With video – Documentary features 13 Years in life of Lakȟóta family

Posted by Elena del Valle on March 5, 2025

This article was written without AI-assisted technologies.

Without Arrows

Photo, video, screener: First Run Features

Following its premiere on PBS Independent Lens First Run Features released Without Arrows, a 93-minute 2025 documentary on moments in the life of a Lakȟóta family. Filmed over 13 years the documentary was scheduled for release February 2025 via Amazon and Apple streaming as well as DVD ($19.95). Scroll down to watch a short video trailer.

The film is in English peppered with words in Lakȟóta. It follows a family over three generations. At times it is difficult to make out the words of their dialogue. It centers on Delwin Fiddler Jr., a champion grass dancer from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, who left his reservation as a young man and built a new life in Philadelphia. Ten years later he returned home to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota to fulfill his mother’s ambition and carry on his extended family’s legacy. Shirley Eagletail Fiddler, his mother, Delwin Fidder, Sr., his father, and his daughter Kassi Phoenix Fiddler are also featured.

Moving and sad at times Without Arrows is also hopeful. Family members appear in everyday settings and at home. Also as the seasons change the documentary features moments of dancing, family gatherings, burials and family conversations. It has an original score by Olivia Komahcheet.

Directed and produced by Elizabeth Day and Jonathan Olshatski Without Arrows received fiscal sponsorship from The Film Collaborative. It was a co-production of ITVS and Vision Maker Media. It also received support from Australian Independence Documentary Conference, Big Sky Pitch, Film Independent Documentary Lab, The Gotham, Hotdocs Deal Maker Program, Hotdocs Forum, Jihlava New Visions Forum, Minnesota Film Festival Pitch Competition; and grants from Ford Just Films, Philadelphia Foundation, Catapult Film Fund, Bertha Foundation, Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and Rowan University. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS also appear among the film credits.