Elaine Miles Speaks Out and Copes with Humor Following Encounter with ICE

December 23, 2025December 23, 2025 Lauren Lola

On November 3, actor Elaine Miles was waiting at a bus stop in Redmond, Washington, when four U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers approached her, demanding to see her ID. Miles, a registered member of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, stood her ground and in what – as she described – “felt like a lifetime, but it was only maybe 30 minutes, 45 minutes long,” they were arguing.

Interview, Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Americana’ is a Dark Comedy About Cultural and Literal Theft, For Our Times

August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 Dominic Mah

I got to chat with director Tony Tost and star Paul Walter Hauser about Americana, the new Western/heist/comedy opening this week from Lionsgate Films. The interviews and my review of this thoroughly enjoyable genre-mashing romp, featured below. Americana also stars Halsey (yeaaah, “Without Me,” “Closer,” “Boy With Luv,” that Halsey!), Sydney Sweeney, Zahn McClarnon, Eric Dane, and Simon Rex.

Interview, Streaming, Television

Anna Lambe Discusses the Authenticity of ‘North of North’

April 21, 2025April 22, 2025 Sophia Soto

Anna Lambe stars as Siaja in North of North. All episodes of the first season are now streaming on Netflix. We talked about how authenticity was front and center for this project, filming in her hometown, the visceral experience of watching the series, tackling difficult topics with humor, and taking risks.

Interview, Movies, Sports

‘Rez Ball’ Director and Stars on Their Creative Approaches to the Sports Drama Genre

September 23, 2024September 18, 2024 Lauren Lola

This week will see the release of Rez Ball on Netflix. Directed and co-written by Sydney Freeland, the story is set around a high school basketball team at a Native American reservation. In the aftermath of the loss of their star player, the remaining members must learn to come together and continue their efforts in competing for the state championship title.

Movies

Disney’s Finds its Live-Action ‘Moana’ in Catherine Laga‘aia

June 12, 2024June 13, 2024 Michael Lee

Last year, Disney made a surprising announcement that their oceanic animated musical Moana would be developed into a live-action film. It would celebrate the islands, communities, and traditions of Pacific Islanders as seen through the eyes of a young woman eager to chart her own path by sailing the ocean.

Interview, Streaming, Television

Kiawentiio is Making Waves in Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

February 21, 2024February 26, 2024 Laura Sirikul

In the spring of 2021, Kiawentiio was filming a music video when she found out her life was about to be changed forever. She had received a call from her team regarding a role she had auditioned for the past few weeks. Thinking she had to do yet another audition, she mentally prepared herself for the worst. Instead, they had good news: Kiawentiio had gotten the part of Katara in Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Interview, Marvel, Television

Insights From the Cast and Creative Staff of Marvel’s ‘Echo’

January 13, 2024January 14, 2024 Dominic Mah

Wrapping up our coverage of Marvel Studios’ newest series Echo, here’s three interviews I conducted with cast members Devery Jacobs (Bonnie) and Chaske Spencer (Henry), director Sydney Freeland, and executive producer Richie Palmer.

Marvel, Reviews, Streaming1 Comment

NOC Review: ‘Echo’ is Hard Hitting and Emotionally Resonant

January 11, 2024January 14, 2024 Mike Manalo

Marvel Studios has heard the complaints from everyone post-Endgame, and has decided to create a dedicated banner specifically for one-off character stories: Marvel Spotlight. Like the comics that inspired the moniker, these shows will focus on telling stories about single characters that can be easily decoupled from the grander arcs of narrative building within the MCU. And the first series to be released under the Marvel Spotlight banner is Echo.

Marvel, Reviews, Streaming1 Comment

‘Echo’ Changes the Game and the Frame for the Marvel Cinematic Universe

January 11, 2024March 28, 2024 Dominic Mah

The question looms over every Marvel Studios release these days: “Is it a game-changer?” Does this latest show/movie/sequel change the formula, or rekindle the magic or… accomplish anything? Marvel’s new series Echo certainly serves as a frame-changer, centering a Native American character who also happens to be deaf and an amputee.

Interview, Marvel, Streaming2 Comments

‘Echo’ Star Alaqua Cox on Motherhood and Deaf Representation in the MCU

January 3, 2024January 4, 2024 Dominic Mah

It was a pleasure to talk with Alaqua Cox about Marvel’s Echo, premiering January 9 on Disney+ and Hulu, with assistance by an ASL interpreter. We’ll be sharing more from the Echo press event over the coming week.

Marvel, Streaming

First Look at Marvel Studios’ ‘Echo’ with Director Sydney Freeland

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023 Mike Manalo

In November 2021, Hawkeye debuted as a lovely Christmas present to fans. It continued the adventures of everyone’s favorite archer Avenger, introduced the world to Kate Bishop, gave closure to Yelena Belova, brought back the Kingpin, and introduced a formidable new villain in Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox). Now Maya is back, in her very own series: Echo!

Interview, Movies, Streaming

Alyssa Wapanatâhk on Indigenous Representation and Reimagining Tiger Lily

April 25, 2023April 26, 2023 Kelly Martinez

It’s time to grab your pixie dust and head back to Neverland. Peter Pan & Wendy premieres on Disney+ on April 28. In it, Disney reimagines Tiger Lily, the warrior princess of Neverland’s Indigenous tribe. To celebrate Peter Pan & Wendy‘s upcoming release, The Nerds of Color sat down with actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk to chat about all things Tiger Lily.

Movies, Reviews, Sci Fi

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Sinks More than It Floats

December 14, 2022November 25, 2024 Swara Salih

When James Cameron’s Avatar premiered in 2009, it represented a landmark moment in visual effects for film. Cameron made some of the most effective use of CGI and motion-capture performances since Andy Serkis’ brilliant portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Na’vi, as alien and as CGI as they were, felt real to audiences as their animation took realistic form, as did the stunningly beautiful planet of Pandora. But while these visual effects were a spectacle, the story itself, while moving at times, was simplistic and derivative of other films in the realm of colonists and Indigenous peoples.

Marvel, Movies

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Explores Geopolitics and Shows the MCU Can Go Further

November 22, 2022November 28, 2022 Swara Salih

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is, at its core, a moving drama about the grief of a nation for their lost King T’Challa and the grief of his closes loved ones. But the film also takes a deeper dive into the geopolitics of the MCU, and really our own world and how the legacy of colonialism, European slavery of Africans, Indigenous genocide, and the pillaging of resources of Black and brown countries continues to this day.

Podcasts, Sci Fi1 Comment

FDI Cast 150: We Have to ‘Prey’ Just to Make it Today

August 12, 2022 Jamie

We spend a lot of time just gushing about Prey and coming up with some other scenarios we want to see a Predator face.

Movies, Reviews, Sci Fi

NOC Review: Amber Midthunder Hits Her Target Dead On in ‘Prey’

August 3, 2022August 3, 2022 Michael Lee

The Predator film franchise centered on the clash between its race of a highly evolved race of aliens who hunt alphas for sport versus man. While its predecessors were as bloody and violent as the next, Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey goes back to basics with a primal and bloody David vs. Goliath story that not only is worthy of being a part of the iconic franchise but something could stand on its own thanks to Amber Midthunder’s astonishing performance that subverts tropes in a way that finally makes indigenous cultures the heroes of their own story.

Conventions, Marvel, Movies

SDCC 2022: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Explores the Consistency of Excellence

July 28, 2022July 28, 2022 The Nerds of Color

After Ryan Coogler and the cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever brought the house down in Hall H, some of the film’s stars stopped by our spot on the press line and spoke to Ron from POC Culture about what the new film will mean to audiences, but especially to Black and Indigenous moviegoers.

Interview, Movies, Sci Fi

‘Prey’ Cast and Crew on Breaking Barriers in the ‘Predator’ Franchise

July 22, 2022 Michael Lee

The Predator movies of the past have featured some soldiers of fortune being hunted by its titular alien race of hunters seeking to add to their trophy case. But in Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg takes a different approach to that dynamic by setting the film 300 years in the Comanche nation and follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a fierce and highly skilled warrior who will do anything to protect her tribe, including hunting a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal. The result is a primal David and Goliath match unlike anything we’ve ever seen from the Predator franchise.

Marvel, Streaming

Marvel’s ‘Echo’ Begins Production

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022 Laura Sirikul

Marvel’s Echo has begin production in Atlanta and is set to premiere in 2023. The series stars Alaqua Cox as deaf gang leader Maya Lopez aka Echo, who made her debut in the MCU in Marvel’s Hawkeye. The series picks up after finding out the truth about the death of her father — by the hands of Ronin aka Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) — set up by Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Reviews, Streaming1 Comment

Padma Lakshmi’s ‘Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition’ is Wonderful and Moving

November 4, 2021November 3, 2021 Swara Salih

We obviously look forward to the holidays for the food. Whether it’s for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Passover, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Diwali, Día De Los Muertos, Seollal (Korean New Year), Nowruz (Persian New Year), or some other holiday, we always enjoy diving into a scrumptious feast with our loved ones to commemorate these occasions. But how exactly did some of these food traditions develop here in the United States, and what were the specific contributions of Immigrant and Indigenous communities?

Interview, Television

Kristin Kreuk on Ending ‘Burden of Truth’ and 20 Years of ‘Smallville’

August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 Keith Chow

For the last four seasons, Kristin Kreuk has been playing Joanna Chang on the hit Canadian series Burden of Truth. While the series wrapped its run back in March on the CBC, the show has been playing to American audiences on The CW, a network that Kristin is very familiar with, having played Lana Lang for seven seasons on Smallville.

I got the chance to speak to Kristin about wrapping her show, the importance of representation, and what it’s like to be back on the network she helped launch.

Reviews, Streaming

‘Reservation Dogs’ Brings Humor and Realness from Indigenous Perspectives

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 Lauren Lola

Just in time for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, FX on Hulu’s new comedy series, Reservation Dogs, officially premiered yesterday. Created by Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo, the show is centered on four teenagers living on a reservation in Oklahoma. They spend their days finding the easiest avenues to make money — even if it means committing theft — in order to leave for California. However, when a new gang arrives in town and one of the teens starts to have a change of heart about their motivations, things start to get a little interesting.

Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Waikiki’ Doesn’t Pull Any Punches about the Realities of Tourist Hot Spot

November 27, 2020November 28, 2020 Lauren Lola

The Hawai’i International Film Festival is capping off its 40^th rendition with Christopher Kahunahana’s feature film debut, Waikiki. The story follows a woman, Kea (Danielle Zalopany), as she works multiple jobs in order to break away from her abusive relationship and get herself a place to call home. When she accidentally hits a homeless man, Wo (Peter Shinkoda), with the van she’s living out of and later finds her van missing altogether, the two sporadically travel and connect with each other, all the while Kea confronts the traumas of her past.

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