Area screenwriter, filmmaker net Humanitas Prize awards

By Suzanne Wilson
Staff Writer

Published on October 31, 2008

The area screenwriter who wrote the script for the HBO movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and the London filmmaker who brought the story of Northampton's Young@Heart chorus to the screen, were both recently honored for work that "affirms our individual and collective dignity, and reveals common humanity."

Daniel Giat of Pelham turned Dee Brown's narrative history of the American Indian experience into a made-for-television film that aired last year. Stephen Walker was the filmmaker behind "Young@Heart," the documentary that brought national attention to Northampton's acclaimed chorus of octogenarians who perform rock and roll and punk tunes before audiences around the world.

Giat and Walker were among the recipients of the 2008 Humanitas Prize awards. Established in 1974, the awards are "for excellence in film and television writing," according to the nonprofit organization's Web site. The awards, which were handed out last month in Beverly Hills, Calif., are given to the creators of "stories that affirm the human person, probe the meaning of life, and enlighten the use of human freedom."

Giat, who has been twice nominated for Emmy awards, won in the category of 90-minute feature films; one of his earlier films, "Path to War," which explored the decisions that led President Lyndon Johnson ever deeper into the war in Vietnam, was a finalist for a Humanitas award in 2002. Walker, who made "Young@Heart" with his wife, Sally George, won in the documentary category.

The award for "Wounded Knee" meant a great deal, Giat said, because it is from an organization devoted to recognizing and supporting the work writers do to foster communication and explore the common humanity among people.

Published in 1970, Dee Brown's book told the story of the relentless campaign against many tribes of Indians that was waged by white soldiers and settlers pushing west in the 19th century. About 250 Indians were killed by U.S. soldiers in the massacre at Wounded Knee, S.D.

Giat spent months immersing himself in American Indian history in order to turn it into a movie script. Giat visited reservations in North and South Dakota. The massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major confrontation between the Sioux and the U.S. Cavalry.

At the reservations, Giat said those he spoke with stressed that they wanted to be depicted as human beings, not simple caricatures. He tried to honor that in the film, he said, toucheing on that theme again in his acceptance speech in California:

"Native Americans are not noble creatures," he said. "They are not symbols. They are, and always were, like us, individuals with fine qualities, with flaws, with contradictions. They yearn to be seen this way. And until we can view them in all the facets of their humanity, their history will remain in our consciousness a chapter in a textbook marked up with yellow highlighter ..."

Suzanne Wilson can be reached at swilson@gazettenet.com.