the subject in the visual field. This method is devilish in its effects and results; keep reality in check by never quite seeing it. This helps keep the mythical feel of the folktale going, even though it is set in the world of today. Modernizing the source material is also a rich way to point out that the Tlingit tongue used in the short works just as well as ever. The Woman Who Married A Bear has a great purpose and a never-ending importance that will not fade away.
"…has great purpose and a never-ending importance that will not fade away."
