Remaining Native

Welcome to Sonic Journeys, the podcast where we listen to films, and hear filmmakers from all over the world talk about how they shape meaning with audio. 

We’re kicking off the podcast by listening to Remaining Native. It won the 2025 Special Jury Award and Audience Award for documentary feature at SXSW. Remaining Native is a running film; it's a coming of age film; and it’s a film that showcases Indigenous resilience and resistance. It follows a Native American teenager from the Yarrington Payute reservation in Nevada who’s chasing his dream to become an elite college distance runner – all while honoring the memory of his great grandfather, who ran to escape an Indian boarding school.

Remaining Native’s director Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee) joins host Stina Hamlin in conversation about how she crafted the film’s sound. Paige uprooted her life in New York City and moved to Nevada for three years to make the documentary. She says: “The idea of tapping into ancestral muscle memory was the goal of this film.” 

Learn more about Remaining Native, see where it’s playing next, request a screening and more by going to www.remainingnativedocumentary.com or Instagram @remainingnative. The team would love to hear from you!

Sonic Journeys is presented by 4th World Media, a matriarch-led organization dedicated to media justice, narrative sovereignty and the holistic care of underserved filmmakers.

Host and Creator: Stina Thomas Hamlin

Supervising Producer: Jenny Asarnow

Executive Producer: Tracy Rector

Theme song: Tooh Nílíní by Kino Benally

Consulting Graphic Designer: Joel Schomberg

Cover art: Mer Young

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Sonic Journeys is an independent podcast. You can find it on Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts.