His movies will never, and I mean EVER, have wide mainstream appeal, but John Sayles is still a legend of the indie filmmaking scene. A true maverick in every sense of the word, Sayles' most recent films like the excellent Go for Sisters (review here), Silver City, and Honeydripper, continued his trademark explorations of class, politics, and American history, and fortunately for us all he's got another film just like that on the way.
Sales will reportedly direct To Save the Man, which he'll shoot this summer at Fort Worden State Park according to the Peninsula Daily News (via ThePlaylist). And this film sounds right up Sayles' alley, too, as it will center on the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, the flagship boarding school for Native Americans in the United States from 1879-1918. The school was founded by Civil War veteran Richard Pratt, who felt that the only way to integrate Native Americans into white culture was to "kill the indian, save the man". His thoughts on other minorities, particularly blacks,were equally vile.
While there aren't big money donors around looking to finance the kinds of movies Sayles makes, he's always found a way to raise the money. From speaking with him I know the struggles he's faced over the years in this changing Hollywood landscape. Assuming he can raise the $8.5M needed, the plan is to begin shooting in July.
