Former Lexington prosecutor hits ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ premiere’s red carpet

Former Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn has worked plenty of murder cases, but a 100-year-old case from her home in Oklahoma holds particular interest to her and her family.

It’s the story of how multiple members of the Osage Nation were murdered after they became wealthy from oil discovered on their land in the 1920s.

Now, that history been made into a feature film, and Red Corn has made her first appearance on the red carpet.

A member of the Osage Nation, she recently attended the premiere of “Killers of the Flower Moon” at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

The film stars Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, among others. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and opens in theaters worldwide Friday.

The movie is based on David Grann’s 2017 book, ”Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.”

“The book is wonderful, and the movie is wonderful too,” Red Corn said.

Both works tell the story of what has been described as the first big investigation by the agency that would become the FBI, though Red Corn said the movie focuses a little more on the relationship between two of the main characters, which she said “in some ways makes it more of an Osage movie.”

The movie was filmed in Oklahoma, including in the city of Pawhuska. That’s where the murders took place, the Osage Nation is headquartered and where many members of Red Corn’s family live.

Several members of her family worked on the film.

Two of Red Corn’s cousins have speaking roles, other family members are among the many Osage who participated as extras, some of her nieces and nephews worked in the art department and her nephew Christopher Cote taught the Osage language to the actors.

“Osage is spoken in this movie with subtitles, which is really neat,” Red Corn said.

Director Martin Scorsese addressed the importance of that in a featurette about the film.

“We’re making a film about a historical event that is central to the Osage history, so of course it’s important that we spoke the language,” he said, adding later, “We’re deeply committed to staying true to the reality of the world in which this story unfolds.”

Red Corn said the filmmakers took care to represent the story and the Osage with accuracy.

She said Scorsese made multiple trips to Oklahoma and went to each of the impacted villages to talk to residents about their concerns about the production.

“You’re talking about a movie that’s making entertainment of the murder of your family members,” she said.

She said Osage representatives were brought on as advisers, and “pretty much every Osage that auditioned had a part.” She said local women lent personal items and sewed clothing for costumes. Her sister beaded two fans for the movie, she said.

“I think it’s been unanimously well-received,” she said.

Those who worked on the film said in a recent Osage News story that the cooperation resulted in authentic depictions of Osage life.

That will hopefully help other filmmakers strive for accurate representations of indigenous people in the future, which hasn’t always been the case in Hollywood.

“The more they know you can really get it right ... why not try to get it right,” Red Corn said.

While the movie generally stays true to the book, Red Corn said the opening scene depicts an event from a different book, “A Pipe for February,” by her uncle Charles Red Corn.

When the Osage first moved to Oklahoma, Red Corn said, “history tells us that they basically put away that (older) way of life, buried it,” she said. Having that depicted in the movie’s opening, she said, is “very meaningful. It’s a good way to start the movie.”

She said seeing the film for the first time at the Lincoln Center was “a little overwhelming.”

Red Corn said she and her sister were among about 30 Osages in attendance at the New York premiere.

She said the two of them were able to attend as guests because the Screen Actors Guild strike prevented some of her family members who are actors from participating.

“It was certainly a joy to be there and see my family enjoying it ... and being recognized,” she said.

The strike also meant the stars of the film weren’t in attendance, though Red Corn said Scorsese was and made comments before the screening.

“It was a very special evening,” she said.

Though she has lived in Lexington since 1977, Red Corn was born in Oklahoma. She is the descendant of four original Osage allottees to whom land and mineral interests were distributed: her great-great-grandfather Wy-e-gha-in-kah, great-grandfather Raymond Red Corn, and great-grandparents Jenny Garfield Gray and Clarence Gray.

Red Corn retired from her position as Fayette commonwealth’s attorney last fall, after six years as commonwealth’s attorney and 35 years of public service.

She was the first Native American commonwealth’s attorney in Kentucky, and Fayette County’s first female commonwealth’s attorney.

She said the history told in “Killers of the Flower Moon” also can provide lessons for prosecutors.

Red Corn and Fayette Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Malone together did a presentation at the Kentucky Prosecutors Conference recently, using Grann’s book to talk about some ethical issues prosecutors might encounter.

Red Corn said it was good “to talk about something that’s very personal to me and also educate people about these things that have happened in our country that people know nothing about.”

The same could be said of the movie.

“It’s real history,” she said. “This is really important for our people and important for the country just to know who we are, where we’ve come from.”

The film has a run time of three hours and 26 minutes and will stream on Apple TV+ after its theatrical release.