Cowboy Smithx

Cowboy Smithx (born January 31, 1982) is a Blackfoot filmmaker from the Piikani Nation and Kainai Nation in Southern Alberta.^[1] He has acted in, co-produced, and directed a few short films and music videos. His best known work is a full feature documentary co-produced with Chris Hsiung called, Elder in the Making.^[2] It is a film about reconciliation between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.

Chief Mountain

Background

In 2008, Cowboy Smithx was employed as a youth worker in East Vancouver, Canada.^[3] The organization he worked for is KAYA, which stands for the, 'Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association'.^[4] Cowboy Smithx is a 2008 graduate from the Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking Program at Capilano University.^[5] The film Smithx co-produced, Elder in the Making, will be used as an optional learning resource within Alberta schools to teach and share Indigenous ontological epistemologies.^[6] Smithx said today's youth have an opportunity through their use of convenient media opportunities to advocate for change in their communities.^[7] Cowboy Smithx recently founded the REDx Speaker Series. This production serves as a platform for reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples^[8] Smithx is the main stakeholder of his motion picture and film company, Eccentricus Imagery, which has been based in Vancouver B.C. since 2005.^[9]

Film work

• October 2016: Cree Code Talker, co-produced by Alexandra Lazarowich & Cowboy Smithx.^[10]
• September 2016: Elder in the Making, co-produced by Chris Hsiung & Cowboy Smithx.^[11]
• 2013: Music Video-Dancin' on the Run, produced by Cowboy Smithx.^[12]
• 2013: Music Video-Red Winter, co-produced by Cowboy Smithx.^[13]
• November 2011: Music Video-2 Hour Parking, directed by Cowboy Smithx.^[14]
• July 2011: Bloodland (a short experimental film produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), acting role by Cowboy Smithx.^[15]
• September 2005: Crookz, acting role by Cowboy Smithx^[16]

Awards

• March 2020: Cowboy Smithx awarded an Indspire Award for Arts. Revoked due to "personal and professional conduct that are a significant departure from generally accepted standards of public behaviour"^[17]
• April 2017: Cowboy Smithx and co-producer Alexandra Lazarowich of,' Cree Code Talker,' are nominees for best short non-fiction film at the 2017 Alberta Film and Television Awards.^[18]
• May 2016: Elder in the Making receives an award from the, Alberta Film & Television Awards and Alberta Media Production Industries Association, for best documentary over 30 minutes^[19]
• April 2016: Cowboy Smithx and fellow co-producer, Alexandra Lazarowich, win first place at the HotDocs Bravo Factual Short Film Pitching Competition. They use this monetary award to finance the, 'Cree Code Talker,' short film^[20]