I am honored to have the opportunity to interview Award-winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald Vasicek. 

 1.  What kind of films do you make?

         Documentary and feature films.

 2.  What are you currently working on?

    “Ghosts of Sand Creek”, a documentary feature film.  Peter Coyote (”ET”, “Jagged Edge”, “Erin Brokovich”)is going to narrate the film.  Academy Award winner RIchard Lerner (”A Story of Healing”) is going to be the director of photography and there are five Emmy Award winners attached to the film.

3.  If somebody wanted to become a filmmaker, how would you suggest for them to go about doing it?

Every good film requires a compelling story.  It has a main theme that holds everything together.  It requires a beginning, a middle, and an end.  There are a host of books and seminars where one can learn to write scripts and make films.  Films schools can be helpful as well, but most are very expensive and don’t give the student that much hands  on experience.  Learn about lighting, sound and camera via books, etc.  Get a camera and an editing program.  Go out and shoot.  Bring what you shoot back to your computer and edit it.  Continue doing this until you get the lighting, the sound, the images, the story, the characters, etc. right.  Study films.  Study scripts.  Incorporate filmmaking into your daily life until it becomes your daily life and you will be well on your way to success.

4. You are an awarding winning writer/filmmaker, tell us something about that.

     I’ve won a variety of writing awards including awards from “Writer’s Digest”, Chesterfield Film Program, Sundance Screenwriter’s Competition, to mention those that come to mind.   Filmmaking awards include Best Documentary Film, The  Indie Film Festival, The American Indian Film Festival, and the prestigious Golden Drover Award at the Trail Dance Film Festival.  

5.  You have done a film called, “Ghost of Sand Creek” Please tell us about it and how we can get a copy of it.

“Ghosts of Sand Creek” is a feature documentary film.  The story is being told from point-of-view of Cheyenne and Arapaho people.  It will be the first film about the Sand Creek Massacre that tells the story this way, and not the white man’s way.  The film will take the viewer to the numerous peace treaties the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to, without legal representation, from 1825 to 1890 when they saw they land shrink from 51 million acres to 160 acres each on reservations.  Native people will tell their stories that their ancestors, survivors from the Sand Creek Massacre, passed on so that they can be recorded for historical purposes.  Native Americans are dying due to white people’s diseases, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc.  Their youth are becoming “Americanized.”  It is my hope that “Ghosts of Sand Creek” will create enough exposure to allow us to lobby Congress to get them to legislate a bill that will require Native American studies on all school curriculums.  I encourage all others to help me out in accomplishing this.  I am in the midst of raising $2.5 million to put the film into production.  I am open to comments, questions, and suggestions that will help  me out with this project.

6.  Do you need contributions to help out with getting films like “Ghost of Sand Creek”  

          Yes.  All contributions can be made to the American Indian Genocide Museum         (http://www.aigenom.com/, indmuseum@yahoo.com) in Houston. 

 7.  How can someone contribute to “Ghost of Sand Creek?”  Please give link:  

   www.aigenom.com. Be sure and mention that contributions are for the  ”Ghosts of    Sand Creek” film project.

 8.  Have you done other films about the American Indian?

      Yes.  ”The Sand Creek Massacre”.  It is a short film that is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

9.  Please tell us something about yourself. 

         I’ve been a writer/filmmaker for several years.  I live in Colorado.  I act as a consultant for writers and filmmakers.  I have published over 500 articles and books about writing.  

 10. Last but not least, tell us your take on the Sand Creek Massacre.

    My take on the Sand Creek Massacre is that it occurred because of fear and ignorance.  Ignorance of who the Cheyenne and Arapaho people really were, what they represented, and what they desired.  Ignorance of the Cheyenne and Arapaho culture.  Ignorance of utilizing violence over diplomatic discussion.  Greed for the Cheyenne and Arapaho’s land.  All of these elements were fueled by fear.  This fear was based on European people, who came upon the Cheyenne and Arapaho’s land, whose knowledge of them, was limited to what they saw and what they experienced.  These settlers new little, so little.  To thrust themselves upon the Cheyenne and Arapaho people with their military power, were acts of fear and ignorance.  The heinous slaughter, murder, rape, and mutilation at Sand Creek on November 29, 1864 was fueled by ignorance and fear of a few isolated clashes between white and Indian people.  The Sand Creek Massacre is a perfect example of what we experienced with the Bush and Cheney administration in Iraq.  Ignorance of how to deal with terrorists after 9/11 fueled their fear to lash out and kill others as a means to, as they said, “win”, over the terrorists.  It resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of people.  We can learn from the Sand Creek Massacre by juxtaposing what President Obama is incorporating in the world today, communication, discussions, diplomacy, so that the world can become a safer place to live.

 Links to Don:  http://donvasicek.com/

                           http://sandcreekmassacre.net/

 Don, I must say I think what you are doing is wonderful.   I am so honored to have been given the opportunity to help in some way.

 Please if you can donate, please do so.  It would be greatly appreciated.

Walk in peace and harmony,

 Melinda

5 Comments »

1. 

   Fascinating interview. Thanks Melinda and Don, for bringing this important piece of history to light.

   Comment by Cate Masters — October 14, 2009 @ 10:52 pm

2. 

   Cate,

   Thank you for visiting. Don has really done a good thing

   Walk in peace and harmony,

   Melinda

   Comment by Melinda Elmore — October 15, 2009 @ 12:07 am

3. 

   Don Vacisek says he advises writers — I expect he does it well, since he goes straight to the heart of the story. He says “Every good film requires a compelling story. It has a main theme that holds everything together. It requires a beginning, a middle, and an end.”

   I wish people who send me manuscripts would memorize this sentiment before they write.

   Comment by Bill Stubbs — October 15, 2009 @ 8:14 am

4. 

   Lucynda sent me this message:

   Thanks Melinda,

   The first time I ever heard about the Sand Creek Massacre was in James
   Michener’s Centennial. The scene was depicted so realistically and
   graphically that I couldn’t believe it had happened. Then I looked up
   Chevington’s name and discovered it was that and worse. The Colorado
   Historical Society has a lot of information on the Sand Creek Massacre. Not
   one of our more illustrious historical events to be sure. Thankfully, it
   hasn’t been a skeleton in the closet and every Colorado kid in 4th grade
   takes state history and learns about it.

   Lucynda

   I have to say that Don has done an excellent job
   Thank you Lucynda for your comment

   Comment by Melinda Elmore — October 15, 2009 @ 3:24 pm

5. 

   I was so glad to read your interview with Melinda. She has a heart to promote Native Americans and their history. I wish you much success in getting the Sand Creek Massacre film out there.

   I write Native American historicals myself, with a little romance thrown in, but my storeis are accurate depictions of their lives, culture and the history going on around them at the time. I try to stay as true to the facts and their beliefs as I can. I visited the sites wrote about in my APACHE WARRIOR, and NAVAJO NIGHT. The Navajo story was about a navajo Holy Man and dealt with “The Long Walk” they were forced to make to the Bosque Redondo when Col. Kit Carson rounded up 4,000 and marched them south. Very similar to the Cherokee “Traid of Tears.” I’m looking for someone to take my stories and make them into a movie, they seem to be the kind that would just fit with Hallmark Channel or Sundance. Best Wishes, Carol Ann

   Comment by Carol Ann Didier — October 20, 2009 @ 5:27 am

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