REEES Film Series: The Sons of Great Bear

The Sons of Great Bear (dir. Josef Mach, 1966, 92 min)

What if the Western’s classic “Cowboys vs. Indians” conflict were flipped on its head? Produced by East Germany’s DEFA studio and directed by Czech screenwriter Josef Mach, The Sons of Great Bear does exactly that. Mach’s film, retells the frontier story from the perspective of Native Americans and transforms what was once a genre of conquest into one of resistance and survival. Indigenous heroes emerge as protagonists in The Sons of Great Bear, fighting to defend their land and culture against greed, exploitation, and European imperialism.
An adaptation of Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich’s book series, The Sons of Great Bear follows Tokei-Ihto, portrayed by Yugoslav star Gojko Mitić, a Native American warrior from a Dakota tribe who witnessed his father’s murder at the hands of Jim Fred Clark, known as ‘Red Fox.’ The film launched an entire cycle of East German “Indianerfilme” (Indian films), wildly popular across the socialist bloc, and established the stoic, charismatic “noble warrior” archetype that became a pop-cultural icon behind the Iron Curtain.

Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies, Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (OWNER), Slavic Languages & Literatures

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