Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512433
B Y T H O M A S N E L L E N D E P A R T M E N T H E A D M A K E - U P M a n y o f t h e m o v i e s t h a t I h a v e w o r k e d o n a r e b a s e d o n t r u e e v e n t s . K i l l e r s o f t h e F l o w e r M o o n i s t h e s t o r y a b o u t t h e O s a g e N a t i o n , w h o s e p e o p l e , m o s t l y w o m e n , w e r e m u r d e r e d d u e t o t h e g r e e d o f w h i t e m e n i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s . S a d l y e n o u g h , t h i s i s a l s o a t r u e s t o r y . W e f i l m e d o n l o c a t i o n i n O k l a h o m a , w h e r e t o t h i s d a y, m a n y p e o p l e h a v e n o t h e a r d o f t h i s t r a g e d y . ( O n l y a b o u t a 1 0 0 m i l e s a w a y o c c u r r e d t h e T u l s a r a c e m a s s a c r e , w h i c h h a p p e n e d a r o u n d t h e s a m e t i m e . ) 24 • THE ARTISAN WINTER 2024 KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON IT TAKES A VILLAGE For our Indigenous actors and background artists, this project was understandably very personal. Many of our participants had relatives who were murdered, shot, poisoned, or who simply vanished one day, never to be found again. We heard so many of these personal stories on a daily basis while getting our cast and performers ready. There were a lot of emotions and tears. To all the people who came forward in order to bring to light a brutal yet buried part of history, none of whose perpetrators were ever fully held accountable: thank you. I was spending time in Switzerland, nine hours ahead of Los Angeles, when I received a phone call at three o'clock in the morning from Daniel Lupi, our producer. As I was sound asleep, it took me a couple of minutes to realize the importance of that call. To his question of whether I was interested and available, my answer was: "Even if I wasn't available, I would make myself available." I never regretted it, as it was such a life-changing experience. Shortly after our initial conversation, I found myself back in Los Angeles wrapping my head around the script, starting video calls with our director Martin Scorsese, our Department Head Hair Kay Georgiou, and our costume designer Jacqueline West, as well as of course, reaching out to my peers and putting my team Tantoo Cardinal