- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba,
host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Tonight, we travel to one of the most remote areas of the country
to a high school at the farthest corner of the Navajo nation
in the film Scenes from the Glittering World.
The film focuses on three indigenous high school students,
Granite, Ilii, and Noah
who face common struggles for everyday teens:
the death of a loved one, gender identity,
and conquering Fortnite.
The three actors eventually warm up to the camera
and contribute to weaving the film's narrative,
as much as the producers themselves.
Director Jared Jakins says he was drawn to their melancholy,
but ultimately, it was these students'
understated but remarkable frankness
that motivated him to collaborate closely
with his subjects.
To accentuate the bond that can develop
between a documentarian and their subjects,
Jakins says the three students played such an integral part
in pushing the story that he was even more compelled
to do right by them
to reciprocate the trust and openness they showed him.
Jared Jakins, a native South African,
says he has always been captivated
by the beauty of the American west
and found it to be the perfect backdrop
as it adds to the isolation
that can already accompany adolescence.
In his director's statement, Jakins says,
"Our aim was to provide
"an intimate and lasting contemporary portrait
of these beautiful and resilient young people."
I hope audiences are moved by our characters' survival,
the love of their families,
and the healing of their sacred lands.
Scenes from a Glittering World
starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.