Film documents youths’ efforts to preserve language

The film follows a group of teenagers, who along with their mentor learn their native Tewa language because they are committed to revitalizing their language and keeping their traditions alive.

Broustra says the film is the story of the burgeoning movement led by Native Americans to save their languages.

	If you go WHAT: White Sands International Film Festival WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 22, through Aug. 26 WHERE: Various locations in Las Cruces HOW MUCH: $30-$75 for festival passes; $10 for individual movies. For a full schedule of screenings and to purchase tickets, visit www.wsiff.com

“Some of the languages are on the verge of being extinct,” she explains. “It’s important for the younger generation to step in and keep the tradition alive. I wanted to tell the story of their journey in doing so.”

“The Young Ancestors” will premiere at the White Sands International Film Festival at 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, at Allen Theatre Cineport 10 in Las Cruces. Last year, the annual film festival had nearly 50,000 visitors over the course of its five-day run.

The WSIFF is the first film festival where “The Young Ancestors” will screen, Broustra says.

“We finished the film in March, and it was right before the deadline for the festival,” she explains. “We were told the film was accepted because the film tells an inspiring story and is produced well.”

The road to creating “The Young Ancestors” began in 2009 with the inception of a self-study curriculum at Santa Fe Prep. The project was in conjunction with the Indigenous Language Institute and the Pueblo of Pojoaque, in which teens from several northern pueblos began to work together to learn Tewa. The teens worked with producer and mentor Laura Kaye Jagles, a teacher at Santa Fe Prep.

“The moment I read about what these teens and their mentor were about to do, I felt that this was a story of hope and inspiration and that it needed to be shared,” Broustra says. “In my mind, the best way to share this story was through the medium of film, in the form of a documentary.”

The film runs 60 minutes, and getting there was quite a task for editors.

Broustra says film editor Shelene Bridge worked diligently to get more than 200 hours of footage down to the final running time.

“Of course, as with any documentary, there were interviews that didn’t make it in,” she says. “But the entire film is strong and the story is told well. I would like to see if I could put some of the unused interviews online for people to view them.”

While working on documentary, Broustra was taken back to her upbringing in Philadelphia as an Irish Catholic.

“My mother spoke at length of the history of the Irish people and their oppression under the English,” she explains. “Irish Catholics lost land as well as the Celtic language and tradition. It just spoke to me.”

While conduction interviews for “The Young Ancestors,” Broustra heard over and over again stories of shame about being Native American.

“There were stories of forced assimilation and chosen assimilation. And stories of loss of land and ways of life,” she says. “But despite the stories of sorrow, I heard tales of courage and and healing.”

What Broustra hopes the film will educate Native Americans and non-Natives.

“I hope the film inspires Native youths to learn their language. It’s really easy to give up, but just take the time and learn the language,” she says. “For non-Native, I want to show how important it is to hold on to language and culture. Every time you lose a language, you lose the vocabulary and understanding of the environment and the people of the area. It’s like learning in learning just English, we lose knowledge and diversity among us.”

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