Cherokee Film Productions, the Cherokee Nation’s production company, has released a first-look trailer for an upcoming feature-length documentary focused on Cherokee Freedmen. The documentary comes from the team behind the award-winning series Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People, and centers on the Nation’s history of enslavement, which ended in 1863, and the continued effort by Cherokee Freedmen and their descendants to secure the tribal citizenship guaranteed under the 1866 treaty.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the film reflects a decision to confront aspects of tribal history that are often avoided. “We will not shy away from the dark, uncomfortable parts of our history,” Hoskin said. “If we mean to seek equality, and true and lasting change, we must recognize our failures and seek to understand and share the story of the Cherokee Freedmen.”
Co-directed by Cherokee Nation citizens Jen Loren and Melissa Payne, the documentary was developed in consultation with the tribe’s Freedmen advisory committee, a step the filmmakers say was central to portraying the history and its legacy with care. Payne, who also serves as Freedmen Community Liaison, described the documentary as direct about what it carries. “This documentary is raw, emotional, difficult and honest,” Payne said. “The Freedmen story continues to unfold, and we are Cherokee.”
The trailer premiered Feb. 16 at OSU-Tulsa during an event recognizing Black History Month, bringing together tribal leaders and community members for an early look. The Cherokee Nation describes the film as a journey that follows descendants of the Cherokee Freedmen as they examine family histories, identity, and the ways their history has been buried, debated, and reshaped over time.
The documentary is grounded in years of research, drawing on the work of Cherokee historians Dr. Julie Reed, Jack Baker, and Marilynn Vann, as well as historian and academic scholar Tiya Miles of Harvard University.
Loren, who also serves as senior director of Cherokee Film, emphasized that the story is being told through the voices of Freedmen descendants as they reconnect with their history in real time. “Being entrusted with this story is a profound honor,” Loren said.
Cherokee Film Productions is planning a fall premiere on the festival circuit, with hopes for worldwide distribution to follow.
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