The Community Voice

Friday, Oct. 15, 2004

By Jud Snyder

Two young women graduates of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism made a documentary film on the turmoil swirling around the tribal casino and hotel proposed for Wilfred Avenue and Stony Point Road west of Rohnert Park. It’s called "The Rules of the Game," a 26-minute color film. It will be aired on KRCB Channel 22 at 9 pm, Tuesday October 19.

Garance Burke and Monica Lam spent the tumultuous months of late summer and into autumn 2003 with their team in RP pulling their film together. They were present with their cameras in Spreckels Performing Arts Center during the public hearing on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) four members of the RP city council signed with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR). They filmed the protests on street corners, the marches on nearby roads and interviewed the key players on both sides of the controversy.

"Monica and I practically lived in Rohnert Park those months," said Burke. "We stayed with friends or commuted back and forth from Berkeley.

"Through the voices of people who are directly affected by Indian gaming, the film explores a modern day dilemma," said Burke. "Deeply held beliefs about race and economic opportunity get turned on their heads and the definition of justice is in flux."

The crux of the casino question, contends Burke, is, "What happens when hopes for casino profits clash with small town values?"

Both Burke and Lam are no strangers to this sort of work. Burke covered indigenous peoples’ rights in Mexico for "Frontline/World" and worked as a reporter and correspondent for the Sacramento "Bee" and the Washington "Post," plus a tour of duty as assignment editor for "El Financiero" in Mexico City.

Lam has produced documentaries about water rights on Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona. She also filmed documentaries for PBS including "Keeping Score," "Store Wars," "When Wal-Mart Comes to Town" and "Citizen Hong Kong." Her latest effort for PBS was "Race is the Place," a film about poetry and race.

Their team on the casino film included camera operators Andres Cediel and Dan Krauss; sound technicians Burke, Serene Fang and Erika Trautman. Music is by Jeremy Winstead and the narrator is Sylvia Mullally.

"I know a lot of communities around the state will likely be looking at what’s happening in Rohnert Park," said Burke. "The casino controversy has really started a dialogue with the tribes and non-tribal people. This sort of dialogue hasn’t been done in years."