Te Ata

Meaningful, moving, and focused on a fascinating woman who made a major cultural impact but is now relatively unknown, this earnest biopic is affecting, if a little slow-moving. Shedding light on a dark chapter of American history, the drama teases out details of how real people were affected by shameful U.S. legislation that made Native practices, religious rites, and even objects such as eagle feathers and traditional long hairstyles, illegal. It also illustrates the pain often felt by those who feel different and unwelcome, showing us a young Te Ata who sits alone on her college lawn, isolated while her classmates walk by in little groups of two and three.

But it's not long before Te Ata/Mary is receiving some great advice from a teacher: that being utterly different from those around you can be an advantage instead of a "crutch." What Te Ata can show the world is something very different from the "little sugar cookies" who won't sit by her in class. And in this drama (and without a doubt, in real life), Te Ata's performances are so powerful and evocative that they may move sensitive viewers to shed a few tears. Te Ata is quiet, deliberate, maybe even a little slow. But in championing a woman who opened both eyes and hearts, it provides Te Ata her rightful place in the pantheon of women who made history.