Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act Documentary Now Available

Our newly completed one hour long film from producer Susan Reetz, Missing Threads: The Story of the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act, explores the connection between family, tribal culture and children, and the consequences of severing those ties.

The project began in 2012 with initial funding from the Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center (Lincoln, Nebraska) which made it possible to capture interviews with two tribal social workers, two tribal attorneys, two former Wisconsin Department of Children and Families staff and sponsoring senator Robert Jauch (now retired). This portion of the story outlines why all 11 Wisconsin tribes and representatives of Wisconsin state government made the unprecedented decision to work together to codify the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into Wisconsin law, and how the bill was drafted, enacted and implemented.

Additional funding from the Ho-Chunk Nation, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation and the Oneida Nation made it possible to film in-depth interviews with a Forest County Potawatomi man and a Ho-Chunk woman who were removed from their families as children and placed in non-Native foster homes. These personal stories illustrate the long term impact of a Native child’s removal from their culture and subsequent efforts to reunite with family and tribe, and find their personal identity.

The goal of the film is to inform viewers about the importance of maintaining connection between Native children and their tribes and culture, and the state’s legal responsibility to make sure proper channels and procedures are followed. It will be used to educate social workers, attorneys, judges and the general public. It can also be used as a road map by other states seeking to undertake their own codification of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act.

Three hundred DVDs will be given away to tribal and state judges, attorneys, social workers, foster care staff and others who may have contact with a case impacted by the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act. The film will be shown at the Green Bay Film Festival (http://www.gbfilmfestival.org/filmgreenbay/) on March 5, and by late fall it will also be available on YouTube for free viewing. More information can be found at http://missingthreadswicwa.blogspot.com/.

Who should tell the story - advice for script writers

A story can be told by just about anyone. But a good story must be told in the right way by the right person. For example, you probably wouldn’t have the Jolly Green Giant as a pitchman for feminine hygiene products any more than you would use an interview with the Pillsbury Doughboy to sell weight lifting equipment.

As producers and/or writers, one of the first things we need to determine is who should tell the story. Should it be an on camera narrator or a voice over? Or, should all the information all be presented through interviews clips?

When deciding who should tell the story, it’s a good idea to consider the project’s objective and the intended audience.

Does you project need to educate, persuade, motivate, sell, or train? Knowing the objective – and the type of information that needs to be included in the program – helps determine whether the project calls for an on camera narrator, voice over, or interview.

For example, an installation video targeted to professional technicians would work nicely with an on camera narrator to demonstrate the procedures. The narrator would probably be scripted to sound like the audience members, using familiar trade language in a conversational manner.

A visitor orientation video might be better served with an off camera narrator rather than a real employee on camera to protect shelf life. If a real employee is used as an on camera narrator and the employee leaves – especially if they go to a competitor – the entire program has to be redone. Using an off camera narrator also keeps the focus on the facility and allows for easier updates if the company is sold in the future.

Of course a program for a teen audience would not normally call for a formal adult on camera narrator. But it might work well to have a teen on camera host. Or, if the subject is a serious social issue like drugs or gangs, interviews with teens and others directly affected by the issue carry a log of weight and lend credibility to a skeptical audience.

Whatever the project and target audience, make sure the project’s voice reflects and speaks to the sensibilities, language, and ideals of the audience.