PERMA RED
is FISCALLY SPONSORED BY bREAKING THROUGH THE LENS,
a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization (EIN: 88-3840078).
HOVER OVER PHOTOS FOR TEAM BIOS AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION
ELLE-MÁIJÁ TAILFEATHERS | Director (she/her)
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is a writer, director, producer and actor. She is a member of the Kainai First Nation (Blood Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy) as well as Sámi from Norway. Tailfeathers made her feature co-directorial debut with THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD WAS BROKE OPEN, which won several awards including Best Canadian Feature Film from Toronto and Vancouver Film Critics Associations. Her feature documentary KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: THE MEANING EMPATHY explores addiction and recovery in the Kainai First Nation and premiered at Hot Docs 2021, receiving multiple accolades. Her short documentary "Bihttos" was included in the 2015 TIFF Top Ten Shorts and was commissioned for the imagineNATIVE Embargo Collective. It won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at the Seattle International Film Festival. Tailfeathers is also a member of several film academies and organizations.
WENONAH WILMS | Writer (she/her)
One of Hollywood’s most prolific indigenous writers, Wenonah Wilms is an Academy Nicholl Fellow for her script HORSEHEAD GIRLS, which also won the Austin Film Festival’s Drama prize and a McKnight fellowship the same year. Most recently Wenonah wrote for the fourth season of HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE. She is co-creator and executive producer of the Netflix original FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER, produced by the Obamas’ production company HIGHER GROUND. Her short film “Sunshine” played at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Wenonah is a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. PERMA RED is a deeply personal project for Wenonah, as her grandmother attended a school for the indigenous just like Louise. She is a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Project Type: Feature Film
Status: Development
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Production Country: USA (and possibly Canada)
Director: Elle Máijá Tailfeathers
Writer: Wenonah Wilms
Cultural Consultant: Johnny Arlee
Producers: Lynn-Wood Fields, Elsa Ramo and Tiffany Boyle
Language: English / Salish
Logline: A haunting true-life thriller set on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Perma, Montana. It is the story of Louise White Elk, a Salish teenager coming of age in the 1940’s during a time when government-run boarding schools are destroying the Indigenous tribes.
All donations are tax-deductible for U.S. Citizens. Please note that credit-card transactions incur a small processing fee. Alternatively you may donate via ACH or Wire Transfer (details available here).
LYNN-WOOD FIELDS | Producer (she/her)
Award-winning filmmaker, producer, and educator, Lynn-Wood Fields graduated with her MFA in digital filmmaking from the University of Montana. Her work has since gone on to screen at over 50 film festivals and venues globally including “Are We There Yet” screening at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, 2016; Western History Association Conference, 2015; Frozen River Film Festival, 2014. Her current projects include the television series “Perma Red” in pre-production, “House Calls”, premiering on PBS in 2022, “Social Impact” with the Institute for Family, “Snqweyɫmistn” a documentary on Salish forever foster homes, and “Return to the Blanket.” Lynn-Wood considers herself a film advocate for Montana. She owns Montana Film Tax Credits which has consulted on $20MM of credit transfers and Media Training Center which focuses on training Montana filmmakers. She is also the president of the Montana Media Coalition(MCM) which is working on legislation around the MEDIA Act (Montana Economic Development Industry Advancement) that focuses on tax credits and cap raises. She is passionate about working with AccelerateMT to connect Montanans to film and media rapid training courses for them to economically benefit from this industry through workforce development.
ELSA RAMO AND TIFFANY BOYLE | Producers (she/her)
Elsa Ramo and Tiffany Boyle founded Vested Interest with the goal to discover, develop, and produce unique filmmaking voices and stories. Credits include JOYLAND, which won the 2023 Spirit Award for Best International Feature, was short-listed for the 2023 Oscar’s International Feature category, and was Cannes 2022’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner; Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER, starring Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish, executive produced by Martin Scorsese; CHICK FIGHT, starring Malin Akerman and Bella Thorne; and Mayim Bialik’s feature directorial and writing debut AS THEY MADE US, starring Dustin Hoffman, Simon Helberg, and Dianna Agron. Upcoming they have BORDERLAND, starring Felicity Jones and Mark Strong, and SWEET SUE. Stuart Arbury has worked with Elsa & Tiffany for over five years. Prior to this Stuart served executive posts at Captivate Entertainment (THE BOURNE IDENTITY franchise) and Dimension Films, overseeing MTV’s SCREAM TV series.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION / ARTIST STATEMENT:
PERMA RED is based on the novel by Debra Magpie Earling.
The colonization of Native Americans and subsequent installation of government-run Boarding schools throughout the late 1800’s to mid 1900’s is one of the most devastating acts upon the Indigenous people of the United States, and its consequences have rippled through history to this day.
This is the true story of one who fought back.
--
Writer's approach (by Wenonah Wilms)
Debra Magpie Earling’s book touched and inspired me from the first page. This story is about the heartbreaking journey of one of her own family members, and I know it was extremely important and cathartic for her to write it. I traveled to Montana where I met people that remembered Louise, drove the roads she walked and experienced the immense beauty of her world. I am honored to have met Debra and have her blessing to adapt her novel. It’s an incredible piece of work and her emotional connection and portrayal of her characters is something I aspire to and work for throughout the project. I also had the immense pleasure and fortune to meet Johnny Arlee, a Salish elder who attended the same school as our protagonist. Johnny has been a tireless champion and supporter of this project through his time and energy, and he’s a beautiful protector of the Salish language and culture. This could not be possible without his help as well as the help of many others along the way. This project is a true love of community, culture and pride.
Through this process I’ve learned to love Louise, fear for her safety, admire her bravery and hope for her future. But most of all I want to give her a voice because Louise represents so many young people that never had one. Perma Red is very personal and profound for every single Native American in history. It’s a shared past, a shared trauma and a shared healing and an insight to the origin of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of today. Lousie’s stories are the stories of many. My own lovely, kind and brilliant Dakota grandmother survived a boarding school and I want to tell this story for her.
Set in 1940’s Montana, a Native American teenager witnesses the murder of her friend at the hands of a missionary nun, and plots to seek justice and revenge before her little sister is forced to attend the same school. PERMA RED is at its core a dark, dramatic, coming-of-age story about a young woman that desires to live in two worlds but will pay the price of admission to both. We will follow eighteen year-old Louise White Elk, who is mixed-race Salish through the complex and dangerous decisions that a rebellious teenager makes against the backdrop of a time and place that doesn’t value independent, headstrong and outspoken Native American women. It’s about a girl taking control of her body, her sexuality, her freedom, and her future.
Louise White Elk
Half Salish, Half White
“This was the darkest name they had called her. A confession of a sin that could never wash clean, a sin no blood could lift, no story could hide. Perma, Perma Red, Permanent."
Louise is a runner, a fighter and a protector, especially when it comes to her little sister, Florence. Louise had a nickname: Perma Red. The Salish elders that knew her back then still call her that. A name that had multiple meanings depending on who you asked. She hated the moniker but lived up to it in every way. Rebellious, calculating, reckless and promiscuous, Louise uses what the Creator gave her without shame.
Director Statement: PERMA RED will make history as the first narrative film of its kind to have the endorsement and cooperation of the Salish People. Working with elders to ensure authenticity, the film will naturally incorporate philosophies and traditions. The critically endangered Salish language is woven into its narrative, transporting audiences into Louise's miraculous world. This is a story about women disappearing in these communities and how the boarding school systems atrocities are still being uncovered to the tribes of North America. Having this be from an Indigenous voice not only in writing but directing will shed light in a true way on Louise's life that reflects what many have experienced and has never been seen on camera.
Project Goals: to raise the funds needed to film in September 2025. The story, script and director are all Indigenous Women, and the team is now in need of funds to create this powerful story. They have 80 tribal PA graduates who can be mentored on this set. This film has the opportunity to have economic ripple effects in tribal communities by giving the opportunity to tell community stories. Next steps include hiring a Casting Director, organizing location scouts and getting the Director to spend time with the Salish Tribe to build authenticity in costuming and set design.