Behind-the-Scenes Breakdown: NACDI

A 2014 Bush Prize for Community Innovation winner, the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) spent three years asking Native people what they wanted for their future—as opposed to what they needed to simply meet their basic needs. The results of their efforts led to a rich and bold vision for a vibrant, resilient community that celebrates Native American culture and is repositioning the American Indian community in Hennepin County as an engine for economic growth.

Needless to say, Passenger director Wes Eisenhauer had his work cut out for him when it came to accurately telling the story of the incredible work the people at NACDI are doing. Here’s what Wes had to say about finding and sharing NACDI’s unique voice (and risking a GoPro camera being crushed by a train in order to get a fantastic shot).

First things first, how did you know the train wouldn’t smash the camera in the opening shot?
Wes: [Laughs.] I guess I didn’t really. I had looked, and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t. And I was willing to risk a GoPro to find out. And it ended up being a cool shot to open with. I had watched a few trains go by and figured there was a reasonable amount of clearance, so I threw the camera down and used the remote to activate it. So I was 90% sure that the train wasn’t going to hit it.

What steps did you take to ensure that the NACDI story would feel different from the First People’s Fund story?
Wes: Well, it being another Native American-focused piece, I definitely knew there could similarities between them. With this NACDI piece, I wanted to try to utilize more of a stop motion feel and kind of play with the photography side of things. When I met the people who are part of the organization, they struck me as really cool and young and kind of badass in the sense that they weren’t going to ask permission to do what they wanted to do—they were just going to do it. And I wanted this film to reflect that attitude. I wanted it to be quick and fast-paced but still artsy at the same time. So when I went into the planning and strategy for the story, I wanted to try something different from what I had done. That led me to the stop-motion, time-lapse feel and it gave the piece a very different aesthetic. It was something I’d never done before and I was learning as I went, but it came out a lot like I thought it would. I just wanted it to have more of an urban, artsy feel to it, which I think it did.

Before working on NACDI and First Peoples Fund, did you know much about the Native American culture? Did you have any concerns about whether you’d be able to represent it properly in your work?
Wes: Honestly, I just went with it. Obviously you try to be respectful of all people’s cultures, regardless of what story you’re telling. I just tried to learn as much as I could about their organization and what they’re all about, and that sort of embodied their cultural feelings and perspectives. But I also kind of went with it and made choices and let it be natural.

What were some of the things you learned while working on this film?
Wes: One of the big things I learned during this project was improving my interview techniques and focusing less on trying to get the story I thought needed to be told. I really started to get more comfortable with the actual creative process and just letting them tell me what story needed to be told. It really helped me learn the techniques of interviewing and how to bring out those answers that are going to work in a video because they’re real and honest and natural.