NEW MEXICO — Indigenization is the process of putting an indigenous take on something that has a mainstream concept. This has been done over and over through art, stories and other medium as the thirst to share and see indigenous perspectives has grown.
But in the furthest reaches of indigenization comes the concept that a theme such as that within Fifty Shades of Grey could be indigenized. And in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a casting call was made for indigenous actresses to work on a film to do just that.
“The Daily Life of Mistress Red” is set to be a Sun Dance short film “mockumentary” that will focus on Marie, a Native dominatrix for hire who finds healing through whipping her white male clients.
The casting call is looking for indigenous women aged 20-25 and is backed by the concept creator Peshawn Bread, who is a Comanche filmmaker and a 2019 Native Filmmakers Lab fellow.
“Indian country, I need your help finding strong native women to fulfill the roles of Marie, Bunny who is her supporting fashion extraordinaire funny cousin and Taylor who is an activist at heart conducting the interview!” wrote Bread to Facebook, who heads the casting call.
Bread put into words how she hopes to capture the diversity of indigenous women and people in her casting and is accepting all applications for auditions which will take place in October in Santa Fe. Within a Sun Dance interview she also noted that she was at first worried about being accepted for her film concept, but overcame it with the knowledge that she was surrounded by a great network of help.
“If you feel that you resonate with the characters email us for casting at redambitioncasting@gmail.com,” she wrote.
