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Dakota Midday: 'Songs My Brothers Taught Me'

New York-based filmmaker Chloe Zhao’s first feature, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, was shot and largely cast on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It’s a portrait of life on Pine Ridge experienced partly through the eyes of a young Lakota girl who is preparing herself for the departure of her beloved older brother. Johnny and Jashaun live at home with their single mother. An older brother is in prison. At the start of the film, the brothers learn that the father they’ve never met, a famous rodeo cowboy, has died in an accidental fire.

Chloe Zhao describes Songs My Brothers Taught Me as a kind of poem dedicated to her love for this wild, magnificent, yet marginalized piece of the American west. The film screened earlier this year at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festival. Songs My Brothers Taught Me receives its South Dakota Premiere as on Tuesday as a part of the Cinema Falls film series in Sioux Falls. After the first showing sold out, a second was added. The film will move from its premiere with Cinema Falls to screenings in Kyle for the actors and their families.

Chloe Zhao is back in South Dakota for the local premiere. She joined Dakota Midday to discuss the film.

Karl was born to northeastern South Dakota crouton farmers, but was orphaned as a toddler during the Great Salad War (1966-67). Rescued by a flock of chickadees, he grew up in the woodlands of Sica Hollow. Legends of a bird boy living in the trees attracted the interest of renowned ornithologist and amateur bandoneon repairman Dr. Vogel Gehrke. With a handful of suet, Dr. Gehrke coaxed the timid boy down from the trees. He adopted him, named him Karl and taught him not to molt on the carpet. Dr. Gehrke’s book, The Bird Boy of Sica Hollow, was a best seller and Karl became a minor celebrity and teen idol. He appeared as a guest star on numerous television programs, most notably an awkward role on The Love Boat as the boyfriend of Captain Stubing’s daughter, Vicki. After critics panned his 1980 album, Bird Boy Does Disco, Karl retreated from public life and returned to Sica Hollow. Living in an isolated tree house, Karl achieved a reputation as a mystic. Pilgrims and seekers from around the world came to ask him about the meaning of life and for vinaigrette recipes. Growing tired of answering questions, he climbed down from his tree, shaved his massive white beard and took a job as the host of SDPB Radio’s Dakota Midday where he could ask the questions instead. After three years in that position, he ran out of questions and became host of Jazz Nightly instead. Karl makes his home in Vermillion with his charming wife Kari and three delightful children, Kodey, Kasey and Spatula. His hobbies include reciting the alphabet, combing his hair and doing volunteer work with delinquent songbirds.
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