REZ METAL
Film poster for "Rez Metal" with man playing electric guitar on mountain.
REZ METAL
Film poster for "Rez Metal" with man playing electric guitar on mountain.
A documentary about a Navajo metal band and the vibrant heavy metal scene throughout the Navajo Nation

REZ METAL

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) | BEST FEATURE-LENGTH DOC - Big Apple International Film Festival | OFFICIAL SELECTION - Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

American Studies • Race, Culture & Ethnic Studies • Anthropology • Artistic Expression & Performance Studies • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Engagement • Film, Journalism & Media Studies • Music Studies • Native American & Indigenous Studies • Social Studies

Date of Completion: 2021 | Run Time: 75 minutes​​ | Language: English with English and Spanish subtitles | Captions: Yes | Director: Ashkan Soltani Stone | Producer: Ashkan Soltani Stone

When Navajo heavy metal band I DONT KONFORM sent out a demo album to Flemming Rasmussen, the Grammy Award-winning producer of Metallica, they never imagined that a few months later they would be rehearsing with him inside a hot Hogan on the Navajo reservation. As Rasmussen states after hearing their demo, “a specific technical element wasn’t what stood out for me but the raw emotion and the thematic rage running through their music stood out as something refreshing and unique” – something true to the life of this metal band. REZ METAL explores the thriving heavy metal scene on the Navajo reservation through the remarkable story of I DONT KONFORM and their journey gaining popularity on reservations and recording their debut album in Denmark with one of the music industry's most influential producers.

Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) | Monique Threatt, Indiana University, Herman B Wells Library
"This film is highly recommended, and serves as an excellent resource for American studies, Film studies, Native American and Indigenous studies, and Music."

Western Historical Quarterly | Thomas Michael Swensen, Professor of Ethnic Studies at University of Utah
"High school and undergraduate courses in music and culture can find Rez Metal a useful resource."

Ashkan Soltani Stone is an Iranian-American director and producer, an accomplished scholar and university professor, and is the founding director of the Film Studies Program at Weber State University and Minnesota State University. Soltani Stone's films have been screened at prominent festivals and academic conferences. They have received numerous awards and nominations, including Best Documentary at Miami, Columbus, Tenerife, Brunswick, Big Apple, London, and Phoenix International film festivals. His latest documentary Rez Metal has been screened at over 40 film festivals, including a special screening at the Smithsonian -National Museum of the American Indian.


Soltani Stone's works explore a wide range of topics such as identity, affordable housing, immigrant workers, indigenous land rights, sustainable farming, underground music, and Native American youth culture.