A film directed by Jeffrey Palmer and written by Austin Bunn, both associate professors in the Department of Performing and Media Arts in the College of Arts & Science, is one of only 15 selected for the PBS Short Film Festival this year, from hundreds of nominations. 

“Ghosts” tells the story of three Kiowa children who escaped a government boarding school in the winter of 1891. Produced by Palmer, Bunn and Oklahoma-based producer Adam Ropp, the film was shot in Guthrie, Okla. and features a cast of native actors, including Lane Factor and Dalton Cramer, stars of the FX series “Reservation Dogs.”

“It’s a story I’ve always wanted to tell, and I wanted to tell it from the children’s perspective,” Palmer said. “The story is passed down as a Kiowa origin story. All of the children hear it, but it’s usually all about what was going on in the school at that time, how the children were treated. I wanted to give these kids agency.” 

Read the full story on The College of Arts & Sciences website.