2016 NATIVE WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION FILM FESTIVAL™ TO OPEN WITH PAYA THE WATER STORY OF THE PAIUTE ***

Documentary exploring the American Indian water wars to open the 3rd Native Women in Film & Television

Los Angeles CA – (February 23, 2016) — Native Women in Film & Television Film Festival (NWIF), presented by Red Nation Film Festival, announced today that the conversional award-winning documentary film Paya The Water Story of the Paiute opens the 3rd annual Native Women in Film & Television Film Festival on Thursday, February 25. Directed by Jenna Cavelle, the documentary looks at America’s longest-lived Water War. From critically-acclaimed films like Chinatown to best-selling books like Cadillac Desert, for the past 100-years, the “LA-Owens Valley Water War” narrative has centered around the viewpoint that LA went out and “stole” Owens Valley’s water. But there is a greater story, an untold story that is rich in history and human achievement, a story that is as much a part of American memory as the creation of our great cities.

“Paya The Water Story of the Paiute documents the history of Paiute Native Americans who constructed and managed 60-miles of intricate irrigation systems in Owens Valley for millennia long before LA secured its largest source of water through modern engineering a century ago. After the Indian War of 1863, surviving Paiute returned to the Valley from the Eastern Sierra and White Mountains to find their ancient waterworks taken over by white settlers,” said Joanelle Romero, founder/president, Native Women in Film & Television, Red Nation Film Festival, and CEO, Red Nation Television Network. “It is an honor to pay tribute to this very important film and native nation.”

DOWNLOAD FULL STORY: NWIF PRESS FEB 23, 2016