A Thousand Roads

A Thousand Roads technical backgrounder

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian’s signature film, A Thousand Roads, was selected from thousands of entries for screening at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2005 and had its Washington, D.C. premiere on April 8, 2005.

A Thousand Roads is screened daily at the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; visit the Welcome Desk the day of your visit for more information.

The 40-minute film, directed by award-winning independent filmmaker Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho), is a fictional work that follows the lives of four contemporary Native Americans as they confront the crises that arise in a single day. With epic-sized settings that include the crest of the Andes, the ice floes of Alaska, the mesas of New Mexico, and the concrete canyons of Manhattan, A Thousand Roads takes filmgoers on a memorable Native journey.

“This signature film, like the National Museum of the American Indian itself, needed to be a commemoration of living Native peoples and communities,” said W. Richard West, Jr. (Southern Cheyenne), founding director of the museum and executive director of the film. West envisioned a widescreen, emotionally engaging film for the museum’s new surround-sound theater.

In support of West’s vision, the film marks a significant collaboration on the part of expert filmmakers and Native advocates and artists. The Smithsonian contracted with West Coast filmmakers Scott Garen and Barry Clark to produce the film through Seven Arrows–Telenova Productions, in association with Peter Guber’s Mandalay Media Arts.

Eyre was immediately attracted to the vision behind the script. “It's a little film with a lot of heart—a prayer to Native people,” he says. Eyre’s debut feature film Smoke Signals won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and Filmmaker’s Trophy. His film Edge of America was the opening-night selection at last year’s Festival.

A Thousand Roads is a fictional work created by Garen and Native poet and performer, Joy Harjo. Garen and Harjo developed an unconventional blend of Native characters: a Mohawk stockbroker “hunting” in the steel and glass canyons of Manhattan; a young Inupiat girl, journeying to a new life in Barrow, Alaska; a Navajo gang member, tending sheep alone on the mesas of New Mexico; and a Quechuan healer who journeys across the Sacred Valley of the Incas in an attempt to save a sick child.

The film includes performances by Native actors Alex Rice, Geraldine Keams, and Jeremiah Bitsui. Together with non-actors from each tribal region depicted in the film, they create vivid characters embracing the wide diversity and vitality of contemporary Native life. Native poet, activist, and performer John Trudell narrates their journeys, drawing strength from their tribal past to transcend the challenges of the day and embrace the promises that await them.

Director of photography Claudio Miranda was selected to capture the epic-sized landscapes seen in A Thousand Roads in wide-screen Super-35 mm, an ideal medium to convey the connection of First Peoples to the land. Australian Composer and singer Lisa Gerrard (Whale Rider, Gladiator) joined L.A.-based Co-Composer Jeff Rona (Traffic, Black Hawk Down) to create an expansive, symphonic score that includes performances by Native drummers, vocalists Ulali, and flutists R. Carlos Nakai and Douglas Spotted Eagle.

Not only are the stories of A Thousand Roads compelling, but they are also presented using the very latest in digital cinema technology. Through the generosity of Texas Instruments, the Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater at the National Museum of the American Indian is equipped with a digital cinema system that uses DLP Cinema™ projection technology from Texas Instruments. This digital system uses no film which enables it to deliver a picture with incredible clarity and vibrant colors every time the movie is shown. A Thousand Roads was produced from the outset to take advantage of DLP Cinema™ technology’s spectacular visual qualities. A Thousand Roads will draw museum visitors into its dramatic scenes and stories.