Reel Injun

REEL INJUN (Neil Diamond). 85 minutes. Opens Friday (February 19) at the Yonge & Dundas 24. See times and trailers. Rating: NNNN

Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond mixes interviews and archival footage to analyze the Hollywood Indian stereotype and bounce it off the reality.[rssbreak]

He starts with Crazy Horse and the myth of the spiritual warrior and ends with The Fast Runner, the beginning of a genuine First Nations cinema.

In between and with much humour and insight, he offers excellent footage from 1920s movies onward, some fascinating oddities like a camp for wannabe Indians, plus strong interviews with, among others, actors Graham Greene and Wes Studi and activists Sacheen Littlefeather, Russell Means and John Trudell.