Ojibwe-language dub of "Star Wars" to get first screening Friday

MINNEAPOLIS — A brand new Indigenous language dub of the epic space opera "Star Wars: A New Hope" is getting its first showtimes this weekend.

Screenings are scheduled to take place Friday at nine theaters across parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, including the Oakdale, Parkwood, and Southbridge Crossing theaters in the Twin Cities .

Late last year , Walt Disney Studios announced that Disney and Lucasfilm were working with the Dakota Ojibwe Tribal Council and the University of Manitoba to create the Ojibwemowin version of the 1977 film.

The original "Star Wars" film has been translated into more than 50 languages over the years, and the Ojibwe dub is actually the second time the blockbuster has been translated into an Indigenous People's language. A 2021 edition translated the film into Navajo.

Much of the voice work happened in the Winnipeg area, including script translation, auditions and sound recordings. Sound mixing and post-production work was then finalized at Skywalker Sound in California.

The stars of the new dub are Aandeg Jedi Muldrew, playing Luke Skywalker, Ajuawak Kapashesit as Han Solo and Theresa Eischen as Princess Leia.

There are five First Nations linguistic groups in Manitoba, including Ojibwe, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota and Dene. There are an estimated 320,000 Ojibwe speakers in the U.S. and Canada. In Minnesota, there are seven federally recognized Ojibwe tribes, including Bois Forte (Nett Lake), Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, White Earth and Red Lake.

As many first-language Ojibwe speakers dwindle, many groups and tribes have been working to preserve and revitalize the language for future generations. This includes a Rosetta Stone project led by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe .

"Star Wars: A New Hope" was an instant smash, and adjusted for inflation is considered to be the second-highest grossing film in domestic history , just behind "Gone with the Wind." The film was nominated for 10 Oscars at the 50th-annual Academy Awards, winning six, along with a special achievement award.