Kind Hearted Woman preview

I'm taking the unusual  step of reviewing a Frontline film I worked on with David Sutherland (The Farmer's Wife, Country Boys).


                           Kind Hearted Woman
Trailer

His latest  epic is a searing portrait of a Native woman, Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation.  Sutherland follows Robin over three years as she struggles to conquer her alcohol addiction ,  raise her two children, further her education, and heal herself from the wounds of sexual abuse she suffered as a child.   

Robin’s battles in tribal court with her ex-husband for custody of the children, even after he is convicted of abusive sexual contact with his daughter, illuminates how serious this problem is on the reservation. Her quest to heal her family, find a man worthy of her love, build a career, and fulfill her goal of returning to her reservation to help prevent the abuse of women and children, takes her on an intimate and inspiring journey full of heartbreak, discovery, and redemption.

David has just completed  a 2 year edit and a meticulous post-production process on the 5 hour  series which will air as a presentation  of Frontline and Independent  Lens on PBS April  1 and 2. 

I worked with David, supervising his efforts on The Farmers Wife  and Country Boys, to which I made  some serious structural contributions, but on Kind Hearted Woman, David was at the top of his game and didn't need much of my help, so I can sing his praises without singing my own. 

I think viewers will find the film  very dramatic , involving and yet still troubling , due to its difficult subject matter.  David is a very accomplished storyteller and filmmaker, and his level of commitment to his films is unprecedented in my experience:

Here's a video piece about  David's filmmaking

I hope you take to opportunity to screen the film.  It will also be available online at Frontline.org. And I would be happy to publish your comments, on the film  here on this blog.  Send your comments  to me at jmsul68@gmail.com

Here are links to a couple of interesting articles about the film.

From IDA:  http://www.documentary.org/magazine/reservation-blues-kind-hearted-woman-paints-hardscrabble-portrait

And from  NY Times

Also, Frontline reporter Sarah Childress has done substantial reporting on the controversies  about tribal justice and child protection on the Spirit Lake Reservation, Check out her posts at Frontline

Hope to hear from you with your reviews of Kind Hearted Woman.