November 29, 2023
Film professor Ben Sweeney ’00 amplifies Indigenous voices through PBS series
By Martha Young
Ben Sweeney ’00 has been telling stories through film since he graduated from Providence College. Today, he’s sharing his love for filmmaking with PC students as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film and with audiences across the country through a new PBS series.
In October, PBS began airing the second season of Native America, a four-part series focusing on contemporary Native culture. The release coincided with the celebration of Native American Heritage Month in November. Sweeney served as coordinating producer on the second season. The series was produced by Providence Pictures, a Rhode Island-based production company founded by Gary Glassman, husband of Joan Branham, Ph.D., professor of art history.
As coordinating producer for Providence Pictures, Sweeney was part of the entire production cycle, from pre-production (research, writing, and shoot planning) to production (coordinating producers, directors, crews, and participants at filming locations) to post-production (managing footage, coordinating editors, animation teams, and composers, and managing deliverables to PBS).
The series delves into the beauty and power of today’s Indigenous communities, following engineers, politicians, and artists who draw upon Native tradition to build a better 21st Century. Each episode reveals a core tenet of Native heritage and explores the Native American beliefs and traditions carried forward to today. The first season of Native America, which also was produced by Providence Pictures, aired on PBS in 2018.
As a non-Native producer, Sweeney said a part of his role in this project was to commit to ensuring Native communities are able to tell their stories the way they want to tell them. He said this included working closely with production participants — including Native producers and directors — to ensure accuracy and authenticity.
“It is very important to tell contemporary stories of Native America and not just talk about the past or only represent Native peoples as victims,” Sweeney said. “They are still here, thriving, and very much part of American life today.”
