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Fans celebrate Star Wars Day with special free screening

Original Star Wars film shown at Loft Cinema dubbed in Navajo
Posted at 10:18 PM, May 04, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-05 01:21:18-04

TUCSON, Ariz.(KGUN) — On Wednesday, people from all over were celebrating May the 4th and their favorite movie franchise. The Loft Cinema in Tucson held a special free screening of the first Star Wars movie, and it was dubbed in Navajo.

Native American organizations from the University of Arizona joined forces to make it happen. Student and Star Wars fan Shania Kee helped plan the event. She says it’s important to keep her native language and culture alive and sharing the film on Star Wars Day is a great way to do it.

"They translated it into Navajo, and it just opens a barrier for the older generations to connect with younger generations who see these films like me. Having it here is really important because there are the Tohono O’odham people here and others and I think that’s really cool to surround ourselves with other native people here,” Kee said.

UArizona theater and television professor Bradley Schauer says Star Wars is a franchise that has made a unique impact on American life. The first Star Wars film was released back on May 25th, 1977.

“It's a power fantasy for kids but it's also something that as you get older adults find a lot of resonance with. It's a testament to the universal archetypes at the heart of Star Wars. It's something that people can appreciate all around the world. Different cultures different languages,” Schauer said.

As the battle between good and evil continues, so will the never-ending love for the force.

“We all worked together to bring this together and it happened and it's so great to see it come to fruition,” Kee said.

"Star Wars is really for everybody, there’s no wrong way to appreciate Star Wars,” Schauer said.

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