Film scholar Lance Rhoades will explore the role cinema has played in generating perceptions of the American Indian and the lingering implications from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday as part of the Redmond Historical Society Saturday Speaker Series at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 N.E. 80th St.

Almost a quarter of all films made from 1900 to 1950 were Westerns, which frequently represented American Indians as violent obstacles to progress. According to Rhoades, “We can use films to help us gauge if and how perceptions have changed over time. We can perhaps learn where stereotypes emerge and ask what purpose they serve in the stories movies tell. We can also better understand the motivations behind the efforts of American Indians to begin telling different stories through film.”

Using film clips and conversation, Rhoades says his talk raises questions about identity, stereotypes and cinema that have no easy answers.

Rhoades is currently director of film studies at the Seattle Film Institute and has taught courses at the University of Washington as well as guest lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his graduate work at the University of Washington and was a recipient of the UW’s Excellence in Teaching Award. He has lectured internationally on cultural history in film and will speak in Redmond courtesy of Humanities Washington.

The program is free to the public with a suggested $5 donation for non-members of the historical society. Additional details can be found at www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org.

The Redmond Historical Society is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that receives support from the City of Redmond, 4 Culture, Nintendo, the Bellevue Collection and Humanities Washington as well as from other donors and members.