Begin a conversation about Idaho natives who happen to be among the best and critically acclaimed filmmakers and Heather Rae is at, or near the very top of that list. From the big screen (the Oscar-nominated "Frozen River") to the home screen (Amazon’s "Outer Range"), Rae’s work is all about discovery.
“I've always had a particular interest in supporting original and unique storytellers,” she said. “And I've worked with a lot of first-time filmmakers.”
Just prior to her latest film,Fancy Dance, is showcased at the Sun Valley Film Festival, Rae visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about that discovery.
“I think that one of the things that has opened up in our collective consciousness is an interest in worlds that we don't know about, and also an interest in worlds that we come from that oftentimes were underrepresented.”
GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. I'm George Prentice. Good morning. Well, I've lost count of how many conversations I've had with Heather Rae over the years about so many different things. And I use the word conversation deliberately because it is always something I look forward to. There is always so much that I take away…, and it always ends way too soon and I always just want another conversation. Heather Rae, good morning.
HEATHER RAE: Good morning, George. Thank you so much for that. I feel the same. I love talking with you. I also just love listening to you talk. And it's so it's been a pleasure for many years to hear your voice through the airwaves and the presence that you have at the Sun Valley Film Festival, all of that. So thank you.
PRENTICE: For our audience, we're thrilled to report that your latest project, the film Fancy Dance, was a huge hit at Sundance, and people in Idaho need to know it will be showcased at the upcoming Sun Valley Film Festival. So congratulations for all of that.
RAE: Absolutely. I am. I'm so excited to have Fancy Dance play at Sun Valley. The film premiered at Sundance, and the writer director, Erica Tremblay, is just an immensely talented storyteller. She's also part of the writing team for the show Reservation Dogs. And it's going to be really fun to have all of us in Sun Valley and for the community to be able to see this film.
PRENTICE: Producer, director, creator… and I'm always interested in hearing from you about finding those culturally specific and yet those commercially viable stories. But can you speak to about where you are in your profession and where we might be collectively as audiences?
RAE: Thank you for that question. Where I'm at is, you know, I'm a producer. I've been a producer for a long time. I, you know, I truly believe it's my calling in life. Um, you know, to be able to support and foster the voices and the vision of others. Not that I don't have my own vision at all, you know, And a sense of what I feel is, you know, really important in terms of stories and the kinds of stories that the world wants to hear and needs to hear. I do think that our country, our society, our collective culture has gone through so many changes in recent years and that things, you know, how we see things is changing. I also feel like that in terms of the media, film and television, and it's much more global. You know, we're in a much more global conversation that has a lot to do with the streamers because you think about the Amazons, the Netflix, the Hulus, the Apple, those are global platforms. You know, most of those entities reach somewhere around 200 countries throughout the world, which means that when we're creating content in the, you know, in the Hollywood space, it's not just about the United States. It's actually about, you know, a global perspective and global audiences. And I think that's good for us. I think it's good for our for the world for us to be in a larger conversation. So there's a lot that I that I have seen changing, you know, and the ways in which audiences consume content is so different. Like, for example, we're much more inclined, inclined to read subtitles at this point in time. You know, there was a point in time in the film industry when there was a kind of a resistance to something being in another language, you know, outside of the English language, because the idea was people were going to have to read. But it's so common now. We read everything, you know, and that really changes how we can take in content.
PRENTICE: Can you speak to how deep the pool of Native American talent and crew is? And while, you know, there's never enough jobs. I mean, it's an ocean of talent, right?
RAE: Absolutely. Speaking to this notion of there being a global conversation on indigenous people are the world's second largest population. So the largest population globally speaking, is the Asian population. There's about 4.5 billion people who are of Asian descent in the world, and there are around 1.5 billion people of indigenous descent. And so it's the world's largest second population. It's, you know, and it's a group of people who manage, you know, about 25% of the the Earth's surface and about 90% of the Earth's biosphere. And it's a viable audience. And and what's so great about these last couple of years is that we've seen a shift in terms of access and interest and opportunity for storytellers like Sterling Harjo, who created Reservation Dogs, or Sierra Ornelas, who created the show Rutherford Falls for Peacock. You know, there's myriad shows and several different feature films that have been made in the last couple of years. There's also interest from folks like Martin Scorsese, who has a film Killers of the Flower Moon, that's based on the book of the same title that will be coming out sometime this year. And this tells the story of the Osage murders in the 1930. And it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and a wonderful Blackfeet actress from Montana named Lily Gladstone, who also happens to be the lead in fancy dance. But a film of that caliber being made by someone like Scorsese, costarring Leonardo DiCaprio. That's a big shift. It's a big cultural shift, and it widens the lens, which is really important because for so long an invisibility has been a detriment, you know, to the native peoples of this country, for example. And and I think that that's what I think we're starting to to see shift is really confronting that erasure and starting to replace that with visible city and you know, and voice. And that's a really important part of how things are changing, culturally speaking. From my from my observation, you know.
PRENTICE: What lens are you looking through that may be different in 2023 when you're shepherding projects?
RAE: Well, my interest throughout my career has always been in supporting, you know, unique voices and really supporting storytellers who oftentimes come from what we might deem a margin, even though I think that part of the move right now is to actually not have margins, but to bring the margin into the center, you know, to like bring everyone together. So I've always had a particular interest in supporting, you know, original and unique storytellers. And I've worked with a lot of first time filmmakersalso. I mean, I've, you know, worked with so many filmmakers. For example, Shawn Hader, who directed last year's Academy Award winner, CODA while I produced her first movie, Tallulah. And, you know, so there's been so many filmmakers I've worked with. Who are you know, emerging in their storytelling. And that is something that I really care about. I've also been working in television for the last 4 or 5 years, and and that's been an interesting space to work in because television is so different this day and age. You know, it's so evocative. There's so much content, such interesting storytelling, you know, and some way at one point in time, you know, a critic said, you know, television is the new independent film, which I don't agree with that. But I thought it was an interesting idea because it's true, television is a space where we really consume content. So, you know, I work across both film and television. I've also worked in the nonfiction space. I'm very hybridized myself and always looking for storytellers who have a story to tell that is important, that is dynamic, that comes from who they are, and that tells a story that contributes something to the world. And this larger conversation that we're in.
PRENTICE: And while documentaries are amazingly popular and like you said, you work in both nonfiction and fiction, can you speak to the power of narrative fiction and a project like like Fancy Dance that that says so much by telling a very particular story, but yet says so much to us as a people?
RAE: I think that one of the things that has opened up in our collective consciousness, if you will, is an interest in worlds that we don't know about and also an interest in worlds that we come from that oftentimes were underrepresented. So there's this interesting mix, you know, in the narrative form of telling stories that are authentic to a particular place or to a particular group of people. And I think that that acute authenticity is something that people really respond to. And, you know, there's there's bigger conversations about who should. Tell the story. I think that's a really important conversation. You know, there's there's an interest in seeing different perspectives on something we may already know about. You know, I think that one of the things I'm working on is this series, Amazon series, Outer Range. And I'm actually actually in New Mexico right now because we're gearing up for season two of outer range. But even outer range is a show that, you know, that tells a story about a particular place, which would be Wyoming. And and yet it does it from a kind of unique point of view. And yes, it could be deemed to be the Western genre, but it's still different, you know, and how it looks at things. So people are finding their way to tell their own stories, even through their social media. You know, that's a new space where people can express themselves, you know, as, as as human beings, as as citizens, as artists, as creatives, whatever it may be. So I do think of it as a very complicated time, but also a highly creative time.
PRENTICE: And do you have a sense of what audiences are hungry for in 2023?
RAE: I mean, I would stick with the idea that audiences are interested in authenticity. And I also think that people look, if you look at the trends in the industry right now, you know, there is definitely an interest in in stories that entertain stories that that are evocative in the sense that they explore something but that still are funny. For example, if you look at the award system shows like Ted Lasso and Hacks and Barry like stuff that's like so like people I think really want to just feel relieved from some of the heaviness of the world, especially coming out of this pandemic, you know, this global pandemic of the last few years. I feel like people are interested in things that are, you know, that kind of give them a tickle. And I know that I, although have a career that is deeply steeped in social realism like issues and, you know, activism. I'm really interested in comedy, too, because I think it's important. It's medicine.
PRENTICE: It's worth repeating that Fancy Dance will be the opening showcase to this year's Sun Valley Film Festival. That's a pretty big deal.
RAE: I'm very thankful for it. Yeah, we're really thankful for that. And Erica Tremblay, who, you know, the director of Fancy Dance, she has family ties in Idaho, in the Sun Valley area, which is really special, too. So it's a coming home in a certain way for her as well.
PRENTICE: What a homecoming. We can't wait to see you. We can't wait to see your film. And it's coming up in a matter of days. And she is Heather Rae, filmmaker extraordinaire. Heather, safe journey to you always. And yes, in Sun Valley.
RAE: I can't wait to come home. I'll see everybody soon. Thank you so much.
Find reporter George Prentice on Twitter @georgepren
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