{"id":35131,"date":"2025-05-23T11:40:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=35131"},"modified":"2025-08-03T20:19:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T00:19:19","slug":"qa-with-the-land-director-mike-bradley-greggwmorris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/qa-with-the-land-director-mike-bradley-greggwmorris\/","title":{"rendered":"the WORD<\/strong><\/em> Q&A With THIS LAND Director Mike Bradley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

THIS LAND tells the untold story of Ganienkeh, a Mohawk community struggling to reclaim its traditional culture. The film follows the journey of Ganienkeh villagers as they fight to preserve their cultural identity and ancestral land despite the challenges. THE LAND is part of the Tribeca Fest 2025 “Shorts: Common Ground” program, which includes five other works, and will be screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, which runs from June 4-15, 2025.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

Mike Bradley is a Rochester, New York-based director and cinematographer specializing in nonfiction film, including documentary and branded content. He began his career as an independent documentary photographer for clients like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal covering issues including mental health, politics, and the American healthcare system. <\/em>He is the founder of the production company Big Slide Creative<\/a>, which was established in 2018. Through its 1% for the Planet membership, Big Slide donates at least one percent of its annual revenue to environmental organizations.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Director Mike Bradley.<\/p><\/div>\n

What do you want potential audiences to get out of your movie? <\/strong>Every time I screen the film, people approach me and express surprise that they somehow hadn\u2019t heard anything about this story before. I think that most Americans have, at most, a surface-level understanding of native cultures. I certainly do. And so I hope the film encourages viewers to be more curious about indigenous cultures, particularly those in their own area.<\/p>\n

Why did you make this movie? That is, is there more to this question that wasn\u2019t in the Director\u2019s Statement. <\/strong>The film began with my personal desire to know more about the story of Ganienkeh. The \u201coccupation\u201d at Moss Lake happened in a popular vacation area that I\u2019ve visited many times, and it was almost disconcerting that such an event could so quickly be forgotten.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How did you go about getting a crew? How and what about approaching the \u201ccast\u201d to talk to you? They really opened up to you, right? <\/strong>The people at Ganienkeh had mostly kept to themselves since the community was established in the 1970s. I initially reached out through an intermediary to explain why I was interested, and he took that to the community. After some internal discussions there, they agreed to speak with me. It took several months for all of that to play out.<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/strong> As for a crew, there isn\u2019t much of one: I directed and shot the film myself. I was the only one on-set for the production. In post, I hired a consulting editor, Whitney Skaugue. I was a big fan of their short documentary The Beauty President, which premiered at SXSW a few years ago, and I knew they were interested in consulting on other short docs. Whitney\u2019s help was crucial in shaping the film in part because I was too close to the story.<\/p>\n

\u2013 I\u2019d done a lot of research and talked to a dozen people who don\u2019t appear in the film, and Whitney provided the perspective of a viewer who doesn\u2019t have all that background knowledge to fill in narrative holes.<\/p>\n

Plans for a feature film or series based on the short?<\/strong>I don\u2019t currently have plans to expand the film into a feature or a series, although I think there is plenty more to explore.<\/p>\n

Biggest challenges? <\/strong>The people at Ganienkeh were understandably reticent to speak with an outsider, and so the initial effort to connect with them was a challenge. They are really the ones telling the story, so the film couldn\u2019t exist without their participation. Beyond that, I faced a common challenge for indie filmmakers and that is financing. The film was self-financed, and sometimes progress was slow when I had to put it on the back burner to focus on my paying work for brands.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Biggest Surprises? <\/strong>Learning about the intricacies of the land deal that ended the \u201cstandoff\u201d in 1977 was fascinating. It allowed both sides to save face: the Mohawks didn\u2019t want to purchase any land because doing so, they believed, would be a tacit admission that the land was fairly owned by the State of New York.<\/p>\n

And New York State didn\u2019t want to give land to the Mohawks for fear of setting a precedent that they could be strong-armed by other groups (the legality of giving them land was also fuzzy based on the state constitution). It\u2019s a compromise that created an ongoing incentive for the two parties to stay on good terms, because the trust that owns the land needs to be renewed every few years.<\/p>\n

I find it hard to imagine such a compromise being reached if something like this happened today.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next? <\/strong>I\u2019m hoping to develop another historical documentary about a conflict between an American Indian tribe and the United States, I\u2019m in the very early stages of that. In the meantime I\u2019m also in production on another short documentary in Rochester, where I live, that will be complete later in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THIS LAND World Premiere Screenings at 2025 Tribeca Festival<\/strong>
\nMonday, June 9 at 9 PM
\nShorts Theater at Spring Studios<\/p>\n

Press\/Industry Screening
\nFriday, June 13 at 1 PM
\nAMC 19th St. East 6 (Theater 4)<\/p>\n

Saturday, June 14 at 11:15 AM
\nAMC 19th St. East 6<\/p>\n

Sunday, June 15 at 5:30 PM
\nShorts Theater at Spring Studios<\/p>\n

Director-Producer-Writer-Editor-Cinematographer Mike Bradley in-person for all screenings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
View this profile on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Land<\/a> (@thislanddoc<\/a>) \u2022 Instagram photos and videos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n