The Exiles

One of the most legendary and underseen masterpieces in the history of cinema revolves around a group of young indigenous Americans, living in LA’s Bunker Hill. Yvonne, a pregnant Apache woman, and Homer, her Hualapai husband, share their tiny flat with Tony, a gifted Mexican, and four native women. At night, when men go out on a drinking, gambling and flirting spree, Yvonne goes to the movies all by herself or roams in the streets, oozing a repressed yearning. The film’s documentary-like black and white frames capture fragments of life in the metropolis, depicting snapshots from a dislocated generation, torn between its origins and the bleak everyday life of the contemporary urban landscape.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Kent Mackenzie

Script: Kent Mackenzie

Cinematography: Erik Daarstad, Robert Kaufman, John Morrill

Editing: Kent Mackenzie, Warren Brown, Thomas Conrad, Erik Daarstad, Thomas Miller, Beth Pattrick

Sound: Sam Farnsworth

Music: Anthony Hilder, The Revels, Robert Hafner, Eddie Sunrise

Actors: Yvonne Williams, Homer Nish, Tommy Reynolds, Rico Rodriguez, Clifford Ray Sam, Clydean Parker, Mary Donahue

Production: Ronald Austin, Sam Farnsworth, John Morrill, Erik Daarstad, Robert Kaufman, Beth Pattrick, Sven Walnum, Paula Powers

Producers: Kent Mackenzie

Format: DCP

Color: B/W

Production Country: USA

Production Year: 1961

Duration: 71΄

Contact: Kino Lorber

Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, in cooperation with University of Southern California Moving Image Archive, National Film Preservation Foundation and Milestone

Kent Mackenzie

Kent Mackenzie (1930-1980) was a film director and producer who is mainly remembered for his film The Exiles. His mother was English, and his father was Dewitt Mackenzie, who was head of the London Bureau of the Associated Press. After finishing school, Kent Mackenzie enlisted in the air force and later ended up in Hollywood, where, after gaining a scholarship, he made Bunker Hill, his first film. In later years, he worked as an editor on television documentaries and medical and industrial films and shorts. During the 1960s and 1970s, he taught film-making to high school classes. He also directed some films for Dimension Films. He was involved with Dimension Films in making educational films. The Exiles was an independent film that took him three-and-a-half years to make. During the course of the shooting, some of the cast were imprisoned and therefore never appeared in later scenes. He also lost two of his cameramen. Christina Rose of the Indian Country Today Media Network wrote that it was the first film to give an accurate portrayal of urban natives.