Bennie Klain
Independent Filmmaker / Founder
Trickster Films
Austin, TX USA
“If you have to justify what you do on a daily basis, if you have to justify it to yourself, then you're probably doing the wrong thing.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationBennie Klain
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
Grew up "dirt poor" on a Navajo reservation.
Knew he wanted to do something creative with his life, but says, "on the reservation, you can be creative, but you won't get paid for it."
Spent his youth working service jobs but always looking for a way off the reservation, a way to further himself.
Got into college; flunked out after just one year.
Too embarrassed to tell his mom he got kicked out; told her he was exploring other options.
Took a job at a radio station, loved it; developed the idea for his first documentary.
Went back to college at the University of Texas to study filmmaking.
After graduating, he finally told his mom that he'd failed on his first try, all those years ago.
Education
High School
Career
Independent Filmmaker / Founder
I'm a storyteller bringing new voices and hidden histories to people from an indigenous perspective.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Film
Radio
Being Creative
Interviewed By
Austin - New Orleans
: In a restaurant at the Grand Canyon, the Roadtrip Nation team unexpectedly books an interview with a documentary filmmaker named Bennie Klain in Texas. Then they head to New Orleans to interview jazz musician Irvin Mayfield. After this interview, the team heads across the bridge to the Ninth Ward, where they talk with Jim Pate, the executive director for Habitat for Humanity in the city, and then help to build houses.
