Bennie Klain

About

Navajo filmmaker Bennie Klain is founding partner of Austin, Texas-based production company TRICKSTERFILMS.? Before earning his BS degree in Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, Bennie premiered two films at the Sundance Film Festival. The first was in 2000 as co-producer of the acclaimed documentary THE RETURN OF NAVAJO BOY, and the second was in 2002 as writer/producer/director of the narrative short YADA YADA.

THE RETURN OF NAVAJO BOY made its television debut in 2001 on the PBS series INDEPENDENT LENS and was selected for the INPUT 2001 International Public Television Showcase. YADA YADA made its television debut in early 2004 on the groundbreaking PBS series ColorVision, and it was awarded the Teueikan Prize for creativity at the 2002 First People’s Festival in Montreal, Canada.?

Bennie recently directed and co-produced SHARE THE WEALTH, an 8 minute, 35 millimeter experimental narrative that situates a homeless Native American woman on a busy street corner.? Bennie is also directing WEAVING WORLDS, a feature documentary that sheds light on past and current dilemmas confronting Navajo weavers, their arts and their culture.? WEAVING WORLDS premiered at the 2007 SXSW Film Festival.

Since 2002, Bennie has been the Native Programming Liaison for the Cincas Americas film festival. He was a 2004 nominee for the Rockefeller Media Fund Fellowship and has been a Sundance Institute Fellow for several years.? Prior to establishing TricksterFilms, Bennie was assistant director for Sophie, the 2002 Academy Award Winner for Best Student Film directed by Helen Lee.