Community Corner

Bellmore Resident to Display Movie Trailer at Film Expo

The movie chronicles the struggles the Lakota Sioux Nation faces on their reservation in South Dakota.

Working on movies is nothing new for North Bellmore social worker Leslye Abbey, but her latest has a special place in her heart.

Abbey submitted a movie trailer, entitled "Buffalo Nation/The Children are Crying", to the Long Island International Film Expo, which chronicles the struggles the Lakota Sioux Nation face on their reservation in South Dakota.

"I've been connected to the indigenous people for a very long time," Abbey said. "In 1979-80, I was working in New Mexico, and my whole caseload became the American Indians of the southwest."

When a friend sent Abbey the writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz, which detailed the teen suicide epidemic in the Lakota Sioux Nation, Abbey took the trip to South Dakota, where she's now been six times during the filming of her movie.

"I had a meltdown when I was there," she said. "Every time I go back there, there's more distress, dysfunction, suicide and more. The living conditions on the Reservation rival third world countries."

She's submitted films to the festival every year since 1999, and almost all were selected. Abbey's been making movies since she got her first video camera in 1998 and took a trip to India. 

"I wear so many different hats, and I do whatever I can," she said. 

To view the trailer, click this link. For more on Leslye Abbey's films, click here.


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