Through a collaboration between documentarian/cinematographer Kathryn Boyd-Batstone, Comanche educator Linette Amparan and producer Jhane Myers (Prey, First We Bombed New Mexico), new documentary Comanche Academy: A Healing Journey dives into the Comanche Academy, in Lawton, Oklahoma, and its community effort to reclaim Indigenous culture and identity for future generations.
The film captures the concerted efforts across three generations to carve a space of healing education where Comanche culture and language can be reclaimed.
A synopsis reads: “Boyd-Batstone chose ZEISS Compact Prime and Cinema Zoom lenses with Sony FX6 to create beautiful portraits in the historied world of the Comanche Academy.
“Beginning in the late 1800s, Native American children near Lawton were forcibly enrolled at Fort Sill Indian School, one of over 400 Federal Indian boarding schools that pushed cultural assimilation.
“Despite the mandated whitewashing, as time passed and the most egregious abuses phased out, Fort Sill Indian School left an indelible mark in the community, with complex recollections of former attendees ranging from fondness to downright hatred.
“The school gradually evolved into an alternative educational space where Native American students could learn alongside one another and find solace from the challenges of public school.
“However, Fort Sill closed in 1980. Nearly 40 years later, Comanche Academy was established with the mission of reclaiming the language and culture that had once been forcibly taken away.”
Predominantly self-funded with support from the community, Boyd-Batstone needed a nimble, guerilla-filmmaking-friendly camera set-up that would be able to capture the beauty of the film’s subjects as well as the expansive Western landscape of Lawton.
Leaning on her experiences in photojournalism, Boyd-Batstone selected ZEISS CP.3s with a 70-200 CZ.2 zoom paired with her Sony FX6 to make stunning images with natural light.
The documentary weaves from brilliant exteriors into the cool darkness of gymnasium board meetings, in progress classes and, most uniquely, into the low-light wellness room.
It is in the Comanche Academy’s wellness room that some of the film’s most heart-wrenching and warming sequences take place. “I needed really fast lenses,” Boyd-Batstone relates. A mix of meditation, therapy and relaxation takes place in the deep purple or sometimes tungsten luminance.
There, teachers guide the children with breathing exercises, indigenous parables, and encouragement for students to work through and express emotions. The effect of the lighting and intimate handheld cinematography is oddly comforting.
With the speed and flexibility of the CP.3s, Boyd-Batstone maintains a natural cinematic look across diverse light conditions and environments.
“The primes let me stay close without intruding,” she explains. “They allowed me to render natural light beautifully while giving subjects physical space, which was so important in moments of deep vulnerability.”
For performances, town hall meetings and multi-person events, the 70-200mm CZ.2 Zoom also became an essential tool, letting her capture real emotion with respectful distance.
One of the film’s most poignant sequences takes place at the old Fort Sill Indian School, with dozens of community members of all ages on site.
Five acres of the land has been approved to lease to Comanche Academy to build a new school, although the existing buildings are derelict from non-use.
In the film’s finale, students raise photos of their elders who attended the original boarding school, bringing history full circle and underscoring the resilience of the Comanche people.
It is a moment only made possible by trust between the filmmakers and community. Producer Myers notes, “The fact that people saw themselves in the film and felt proud—that’s powerful. It shows this story belongs to the community.”
Read the full interview on the ZEISS website.
